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I've just read the article on replacing the humble refrigerator. I think the Italians used to make fridges out of plaster of paris. I think it would be easy to do. The top of the fridge is made concave to act as a water reciever. The water soaks throughout the plaster and the evaporation causes cooling. Perhaps a plastic box could be imbedded in the plaster to make it more hygenic. Potterycrafts in Stoke on trent sell potters plaster which is quite cheap.

Plaster of paris would disolve if it got wet.

Terracotta might work?

I use plaster of paris moulds for making pots. Liquid clay called slip is poured into the moulds and the water is absorbed into the plaster leaving a skin of harder clay inside (a bit like an easter egg) The plaster gets soaking wet and doesn't disolve, in fact some of my moulds are twenty years old and still going strong.

OOPS I think I put this in the wrong section.

Karen_Grace wrote:OOPS I think I put this in the wrong section.

Nah, its an innovation!

I like the idea and have never heard of it before so thanks for that. My mum was talking about a plastic version of the evaporation fridge that could be taken camping. It must have been a 70's invention as I can't find anything about it anywhere. She thinks it was called the osmo or something?

This all reminds me of evapouration coolers that are sold in summer as a cheap alternative to air-conditioners. All they do really is cool air by evaporation and have to be kept topped up with water. I haven't heard that they work very well, but the cooler box idea sounds better as it's a smaller space to keep cool rather than trying to cool a whole room

Yep, I seem to remember that too.
Think I might try it with an old plastic set of drawers I have, which are falling apart. I will have to find a way to insulate the front of the drawers seperatly so I can still open them.
I've got a feeling it will only work in full sun though and it will need to be topped up with water regularly.
Wish me luck

Defo, good luck Karen and let us know what results you get.

I've read something on clay fridges which I believe they use in India (or at least somewhere on the 'sub-continent') I suppose this is a variation on that ... I'll see if I can find out any more :)

Or the old Coolgardie safe......

You can make a camping fridge by digging a hole, putting in your goodies (wrapped in something waterproof) then cover with a hessian sack (weighted down) and pour water over it every now and then. The evaporation of the water cools the underside of the sack...
Or you can put your drinks in a nearby river (weighted down in a bag).

its amazing how well evaopartion works.. jsut throwing a wet towel over drinks when camping,, even in the sun, makes a massive difference.

Gidday

When I was a boy we had no electricity and our milk and butter were kept in a concrete pipe that was dug vertically into the ground just outside our back door.

I managed to find an interesting article on clay fridges... worth a look

sounds ideal for growing bacteria...

no thanks.