Wildman
Free Member
whilst compressor fridges have been around for a long time they do use quite large amounts of solar power that is not available in the winter. A conventional fridge uses power on standby.
Dr Tom Chalko, whilst looking to overcome the problems came up with the chest fridge which only uses power for about 90 seconds an hour. his remarkable design is shown below and could serve as a blueprint for self builders.
http://mtbest.net/chest_fridge.pdf
just goes to show there are some clever people about.
Whilst chatting to Happyhippy, Rob mentioned a thermo generator that will charge his batteries by utilising the heat difference between two surfaces and a system developed for use on a wood burning stove. He has seen it working and has ordered one.
http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.tegpower.com/hotwater.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.tegpower.com/&usg=__3F9ReBc7k_7Cg9FwL38qJHZ0jG8=&h=374&w=485&sz=19&hl=en&start=1&sig2=3lQqOlItJni0TEY3jyq-yg&zoom=1&itbs=1&tbnid=yIKpq_d5lxQARM:&tbnh=99&tbnw=129&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dthermoelectric%2Bgenerator%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DX%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-gb:IE-SearchBox%26rlz%3D1I7ADFA_en%26biw%3D1004%26bih%3D559%26tbm%3Disch%26prmd%3Divnsb&ei=A0EMTvnnJ4jBswbGkLHVDg
The effect is a well known and brilliant for those dull winter days when your solar panel does not cut it. As long as you have a heat source i.e. a wood burner or even a paraffin lamp then you can continue to charge your batteries without being constrained by daylight hours.
Dr Tom Chalko, whilst looking to overcome the problems came up with the chest fridge which only uses power for about 90 seconds an hour. his remarkable design is shown below and could serve as a blueprint for self builders.
http://mtbest.net/chest_fridge.pdf
just goes to show there are some clever people about.
Whilst chatting to Happyhippy, Rob mentioned a thermo generator that will charge his batteries by utilising the heat difference between two surfaces and a system developed for use on a wood burning stove. He has seen it working and has ordered one.
http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.tegpower.com/hotwater.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.tegpower.com/&usg=__3F9ReBc7k_7Cg9FwL38qJHZ0jG8=&h=374&w=485&sz=19&hl=en&start=1&sig2=3lQqOlItJni0TEY3jyq-yg&zoom=1&itbs=1&tbnid=yIKpq_d5lxQARM:&tbnh=99&tbnw=129&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dthermoelectric%2Bgenerator%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DX%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-gb:IE-SearchBox%26rlz%3D1I7ADFA_en%26biw%3D1004%26bih%3D559%26tbm%3Disch%26prmd%3Divnsb&ei=A0EMTvnnJ4jBswbGkLHVDg
The effect is a well known and brilliant for those dull winter days when your solar panel does not cut it. As long as you have a heat source i.e. a wood burner or even a paraffin lamp then you can continue to charge your batteries without being constrained by daylight hours.