Every time I go to the city dump, I see a lot of dead fridges & freezers, and I wonder, what could I do with them? Would there be some freon evil that would leach into the soil if I used them for raised bed containers? Would they be too airtight to bury for root cellaring? Any ideas?

-- snoozy (allen@oz.net), May 08, 2000

Answers

We've seen plans for converting a dead frig into a smoke-house. And a dead chest freezer makes a good place to store feed, to keep the rodents out. I know there are other possible uses, but these two popped into my head right off.

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), May 08, 2000.

They make really good cold frames too - strip off everything you can, drill some holes in the back for drainage (or even cut the back off completely), dig a hole and bury it leaving 6 to 8 inches above ground, and build your frame on top of that.

-- Eric Stone (ems@nac.net), May 08, 2000.

hi we just threw away a large chest freezer. then after hubby hauled it away i thought darn that would have made a great worm farm container! our whole family fishes alot and i just hate having to buy worms and crawlers! i could have buried that freezer and filled it with good dirt leaves and coffee grounds and some worms and crawlers. then i wouldn't have to buy them anymore.didn't even have to worry abot the freeon cause there wasn't any left in it! darn well maybe next time! happy homesteading! cindy

-- cindy young (cin_sue63@webtv.net), May 08, 2000.

Old fridges and freezers make great storage cabinets. Add a light bulb to one for dry storage of things like welding rod.

There are 2 major problems with using them, however. One, kids can and do get into them or put other kids into them. So either keep the unit locked at ALL times, or disable the latch and drill air holes-ruins the thing for dry storage. Two, the refrigerant gasses need to be professionally pumped out. I think it is about $10, but you have to do the hauling to and fro. Freon is one of the possible names for the gasses, it is a trademark of Dupont.

A buried unit could potential have corrosion that would release the gasses if you didn't pump them out first. As for being too airtight for root cellaring, that isn't much of a problem, you can always drill holes. The biggest problem is with children putting themselves, another child or an animal in the things. If you pick up someone's old freezer, ask if they have the key for it. If not, put a hasp and padlock on old fridges and freezers to prevent tragedy. A hassle for those of us who realize the danger, but not nearly as bad as a dead child or puppy. Gerbil

-- Gerbil (ima_gerbil@hotmail.com), May 08, 2000.

If you make cheese, an old fridge or freezer makes a great mini ripening room. Keep it in a very cool place (like a root cellar or basement), with a pan of water in the bottom, for humidity-open for a few minutes once a day for air exchange. Like mentioned previously, great storage, as it's critter proof.

-- Kathy (catfish@bestweb.net), May 08, 2000.

We have used an old chest type freezer for feed storage. It keeps out most bugs & all the rats & mice. Works real good.It has a magnetic latch the even the smallest kid could open easily. We did break off the latch that was the locking mechinism just in case.

-- Okie-Dokie (www.tommycflinstone@aol.com), May 08, 2000.

I made an incubator out of one

-- Grant Eversoll (thegrange@earthlink.net), May 08, 2000.

Seconded on the locks; and where applicable air-holes. If they don't have only a magnetic catch, you can fit one. Otherwise something (say a padlock) that must be used with a key - best may be a chain, since that can ONLY lock with the padlock.

They are airtight (no air holes here) and insulated - great for storing things whose temperature shoudn't get too high, but which don't actually need refrigeration - some chemicals and pharmaceuticals, for instance. At worst, you can close them during hot days, then let cool air in early in the morning.

The grills - coils, etc - off the back make very useful mats outside doors for scraping off mud, evil thorns and seeds, etc. They make a useful self-supporting mesh for cages or doors; and while they're a bit fine, can also be used for lattice for growing things on. There is some other potentially useful tubing and wiring back there, and depending on design the sealed pump can/may be able to be taken or broken or cut apart to make bowls. Usually you've lost the refrigerant or compressor rather than the motor, so if someone were handy enough that way (I'm not) the motor might be salvaged too.

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), May 09, 2000.

They make almost dirt dobber (mud wasp) proof storage. I'm not sure anything is ever really mud wasp proof.

-- Green (ratdogs10@yahoo.com), May 09, 2000.

I remember seeing plans in TMEN yrs ago for a bread box solar water heater. They replaced the door with a double glazed frame and a hot waterheater core painted flat black inside the enclosure.

-- john leake (natlivent@pcpros.net), May 10, 2000.

snoozy, My frig went out and I put it out beside a shed in my chicken pens. I keep medicine for the animals and cetain tools that I want to be able to reach quickly & easily when I'm out at the chicken pens. Most everything small that pertains tot he animals, I keep in it. It has saved me a lot of "looking for stuff." Eagle

-- eagle (eagle@alpha1.net), May 11, 2000.

Good ideas, folks. I think what I'm going to do is this: I've got one raised garden bed at the top of a slope, and I had intended to terrace in two more with the usual planks & stakes routine, but now I'm going to collect dead fridges and use them as wall/bed/cold frame combined. Now let's see...avocado, almond, harvest gold, generic white...? I think 1969 brown -- snoozy

-- snoozy (allen@oz.net), May 12, 2000.

We have several defunct chest-type freezers that we use in the horse barns to keep grain in. Keeps the rodent problem to a minimum that the Jack Russell terriers can deal with. We broke the locks by jamming matchsticks coated in Crazy Glue into them and then broke the match off. Don't store grain in them that isn't well dried, we stored too new of grain in once and the whole thing started fermenting.

-- Julie Froelich (firefly1@nnex.net), August 26, 2000.

use #1 Old freezers or fridges make great fire proof safes. Add a hasp and padlock and use it to store important papers and photo's and the like.

use #2 Along those lines they work well for the storage of flamable materials gas ,oils, paints etc. Again, with a hasp and lock they also are good for any weed killers, bug killers, that need to be stored away from kids and pets.

-- JACK (INJACK1@AOL.COM), December 18, 2001.

Fridges make the best eski's!!

Remove the compressor and raditor and other stuff from the back of the fridge. Seal all of the holes. Put a few handles on it, possible a set of wheels, and you've got a 3/400L fibreglass eski!!

Should keep a bag of ice frozen for 2 or 3 days atleast! And you'll be able to fit atleast 10 cartons of beer!

-- max (max@email.com.tc), February 01, 2002.