My plans had been to design a passive cooling system for refrigeration during the winter months for the Tiny House. However, here we were in the middle of an Iowa hot, humid summer needing refrigeration for the MicroMansion (MM).
In my travels I happened upon a small fridge/freezer combo at Sears that had been refurbished. At approximately 36" high it was a perfect solution for our refrigeration needs in the MM. Since we were not connected to the grid for electricity, I converted the veggie drawer into an ice bin and used ice for cooling foods throughout the summer.
It took a couple weeks and a few spoiled containers of milk before we acclimated to our new refrigeration system. After a bit of trial and error we discovered that a small bag of ice would last 1.5 days in really hot weather and up to three days when it began to get cooler out.
We ended up using the top freezer section as a bread box and just planned our meals without the use of freezer products. This was fairly easy to do as our meal menu experienced a huge healthy upgrade as we were eating more fresh veggies and fruits and converting nearly all of our foods to organic.
I must express that changing to an organic diet made a HUGE difference in our health and overall temperament. I can see a huge difference in the kids overall dispositions when we cheat and eat a non-organic meal, they have less patience with each other and tend to be less engaged in 'family'.
You are such an inspiring women. Trevor and I have had thoughts with you. Ever since we helped raise the sides of your house we have considered building our own tiny house. Keep it up girl you are awesome!
ReplyDeleteMandi