AC_Hacker's Hasty Freezer Conversion

[Daox]

Do you have a picture of the current setup of the fridge?

[AC_Hacker]

Originally Posted by Daox

Do you have a picture of the current setup of the fridge?

Sure thing...

It is still a proof of concept until I can find the mini-freezer of my dreams. Then I'll make it pretty.

But here are some photos, in all their hacked-together glory:

This photo shows the mini-Freezerator, with the new temperature controller sitting atop a special non-conductive T-shirt. Yes, there are hot wires out in the open, evidence of my casual relationship with lethal electricity.

Here is a close-up of the front, showing the new temperature controller, and the Kill-a-Watt that is faithfully still recording data.

It may be hard to see, but there is a wire running from the temperature controller to the temperature sensor, which is inside the Freezerator. The wire is going between the door-sealing strip. I did not modify the mini-freezer in any way, because I wanted to run this test, and I wanted to keep the possibility of re-selling the mini-freezer when I am done with the test.

As I have said before, it's looking like post-hack power consumption is about 50% of pre-hack power consumption. Therefore, to end up with a very, very low power refrigerator, you need to start with a very low power freezer.

This mini-freezer is a Summit, which is known to be a middle-to-low performer.

The mini-freezer of my dreams is a Haier HUM048EA 4.8 Cubic Feet Compact Freezer. It has thicker insulation, uses less power, and has a built in drain tube, which is important.

You can see the nice thick insulation in the photo. As I reported previously, frozen food packaging seems to be "modularized" into sizes that are different from regular food, which presents some interesting moments when storing food. As I mentioned before, the internal shelves are NOT reconfigurable, as they are, in fact the evaporator coils.

Door storage is also a challenge. Since I don't yet have a Haier HUM048EA to hack, I'm not sure of the approach that is needed. Worst case would be to completely rebuild the formed-plastic storage structure. However, it might be possible to modify the existing door structure.

There are also to be found, used upright mini-freezers that have external coils on the back. External coils favor efficiency, so one of these could make an excellent candidate.

As far as I know, all currently manufactured mini-freezers have coils that are integrated into the body.

Best,

-AC

[Daox]

Thank you!

[jeff5may]

I gotta get me one of those temp controllers. They seem to work good and are reliable.

[AC_Hacker]

Originally Posted by jeff5may

I gotta get me one of those temp controllers. They seem to work good and are reliable.

So far... I have my fingers crossed.

I checked out the board that the controller has, and there's a small electro-mechanical relay, which is rated well above Freezerator loads.

But I am mistrustful of relays, and it's good to know that the signal that will drive a relay will drive a Solid State Relay.

ebay has scads of perfectly good 10, 20, 30 and 40 amp (and larger) SSRs for very reasonable prices. But again, there are also perfectly serviceable SSRs that are lower amps (2X freezer load ought to do it) cheaper, and even better, smaller.

-AC

[Daox]

How much power does the freezerator use compared to your old fridge?

[AC_Hacker]

Originally Posted by Daox

How much power does the freezerator use compared to your old fridge?

Well, that depends on how far back in history we want to go.

This is a page from my notebook on refrigerator comparison

The red line shows my current Freezerator.

However, if you look at the line below it, you will see the Frostman refrigerator, which was smaller (2.6 cu feet, as I recall) and had external condenser coils on the back (very good design), and was somewhat cheaper to operate than the Freezerator.

But even for a fevered-brain, hack obsessed bachelor such as myself, it was too small to support even my minimized notion of civilized life.

So I opted for a "4-ish" cubic foot model, and finding nothing that came even close to the Frostman, in a refrigerator, or an all-refrigerator, I decided to go out on a limb and try the Freezerator hack.

But to give an answer your question that relates to the the realm of normal sized refrigerators, that sane people use, my refrigerator prior to the Frostman was a much beloved 1930's era refrigerator similar to this photo:

Note how thick the insulation on this puppy. It was a surprisingly efficient unit and as I recall, it was measuring in the range of 1200 watts/day. I was able to bring it back to life after its mechanical heart stopped on two different occasions.

By the way, just to give you an idea of my idea of a refrigerator, my refrigerator before that was like this one (probably from the 20s)...

I treated her really good too, but as with all mechanical devices, she had a heavy date with the salvage yard, that despite all my loving care, she was ultimately destined to meet.

R.I.P.


Best,

-AC

[jeff5may]

AC,

Where do you keep finding all these relics? All the killer antiques in my area are on the order of Rick Dale prices if they work. If not, they are either garage/yard ornaments or just outrageously priced or both. I guess the rednecks know what they have and then some.

[AC_Hacker]

Originally Posted by jeff5may

AC,

Where do you keep finding all these relics? All the killer antiques in my area are on the order of Rick Dale prices if they work. If not, they are either garage/yard ornaments or just outrageously priced or both. I guess the rednecks know what they have and then some.

They were built to last, and I thought often about the fact that I was using a refrigerator that could have been bought by my grandparents when they were younger.

Those old units (one refrigerator repairman called them 'Old Girls'), the very first ones came out when electricity was new and expensive, so to attract buyers, the units had to be very economical. Later, when the electricity rates were falling and power companies main problem was selling more electricity, the units became much less efficient, like the 'round top' units.

But the Old Girls were in use before DuPont chemicals had the brainstorm to make a synthetic, patentable refrigerant. The Old Girls used an organic refrigerant, often sulfur dioxide. To my knowledge, there is no one left who is able to service a sulfur dioxide refrigerator.

The compressors in those things lasts a very long time. The part that most often goes out is the motor starter. Motor starters made for modern refrigerators are cheap and will work on the Old Girls. I was able to successfully keep my Old Girls going by replacing the motor starter, and I was able to get another 15 years from each one.

A yard ornament won't work out, but a garage ornament... now that is a whole other story!

If you really have a liking for the 'Old Girls', just keep your eye open, and they will come to you.

By far, my favorite Old Girl is the Monitor top. I had one proudly in my kitchen for many years, just like this one:

I mean, putting the compressor on the top, and letting the heat rise, away from the refrigerator... what a concept!

Best,

-AC

[AC_Hacker]

Daox,

I saw your summation HERE, you did a nice job.

Thanks,

-AC