# DIY. Make a mini-fridge without using electricity.



## charito (Oct 12, 2013)

*The Coolest Way to Keep Food Cold Without Refrigeration*

*Electricity not necessary.*

Just gather some ceramic pots, sand, and water, and you’ve got a portable, non-electric mini-fridge with a time-tested design. 

In some parts of the world, this clay pot cooler is called a zeer, and its sustainable, inexpensive design is far from new. People in the Middle East and Africa have long used similar contraptions to keep food from spoiling in hot, dry climates. 

*Here’s how to make one:*

Get two unglazed ceramic pots—one that will fit inside the other—plus some sand and water.
Fill the bottom of the larger pot with a couple inches of sand.
Put the smaller pot in the larger one.
Fill the space between the pots with sand.
Pour water into the sand.
Cover the pots with a ceramic lid or wet cloth.
Done. You’re ready to store food inside. Just remember to add water to the sand every day, because zeer pots use evaporation to cool food.

As water evaporates through the clay, it releases energy into the air and cools the space inside the pot. It’s like splashing water on your face on a hot day; the water evaporates off your skin, cooling it in the process. Refrigerator coolant actually works in a similar way, using evaporation to draw heat out of the fridge itself. That’s why the back of your Frigidaire is so warm. 

It’s best to keep zeer pots in the shade, since the sun will warm them up, but you can also put them in a breezy area—wind makes the water evaporate faster, which cools the food more quickly. 









The Coolest Way to Keep Food Cold Without Refrigeration


Electricity not necessary.




getpocket.com


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## charito (Oct 12, 2013)

There is more detail (and a slight variation) on these instructions. Cool photo too.


*How To Make an Electricity-Free Refrigerator*


*Materials and Tools Required*

two terra cotta pots with a 2-3 inch difference in diameter. The smaller pot should be glazed and preferably lacking a drainage hole. If the inner container is double glazed (on its inner and outer walls), non-potable water—say seawater—can be employed.
a bag of sterile sand
a square of burlap cloth large enough to cover the top of the inner pot
a trowel

*Building It*

1. If your pots have drainage holes, plug them with a bit of cork, caulk, or other waterproof material. If you don't, moisture from the sand will seep into the lower pot and immerse the stored goods or seep out the bottom of the larger one.
2. Put down a one-inch deep, level layer of sand in the bottom of the large pot. Set the smaller pot on top of that layer and center it in the larger one. Make sure that the smaller pot's lip is even with the larger one's.
3. Fill sand in around the sides of the of the two pots, leaving about an inch of space below the lip.
4. Pour cold water over the sand until it is thoroughly saturated. Put your food into the smaller pot. Cover that with a burlap cloth, also soaked with water. That's it! Just be sure to refill the water regularly, about once or twice a day.

*How It Works*
The Zeer was developed in 1995 by Mohammed Bah Abba, a Nigerian school teacher that hailed from a family of pot makers. The design is incredibly simple: a glazed earthen ware pot nestled inside a larger, porous one with a layer of wet sand separating them. As the water evaporates through the surface of the outer pot, it draws heat from the inner one, keeping up to 12kg food fresh for as long as three to four _weeks_ without using a single watt of electricity.

For his efforts, Bah Abba was awarded the $75,000 Rolex Award for Enterprise in 2000 and the World Shell Award for Sustainable Development in 2001 to help spur its development. Presently, Bah Abba sells about 30,000 Zeer per year for 200 Nigerian naira ($1.30) a piece.



https://gizmodo.com/how-to-make-an-electricity-free-refrigerator-5935104


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## charito (Oct 12, 2013)

3 Different Methods.


*Methods of Alternative Refrigeration*









Alternative Refrigeration - Three Methods of Passive Cooling


Use these three methods of alternative refrigeration to keep your food cool when there's no electricity.



www.provident-living-today.com


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## paraquack (Mar 1, 2013)

Thanks for the links. Has anyone actually constructed one? I'm curious what temperature drop from ambient can be expected. I'd love to hear about yours.


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## Hazmat101 (Oct 7, 2021)

Best fridge I built was in a large clay flower pot, with a smaller one inside.
Fill space with sand, wet the sand, wet tea towel on top.
Food placed in the little pot.
The hotter the day the better.
With a bit of wind chill, the better the temp drop.
My tester was 20 Celsius outside, good breeze, pot in the shade.
Cans and fresh meat chilled to 6 Celsius.

Instructions found in 'Third world engineering' Zeer pot.


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