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offgridliving
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# Posted: 7 Dec 2015 08:26am
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I read through this thread just to get an idea of everyone's thoughts and experiences as refrigeration seems to be an big challenge for those of us living off the grid.
This was also the case with me, especially my first two years off the grid. I tried various things such as coolers, using ice, leaving things out on the porch at cooler times, etc. However, I had tremendous issues with wildlife (bears especially) helping themselves to my goods. Another big problem was that if I left the cabin for any length of time perishables would freeze.
So, I desperately needed a method of refrigeration that required little or no electricity and was bear proof. My solution was to build a cellar.
I excavated a large hole on the north side of the cabin where I was planning on adding an addition anyway. I poured a concrete floor and built walls out of cinder block. Concrete footings for the cabin addition were set just outside the perimeter of the cellar walls. Beams, steel grating, concrete block and several layers of tar-type roof material on top of it all were used for the cellar roof. The cellar access was framed in with large wooden beams. I ran a 4 inch diameter PVC pipe from above ground to vent cold air into the cellar. About 4 feet of back fill was then placed on top of the cellar after constructing the footings for the cabin addition.
Once the cabin addition was in place, I framed in the floor so that I can access the cellar through the subfloor via a hinged door and lifting off an insulated door. From the sub-floor of the cabin to the concrete floor is 12 feet. Internal dimensions of the cellar are roughly 5 x 8 ft. Temperature year round stays between 35 and 40 degrees F. The cabin is at about 10,000 ft elevation.
Now this project was a tremendous amount of work as you can imagine. But for me, it was a good solution to my situation. It is basically a large walk in refrigerator that requires zero electricity.
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Julie2Oregon
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# Posted: 7 Dec 2015 05:23pm
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offgridliving
What an awesome project and, yes, a permanent solution! I'm doing a crawl space block foundation with access from inside my cabin. I hope to use part of it as a root cellar. Perhaps more than that if the sustained temperature stays cool enough year round. It will only be about 3 feet deep, though.
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cspot
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# Posted: 7 Dec 2015 06:12pm
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Quoting: offgridliving Temperature year round stays between 35 and 40 degrees F. The cabin is at about 10,000 ft elevation.
Depending on where you live will dictate what temperature that you will get. Here is a good website that has alot of info. For example where I live the ground temp is 52 degrees or so. Not so good for refrigeration, but may still be good to at least get it there and then have another cooling device to cool to 35 degrees.
http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/Cooling/EarthTemperatures.htm
Offgrid do you have any pics of your setup as it seems like a cool idea?
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Brknarow
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# Posted: 7 Dec 2015 09:57pm
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Here's a page at Amazon with baskets. I've wondered about how I could get extra of those without badgering a likely uncooperative store clerk about it.
http://www.amazon.com/Grayline-40604-Storage-Basket-White/dp/B000LNQF82
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