Cooling Food by Evaporation

[Alexa]

Hi!

I'm a product designer currently studying for an Msc and am looking into domestic food cooling systems - wondering whether there is an alternative to the electric refrigerator. I'm keen to test out the 'pot-in-pot' system, but am doubtful whether this would work indoors. I don't have a science background so was hoping someone might have some tips or advice!

What I'm wondering is, is there sufficient airflow inside a house to allow cooling by evaporation to work?

Would this system cause problems by increasing the humidity indoors?

Is it crazy to even try to make this method work indoors?

If anyone knows any books or websites about non-mechanical cooling methods please let me know!

Thanks,

Alexa

[Clara]

I've used a pot-in-pot in a pantry indoors with no throughflow of aire, it worked really well - and it was summer here in the south of spain. Sadly I didn't take any measurements, though a friend of mine had hers outdoors in full sun and managed to keep it a constant 8 degrees, mine was cool enough that a can of beer kept inside would be as cold as you would expect from a fridge.

[alexgadd]

... and turning off the fridge. We live fridge-free in the south of spain and only use a freezer a couple of months of the year when we have sufficient solar power. It is totally doable in your climate.

What problems did you come across? I'd be happy to see if I can help. Did you try a pot-in-pot, they work terribly well but I gave up on ours as I found it unnecessary!

I've used a pot-in-pot in a pantry indoors with no throughflow of aire, it worked really well - and it was summer here in the south of spain. Sadly I didn't take any measurements, though a friend of mine had hers outdoors in full sun and managed to keep it a constant 8 degrees, mine was cool enough that a can of beer kept inside would be as cold as you would expect from a fridge.

Hi Clara

We too live fridge free, using the evaporation of water from sand underneath a very large terracotta pot, and find we have no problems with keeping vegetables etc. cool and fresh. Would this describe the 'pot-in-pot' you mention above? Would like to hear more about yours if possible.

You can see to the right of this photo the terracotta pot.

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh26 ... GP1094.jpg

Cheers

Alex

[Clara]

Looks identical, though you don't mention a second pot. Mine was made of a small pot inside a larger pot, inbetween the bottoms and sides filled with sand and kept wet. TBH I've given up on it because our pantry is so good we don't need a fridge and we've now got enough solar power to run a small freezer in the summer, which is infinitely more useful to me than a fridge.

[alexgadd]

The sand is in the bottom tray, there is another pot inside that is used as 'fridge shelf'. In your experience should I have some sand inside as well as under the big outside pot?

I have insufficient solar for any large appliances and we are not advanced enough to be worrying about a pantry, am working on the basics at the moment like a compost toilet, veg patch and planting fruit trees for the future.

Thanks for any additional info.

Alex