This has been one of my favorite retrofits in terms of energy usage. Theres a few ways to convert an old chest freezer in to a super incredibly efficient fridge. One involves changing the internal thermostat to fridge temperatures and the other is a plug in version which interrupts the power supply to also maintain fridge instead of freezer temperatures.
The result is a fridge which is so efficient that it is off the charts on those little appliance energy ratings which were used to seeing on whitegoods. So just incase you were only considering importing a primo german new fridge, consider this option too. A combinaton with a cool cupboard design might well be the ultimate in cold storage.
If you do need a small freezer consider tracking down a second hand 12/24/240V camping fridge/freezer. They have only ever been designed to be super efficient since they run on car batteries whilst mobile.
The resource on this stuff is at MtBest so I won’t get into it here. Check out his sound logic on how front opening fridges are inherently inefficient due to the volume of air escaping and how much more volume you can use in a chest fridge. The green change blog has a local example of putting not of these retrofit units to work, I’ve also happily lived in a handful of places with these things. Thought I’d post about it since it’s not very widely known.
Mt best chest fridge guide
Click on the PDF for all the details
Green change chest fridge conversion
Darren (Green Change)
May 23, 2011
Hey, thanks for the link! I’m also surprised the chest fridge conversion isn’t more widely known – everyone I’ve shown mine to is surprised how efficient it is, and they all think it’s a great idea.
frugalistmassive
May 31, 2011
so good to have working examples out there Darren. keep up the good stuff, nice blogging too! -d
tuckamoredew
May 24, 2011
That is such a good idea that I now regret getting rid of our little freezer a few years ago.
frugalistmassive
May 31, 2011
oh no! yeah we gotta get our hands on these things before they all end up in holes in the ground. keep your eye out! – d