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Chest Fridge (2009)

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Re: Chest Fridge (2009)

#41

Post by hn_throwaway_99 »

frogulis wrote: post #40
hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I literally don't understand this comment at all. What point are you trying to make?

They seem to have mixed up horizontal and vertical, and if they did, then my reading is that they're saying the cost of the extra floor space (and the loss of the "shelf" space on top of the fridge) when using a chest fridge makes the economics unfavourable for people in dense urban areas, even with the energy savings. At least, I'm hoping that's what they meant. If they really meant horizontal and vertical in the wa…

Yeah, I understand your first sentence, but the last part of their comment was

"Plus, a horizontal fridge is just… convenient. You can’t even put things on top of a vertical fridge."

Don't they mean a horizontal fridge is a chest fridge? Which would make it sound like they want their whole comment to be in support of a chest fridge? Which is why none of it makes any sense to me.

Re: Chest Fridge (2009)

#42

Post by KPGv2 »

refactor_master wrote: post #7
tempestn wrote: post #4

It's a cool idea, and might be great for a secondary fridge. For a primary fridge though, it's so much more convenient to have direct access to everything through a vertical door. I like energy efficiency, but I'm willing to pay 300kWh a year (around $40 here) for that convenience, let alone the space efficiency.

Most people in dense urban areas would actually pay less. By going vertical you’re freezing a whole m2 that was otherwise necessarily occupied by the fridge. In most places, 300 kWh is much cheaper than an extra irrevocable m2 for your fridge. Plus, a horizontal fridge is just… convenient. You can’t even put things on top of a vertical fridge.

Did you by any chance switch "vertical" and "horizontal" at every point in your comment?

Re: Chest Fridge (2009)

#43

Post by KPGv2 »

tshaddox wrote: post #29
asutekku wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's inconvenient as soon as you need to get something from the bottom of the fridge, kitchen layout does not change this one at all. And I grew up in a home with multiple chest fridges in addition to a shelved ones so I know the hurdles. They are good to store something you're not accessing all the time though, like frozen berries etc.

I think that inconvenience could be manageable depending on how full the fridge is and what sort of organizing features it has. It’s already pretty inconvenient to get something out of the back of a traditional fridge that is completely full.

Yeah, my in-laws literally stand around the fridge with it open for multiple minutes while they shuffle food around to get to things they've tetrised into the back, and then to re-organize once they've gotten what they need.

They periodically live with us because they're quite old at this point, and my wife and I have already discussed replacing our fridge/freezer combo with a standalone fridge and switching solely to a chest freezer in the mudroom just so they stop doing this with the freezer, too.

The freezer is almost entirely for things already in boxes anyway. Frozen wontons, frozen ice cream cones, microwaveable meals, frozen blocks of fish. It's all easy to organize in a chest freezer.

I'd never considered a chest fridge before, and if I didn't have a wife and kids, as of today I'd be seriously considering it. As it is, can't trust kids not to make an inaccessible mess of something like that, and wife wouldn't like the kitchen arrangement becoming wonky. Though the fridge's current position makes it clear a previous owner didn't understand anything about kitchen layouts when they remodeled a MCM home.

Maybe I could put a chest fridge there with cabinetry above (gap between), and then some place we currently have cabinets all the way to the floor, remove the bottom and put in another chest fridge.

Might be something to consider once we've fixed all the supreme fuckups previous owners did.

Re: Chest Fridge (2009)

#44

Post by frogulis »

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #41
frogulis wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They seem to have mixed up horizontal and vertical, and if they did, then my reading is that they're saying the cost of the extra floor space (and the loss of the "shelf" space on top of the fridge) when using a chest fridge makes the economics unfavourable for people in dense urban areas, even with the energy savings. At least, I'm hoping that's what they meant. If they really meant horizontal and vertical in the wa…

Yeah, I understand your first sentence, but the last part of their comment was "Plus, a horizontal fridge is just… convenient. You can’t even put things on top of a vertical fridge." Don't they mean a horizontal fridge is a chest fridge? Which would make it sound like they want their whole comment to be in support of a chest fridge? Which is why none of it makes any sense to me.

That's what makes me think they've simply mixed up horizontal and vertical, because you can't (conveniently) store things on top of a chest fridge, but you can store things on top of a vertical fridge. Basically I think they've got a coherent point if you swap vertical and horizontal throughout their whole comment.

Re: Chest Fridge (2009)

#45

Post by KPGv2 »

zeroq wrote: post #14

It's more about freezers than fridges. Less frequent access and ton more work to get the temps back. I never thought about it but it was such an a-ha moment for me when I recently learned about it that I'm genuinely flabbergasted why it's not more popular.

We have two chest freezers for long-term breast milk storage, and the wife ad I have already discussed replacing our conventional freezer/fridge combo for a standalone fridge and only using the chest freezers once the breast milk is all gone. I'm pretty excited about it. Chest freezers are in the nearby mudroom, and it's not like a fridge, where you are grabbing tons of vegetables, dairy, meat, etc. for a single meal.

If you're using the freezer for a meal, you're probably pulling out frozen fish and nothing else, or a microwaveable meal, or something. You are't pulling out carrots, bok choy, pork, milk, cheese, etc. So put it outside the kitchen. A freezer is for storage. A kitchen is for food preparation. Not the same task.

Re: Chest Fridge (2009)

#46

Post by KPGv2 »

nlawalker wrote: post #30
femto wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Makes sense if the drawers completely fill the volume of the fridge, so most of the air is inside the drawers and there is minimal air loss when the door opens. If the drawer fronts were insulated, each drawer would effectively be its own chest. Edit: On a reread, I'm guessing you were talking about individual refrigerated drawers? Multiple drawers in a single insulated box (as I interpreted it) could work though, as…

If you designed around it, it would fit where existing kitchens have drawers, and the space typically reserved for a vertical fridge would be occupied by shelving. Kind of a neat idea. Microwave drawers are a thing.

Under-counter refrigerators are also a thing. They're often not cheap, though. KitchenAid has a two-drawer one for around $3,000. But you can find off-brand ones for $700, too. I don't know if the KitchenAid is that much better. There are things to take into account. It's not just as simple as 'put short, 24" deep fridge where drawers go."

Re: Chest Fridge (2009)

#47

Post by tempestn »

frogulis wrote: post #44
hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I understand your first sentence, but the last part of their comment was "Plus, a horizontal fridge is just… convenient. You can’t even put things on top of a vertical fridge." Don't they mean a horizontal fridge is a chest fridge? Which would make it sound like they want their whole comment to be in support of a chest fridge? Which is why none of it makes any sense to me.

That's what makes me think they've simply mixed up horizontal and vertical, because you can't (conveniently) store things on top of a chest fridge, but you can store things on top of a vertical fridge. Basically I think they've got a coherent point if you swap vertical and horizontal throughout their whole comment.

I'm also wondering if "freezing" was meant to be "freeing".

Re: Chest Fridge (2009)

#48

Post by fwipsy »

KPGv2 wrote: post #42
refactor_master wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most people in dense urban areas would actually pay less. By going vertical you’re freezing a whole m2 that was otherwise necessarily occupied by the fridge. In most places, 300 kWh is much cheaper than an extra irrevocable m2 for your fridge. Plus, a horizontal fridge is just… convenient. You can’t even put things on top of a vertical fridge.

Did you by any chance switch "vertical" and "horizontal" at every point in your comment?

The words are intrinsically ambiguous. A standard fridge opens horizontally but stands vertically. Is it vertical or horizontal?

Re: Chest Fridge (2009)

#49

Post by pierrec »

doughecka wrote: post #37

Reminds me of Fly Away Home with the round fridge that would lift out of the counter. True story: "The refrigerator is round, rising from under the granite countertop with the touch of the button. “The pneumatic fridge works with air compression,” she says. “You step on the button and it pops up and the racks spin like a lazy Susan. Cold air is heavy so it stays cold.”" https://www.thestar.com/life/home-and-garden/pa…

Now that is the coolest fridge I've ever seen. Found a video of it in action (yes, featuring the same dad joke all over the comments but that is not stopping me): https://youtu.be/RoGuvvzHY1A?t=416

That entire place is mind-bending.

Re: Chest Fridge (2009)

#50

Post by [deleted] »

gnabgib wrote: post #9
wolfi1 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

he mentions inverter freezers at the end so it must have been updated more recently

I don't think so? The PDF includes "today (2009)", and also "started in 2004". It's been featured on HN before.. as far back as 2009. Unfortunately the archives first caught the (same) text in 2021, so that's not helpful. rcfox's criticism from 2009 still stands (6 points, 2 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=865991

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