# Building an ambient air refrigerator



## budgetprepp-n (Apr 7, 2013)

I will soon start a how to post on my water system I'm in the process of gathering up everything I need and as most of you know I usually have two
projects going at the same time. This is what I'm thinking. 
I have a project in mind that I can't wait to get started on but first I need to get my water system going. I would like to build a refrigerator that in the winter sucks in cold air and blows out the warmer air to keep my food frozen or cold.
I plan on modifying a regulator refrigerator to do this. I'm thinking I will use
PVC pipe about 3" or 4" I'm going to cut the holes for the pipes on the right side
to make them easy to hide. On the outside I will have a thermostat that engages everything at what ever temperature it's set for. like 40 if you just want to keep things cold. But when it gets 30 or colder you will have a freezer in the top and a fridge in the bottom just like factory.

The incoming pipe will go in at the bottom of the freezer.
The exiting pipe will come from the top of the fridge both pipes will come out the right side in the rear

I'm going to use 12 volt fans like out of a computer to move the air in and out of the pipes.(solar power)

When the thermostat outside kicks everything on the top fan will suck in cold air from outside through the pipe. And the other pipe will have a fan blowing 
the warmer air out.

There will be a thermostat inside the fridge to shut the fans off when it reaches the temperature it is set at.

Both pipes will have flaps and screens to keep unwanted guest out
and on the outside of the house they would look like dryer vents

one pipe will be inside the fridge it will run about %80 of the way up into the freezer and down about %50 into the fridge. Cold air goes down.

If you set the outside thermostat just a little colder than the factory thermostat it would switch over by it's self from the grid to the ambient air fans. And when it gets warm it would switch back to grid power. 
So when you are using ambient air to cool the fridge it will be completely off grid.

This is how I plan on hiding the pipes,, When I got this fridge there was a
gap between the fridge and the wall I thought it looked funny so I built
matching door with spring loaded hinges it made a nifty place for
the mop broom and dustpan. This is a wide fridge I'm going to get a skinnier 
one so the door will be wide enough to hide the pipes. The pipes will be all
the way in the back so there will still be room for the broom and mop.


----------



## budgetprepp-n (Apr 7, 2013)

This is a temperature control switch for a refrigerator it looks like a switch that makes contact when the air is to warm 
It's not powered by electric is there any reason that it would not work for 12 volts?


----------



## Kauboy (May 12, 2014)

I'm not sure pumping cold air in is the answer.
A refrigerator works on the principle of extracting heat to lower the temperature.
You won't get quite the same effect from pumping cold air into a container.


----------



## budgetprepp-n (Apr 7, 2013)

Kauboy said:


> I'm not sure pumping cold air in is the answer.
> A refrigerator works on the principle of extracting heat to lower the temperature.
> You won't get quite the same effect from pumping cold air into a container.


What other effect could I get from pumping in cold air?


----------

