Can You use the Freezer (in emergency) to cool hot apartment?

[SuzeOFan]

I was pondering this question on this 100th year anniversary of the invention of the air conditioner.

Say you had a poor inner city elderly person in a small apartment. The heat outside is 100+ and all they have is a box fan to cool themselves with.

Is it feasible for them to open the freezer and cool their apartment with it?
After all, what is air conditioning - but refridgeration?

Look forward to hearing your answers!

[sweeps]

No. Heat comes out the back of the refrigerator/freezer, which would result in no difference in the overall temperature of the apartment (other than the initial cold blast you get by opening the door). In fact leaving the fridge door open slightly increases the temperature of the room because of the energy needed to run it.

[SuzeOFan]

Has anyone ever tested this?

What if there were a way to divert the heat?

[34saving]

If you could divert the heat reasonably effiiciently it could work. (Ever wondered why air conditioners are "window" or have a condenser outside?) It would be very expensive and would damage the fridge. They would be better off taking a cold shower/bath/sponge bath and laying on the bed naked with a fan blowing on them.

[SuzeOFan]

The reason I brought this up is because we're having a heat wave around here. 95 and up today. The most vulnerable are the elderly people. Occasionally the city will offer free box fans to needy people when it lingers a little too long. Despite that, you always hear of heat stroke or heart attack victoms (usually the elderly) at this time.

Since *everyone* has a refridgerator... I just wondered if there could be a way to change the refridgerator into a cooling system for the room. You've heard of people doing that with the stove to keep warm.

Maybe if they had plastic tarp enclosing the kitchen to make the area smaller.
I mean when you're talking about a life or death situation - could it be done?

A cold shower would only work for a limited time.

[boefixepa]

It would be better for the city to provide transportation to libaries, malls, or other public places that are cool. There is no easy answer for this, that is for sure, but opening the fridge/freezer would not work, not even for a day. They would freeze over/overheat and then they'd be with a fridge/freezer and worse off then before.

[markio26]

interesting question and replies... a troubling problem with the elderly is memory too... would they remember to turn on the air if they have it... a friend just purchased life alert and they can program it to your needs... she needs to remember to lock down the house and garage at nite...

note: if you place a cold wet wash cloth to the back of your neck, it will help cool your body down...

[LittleGopher]

Maybe a better use for the fridge-freezer is to make (or keep) ice cubes. If the cubes could be heaped into a bowl, place the bowl in front of the fan, and sit in front of the fan and bowl. I've been told that very early a/c on vehicles worked this way - huge ice blocks were placed on a rack on the front of the vehicle, and when the car moved, the air was cooled as it blew across the ice. As people traveled in the midwest and west, they'd make stops to replenish the ice blocks. Nothing like we have it now - of course, the roads were only two narrow tire tracks snacking across to the horizon back then.

I haven't actually had to resort to trying ice in front of a fan, so I don't know if it would help all that much. And I imagine it definitely wouldn't do much with a high dewpoint (humidity) as well as high temperature. The ice cubes could be used to make ice water, and staying hydrated is extremely important for the elderly (and everyone else!)

It is such a sad/bad situation. Too bad small a/c units aren't as cheap to distribute as box fans. I guess helping the elderly who we know might be vulnerable, as well as donating to agencies that offer help is a small way to help.

[Cap'n Rob]

You'd proably be better off going to the supermarket or the mall - without substantial modification a freezer would be a poor substitute for cooling (with the exception being pouring ice cubes into a cold bath and sitting in it)

everything you could do to cool yourself will end up costing you cash at the end of the month and this has to be a consideration -

they have benches at the mall - bring a book and enjoy it if able.

I just worry about the pets.

[SuzeOFan]

Originally Posted by Cap'n Rob

You'd proably be better off going to the supermarket or the mall - without substantial modification a freezer would be a poor substitute for cooling (with the exception being pouring ice cubes into a cold bath and sitting in it)

everything you could do to cool yourself will end up costing you cash at the end of the month and this has to be a consideration -

they have benches at the mall - bring a book and enjoy it if able.

I just worry about the pets.

That's fine for you and me - but how about an elderly person with limited mobility? Most can't just skip on down to the mall because they have no car - like a widow - and wouldn't be likely to even if they could. Having to depend on others to get anywhere. Stuck in a multiplex without ac? Some would rather suffer than ask for help because they don't want to be a burden on anyone else. They're like that you know.

I'm really talking about an emergency situation. Not simply a warm day.
Maybe a heat wave where there are days on end of very hot and humid temps.

Maybe someone could invent some kind of gadget that would make it easy to use the fridge to cool down a room in an emergency?

I'm talking cheap and effective cooling for the elderly.

It was just a thought....

[Cap'n Rob]

well, factoring in limited mobility makes things tough - even if you made a kit that could cover the back of a fridge and vent it out the window.. how many limited mobility could install it - it's a hard deal .. makes me think that when I'm older I"m gonna be in the same spot ..... even with a window a/c today in our neck of the woods they are mostly overwhelmed with 105 degree temps and humidity ....

I dont think theres any great answers here as if there were we'd all be using them. The best answer I could think of is not cooling the whole airspace but only cooling the person directly - saving them money and making the idea feasible - but nothings gonna work perfectly -


I'd still have to say in an emergency situation in those conditions you're better off in a cool bath with ice cubes to dump in over time - at least it'll keep you alive.

[PrincessPerky]

IMO someone needs to figure out how to use the heat from the fridge all year round..it is just sent on out out be dispersed, and usually siiting right next to the oven..which is in need of heat well on occasion anyway.

But the dehydreation problem is often the worst, and many people do not use their water very often..drink it! even room temperature water will help you cool off (sweat comes from somewhere!)

[SuzeOFan]

Sounds good about the fridge heat. Hydration is probably the single most important thing whenever your in the heat.

But I never could bring myself to just drink water until I started using a small plastic bottle of water. Maybe it's the fear of dust! but I like to drink water out of a bottle - even if I fill it up from the sink. I hate drinking water from a glass (unless it has ice). I'm actually more likely to drink more water from a bottle.
I have one next to my bed at night. But I drink more water now than I ever did.

I buy those 'pop-ice' sticks by the case for the kids. (only $3.99/100 case!) They eat them all day long and I know I'm keeping them well hydrated.

If the elderly could be encouraged by friends and family to eat more icecream and drink more fluids - that might help lower the incidence of heat stroke.

[neatdesign]

I don't know about cooling down the elderly, but Honda does this to cool down its Ohio factory workers:

Honda uses ice-chiller to cool workers

~ Jenney

[Amorphous02]

http://www.thriftyfun.com/tell_a_friend.ldml?tf_index=tf53032907>
Please vote on this thrifty tip.
I have a perfect solution: works for me with out fail!
I Handwash my bedsheets, hate the "community" washing arrangements. I drench mine in ICE, place them in Freezer and after 1-2 hrs, i hang then in front of our window fans that are pulling the air in. the ones that are taking the hot air out are at the other end of the apt: this circulates the air very well!

Also useful: put the bamboo mats/ curtains (that they sell in the home improvement section) in the freezer(chest freezers work) after you have sokaed them in water. When you take them out you will see icecles:YAYY!!
Now mist them with your favorite air-freshener and hang them in front of windows/fans. This should work for most of the thrifty low mobility senior citizens. You will end-up with a fragarant soothing cool air.
A lady posted that she hangs her old sheets after wetting them, cools her apt by 5-10 degrees.

[shengmei]

The thing is that fridges are actually very energy-inefficient. Not only does more heat comes out of the condensation coil, it also wastes the tremendous amount of energy due to the replacement of old-fashioned cooling agents with environmentally-friendly but less efficient ones.

I would say to just walk to the nearest store and stay there all day long. Hubby and I stay at a bookstore. We haven't had to buy any books or magazines this summer since we read them all in the bookstore.

[shengmei]

A much better option than using the refrigerator for cooling is to replace all the lightbulbs with energy-efficient ones.

I did that and my apartment went from 84 to 82.

[asmom]

No one has mentioned that elderly people are less able to recognize high temperatures, that is why they wear sweaters in June! Also, they do not sweat as much and they certainly don't drink as much as they should so they get dehydrated and that is what is behind a lot of the elderly deaths in summertime. I say this to say that it doesn't matter what means you have available to cool them, you have to get them to use it first!

[DayByDay]

Originally Posted by asmom

No one has mentioned that elderly people are less able to recognize high temperatures, that is why they wear sweaters in June!

My in-laws came over for dinner two days ago (yesterday the temperature was 108). MIL (age 84) was wearing long black polyester pants with a long-sleeved black polyester shirt! She didn't want any ice water and asked for a cup of coffee instead. I was so worried about her and felt awful that our a/c is broken. I put a little fan on the table directed right at FIL & MIL.

[flash]

Even if the refrigerator didn't work on heat exchange, the motor is not designed to run continuously. Also the coils will also become so coated in ice that it will fail to run. Air conditioners rely on fans to push the air through, which a refrigerator doesn't have. Not enough cooling capacity.