Fridge With Coil Style Freezer - Insulating Freezer To Trick Internal Thermostat To Correct Temperat

[Cornelius]

Hi all,

I think I read all post regarding a cave set-up and hence hope I am not being redundant ...

For two weeks now I have successfully been controlling the temperature of my 4.2 cu ft fridge by simply encasing the freezer compartment with polystyrene. The fridge is a pretty standard compact fridge from Frigidaire (this is the model: http://salestores.com/frigid669.html) and uses the good old freezer tray with flap as its cooling coil. It obviously cannot be set to temperatures in the range of 50-55F, so what I did was slide a polystyrene sheet to serve as insulation underneath the freezer compartment and in front of the flap. I left small gaps, just enough that some cold air penetrates the now separate compartment. However, the key is that the freezer will stay considerably cooler switching off the thermostat before the bottom compartment reaches too cold a temperature. Once all is set and done you simply use the built in control to fine tune your desired temperature which to me appears adjustable in the range of 48-62F.

For humidity I have the vegetable bin filled with highly saturated salt water 9this also stabilizes the fridge's temperature fluctuation), and once the cheeses as in the fridge it seems that my humidity is somewhere around 85% (I would like to get this up a bit, but I am not sure yet how).

I hope this is some food for thought as a piece of polystyrene is just a couple of bucks and worth trying before you invest in a $70 temp control.

[Rich]

That's a pretty neat idea; and if it works for you, as it seems to do, then its a great idea.  I'm thinking that there will be a lot of variation in your system due to weather changes - i.e., summer vs winter.  And BTW, 85% RH is perfect - don't try for any more.

[Cheese Head]

Cornelius, thanks, great idea/trick for those with old style fridges with freezer compartment is I think cooling coils.

[Cornelius]

Thanks for your reply. I am pretty sure I will have to fight the elements as seasons change, but luckily I can still use the fridges own thermostat to fine-tune changes in temperature. I am obviously worried about humidity. As far as 85RH is concerned, this is pretty much my high end if the fridge is full of fresh cheese and since I like mold ripened cheeses, the recipes all recommend 95RH which seems a huge extra step to achieve. As mentioned, I have this set-up working now for two weeks and I will report if is fails at some point. I had the idea because most fridges with separate freezer fridge compartment use this principle to keep the fridge compartment cold, but not as cold as the freezer. The only compartment that is actually cooled is the freezer and the fridge just gets some cold air flow from above. Insulating my colling coil has the same effect and really has been working for me - and it doesn't bother me to have completely closed of the freezer section as it was a useless space anyways - too cold for cheese and to warm to keep let's say frozen cultures in it.

[DeejayDebi]

I have a cheap WalMart dorm fridge that's pretty good at being a freezer and not to bad at staying around 50 degrees. I keep bowls of water in the drawers and hang wet/damp cheese cloth near the sides and back with butterfly clips. Just re-wet them every day or so and it will stay upwwards or 93% RH.

[Maurice]

Definitely, the fridge with coil style freezer is totally fascinating! You have given me a tip. If that really works, it would be good then to try your idea on this!