The Walden Effect: Farming, simple living, permaculture, and invention.

Thermal mass in the fridge root cellar

Kill-a-wattThermal mass
Experimentation is my favorite part of homesteading, so I hope you don't mind these endless updates on our refrigerator root cellar project.

With the well pump back in action, I was able to fill up a bunch of empty milk jugs with backup drinking water, following Rena's advice of adding more thermal mass within the root cellar itself.  Meanwhile, I plugged a Kill-a-watt meter behind the thermocube and light bulb so we'll know if that backup freeze protection turns on.

Unfortunately, I didn't make these changes until after our 12 degree night, so I'll have to wait until the next real cold spell to report back.  Stay tuned!

Our chicken waterer makes the backyard flock easy, clean, and fun.
Root cellar ebook


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About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.



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The Kill-a-watt meter will lose it's memory when it loses power. So, if I understand your system, the meter needs to be installed before whatever thermostat you are using.
Comment by steve specht Thu Nov 29 10:53:39 2012
Steve --- If you look closely at the picture, you'll see that the kill-a-watt is plugged directly into the power cord, then the thermocube, then the light bulb, to prevent that exact problem.
Comment by anna Thu Nov 29 11:08:31 2012

Anna just wanted to drop by and let you know that I am a great fan and visit everyday. Today at Hickery Holler Farm blogspot there is a review of your new book and some great comments from readers. Thought you might like to visit and make a few responses. Great book and I am sure one of my lucky readers will enjoy winning it.

Thanks for all your hard work

The Canned Quilter

http://hickeryhollerfarm.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-weekend-homesteader-review-and.html#comment-form

Comment by Canned Quilter Thu Nov 29 11:10:14 2012
Canned Quilter --- Thanks for sharing! I enjoyed reading the skills everyone mentioned over there, and appreciate you reviewing my book.
Comment by anna Thu Nov 29 11:41:54 2012
So, that's what a thermocube looks like. I thought it was a 3 way outlet.
Comment by Steve Thu Nov 29 21:18:51 2012





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