Improved Natural Convection For Fridge

[Strange Steve]

With temperatures over 100 deg F on the hill west of Albuquerque, it’s known that natural convection air flow through the (in my opinion) poorly-designed refrigerator panel really starts to struggle. Had frozen blueberries in the freezer melt yesterday and WHAT A MESS that made!

There really isn’t a lot of space to put a fan inside to help cool the coil, but it appears that this method of allowing more natural convection air flow up through the coils is showing promise: just as hot today as yesterday, but the freezer seems to now be able to keep things FROZEN!

Having dealt with heat transfer and fluid flow issues for decades, I COULD suggest a better panel design to Thor...but they don’t want to hear from a crusty old desert rat like me. 😄

[Squerly]

Nicely done!

[PAtrailtrimmer]

Great ingenuity!

[Oneilkeys]

Great mod. I see you have the bug screens in the louvers - a necessity to keep out critters. What did you use for a bug screen on the bottom?

[Strange Steve]

Since I performed this mod, I've been making some SERIOUS ice--froze nine 16-ounce bottles of water and five trays of ice so far!

[Strange Steve]

I have some screen material to use but not very nearby. Fortunately, this is the high desert, not the swamp. Not very many little nasties to contend with right now, but the monsoon season is building--which changes everything. I won't go mindless of that sordid fact!

[tag8015]

What did you use to make the modification? Type of material?

[Strange Steve]

As this is a prototype, I used available materials: cardboard, duct tape, masking tape (for appearance and for partial protection against the rains we got the last couple of days). As this design has some proven utility, the next step is the use of more durable materials and a colapsible design when we travel anywhere.

[gnach]

Originally Posted by Strange Steve

As this is a prototype, I used available materials: cardboard, duct tape, masking tape (for appearance and for partial protection against the rains we got the last couple of days). As this design has some proven utility, the next step is the use of more durable materials and a colapsible design when we travel anywhere.

Thanks, Steve. Keep us informed

[16ACE27]

Our fridge is in the slide so it doesn't have the traditional vent on the roof, it has another side vent near the top for the hot air to exit. There are temperature controlled fans in the air flow path to improve circulation and even in the hot Florida summers we have no problem keeping either the fridge or freezer cold; in fact if we move the temperature control switch past 3 the fridge will freeze drinks and veggies.