Electricity free fridge

[wildWoman]

We finally have one of those waterproof barrels that canoeists and rafters use in our possession. If you buy them, they're ludicrously expensive. People further down south might get them for free from factories (ours came originally, via a complicated route, from a European soup mix company) that use them to store stuff in there.
Put food in there, close the sealing metal band, put into a nice cold body of water and that's it. :)

[crashdive123]

What's the water temp like in the summer? Big fridge or little fridge?

[wildWoman]

The lake here is glacier-fed, so the temperature is between about 40F in early summer and 48F in late summer. Better for keeping food than going for a swim!

[crashdive123]

Thanks - I used to do quite a bit of sailing in the Straits of Juan de Fuca between Canada and US. Water temp was pretty close to 50F year round. Our usual group had a guest one year. After we anchor each day, we had the tradition of jumping in. The new guy (from Pensacola, Florida) couldn't understand why we were taking our time, afterall it was close to 90F out. We all jumped - I think he was back in the boat before the rest of us hit the water.

[wildWoman]

No kidding...it would be nice if we had a tiny lake close by that got warm enough for swimming, but I guess you can't have everything. People further up the lake bought wet suits and use those for going for a swim.

[dilligaf2u2]

PTTTTTTTT on you all. The water temp at the river was 70F yesterday!

The temp for the last week has been over 100F for over a week.

Don

[wildWoman]

I would not last long at 100F! Way too hot.

[trax]

The lake here is glacier-fed, so the temperature is between about 40F in early summer and 48F in late summer. Better for keeping food than going for a swim!

I'm not trying to be a smartazz here WW, are you sure it gets that warm?

[wildWoman]

The upper layer of the water does, and also in sheltered somewhat shallow bays - which is where we have the fridge. Further out on the lake and a bit deeper down, I think it remains fairly steady at about 40F. Our "neighbour" knows a lot more about it, he's seriously into fishing and has been measuring the temperature at different depths. Far as I remember he said there's different layers and at some points in the year they turn...but don't quote me on this. It's a big deep lake (puny compared to what you got in Manitoba!).

[Rick]

Do you keep the barrel weighted down so it's underwater and if so how?

[wildWoman]

It's not fully submerged, although that would probably keep stuff even cooler. But we don't have that much perishables in there. A rock inside keeps it halfway down and we have fastened it to the end of our boat dock.

[RangerXanatos]

I would not last long at 100F! Way too hot.

That's just the temperature. It's not including the humidity. :eek:

Oh, the joys of living in Georgia... :cool:

[crashdive123]

Heat index today 118F. Yippee. At least I got my attic work done early today.

[Rick]

There are three places I never want to be when it's hot or cold. Attics, railroad beds or asphalt roads flagging traffic.

WW - If you took a really big rock and looped one end of a pulley on it. Dropped the rock in the lake and looped the other end of the pulley around the barrel you could just pull the barrel right down into the water and then let it up when you want access.

Just thinking this thing through. I haven't tried it but seems like it would work if the rock was large enough to hold the barrel down.

[crashdive123]

Now that's some out of the barrel thinking. Nice idea.

[wildWoman]

There are three places I never want to be when it's hot or cold. Attics, railroad beds or asphalt roads flagging traffic.

WW - If you took a really big rock and looped one end of a pulley on it. Dropped the rock in the lake and looped the other end of the pulley around the barrel you could just pull the barrel right down into the water and then let it up when you want access.

Just thinking this thing through. I haven't tried it but seems like it would work if the rock was large enough to hold the barrel down.

Yeah, this is not the final set-up yet. But we just need the fridge for maybe another 3 weeks and then stuff will keep in the cooler behind the cabin because it's not so hot anymore.
For a proper set-up, we're trying to figure out a way to build it into the dock. The pulley system would probably work too. Thing is that over the summer, the water level rises quite a bit, what's an easily reachable spot in June will require swimming and diving in August. But we got the whole winter to think of a better way. Aaaaaah...winter. Nothing to do but eat, read, cut firewood and count moose. What a blessed time.

[Rick]

Attach the bottom end to the leg on the dock just above the lake bed. Pull on rope, barrel goes down. Give slack to rope the air pressure inside the barrel brings it back to the surface.

Man, here's a better mouse trap begging to be built!!!!!!

[crashdive123]

Wild Woman - is there water up to your dock year round with the level changes?

[Rick]

Here's some information on evaporative cooling.

http://www.appropedia.org/Evaporative_Cooling_(original)

Here is another link for a pot in pot cooler:

http://other90.cooperhewitt.org/Design/pot-in-pot-cooler

[bulrush]

Wildwoman, in that case I'd make my own "soaking barrel". Get a barrel big enough for one, fill with water, wait a few days until the water warms up, then soak in it on a hot day. Maybe paint half of it black, so it wouldn't get too hot.

I almost did that here but the neighbors would look at me funny.

[wildWoman]

Crash - it's a floating dock, so we have to keep winching it up as the water rises. Rick's idea with fastening the barrel to a leg of the dock wouldn't work because there's no legs.

Bulrush - that's a great idea. We have sort of a hot tub set-up actually, an old bathtub that we build a fire underneath. It's more the swimming I miss, not so much the soaking in warm water.

[crashdive123]

Sounds like keeping it off the end of the dock and weighting it would be simplest. I was picturing an anchored float and pulley system to the dock.