Doing without refrigeration would be an excellent means of effecting population control. Spoiled food is a superb disease vector. Concerning aseptically processed milk, I wouldn't touch it. What is the energy comparison for aseptic milk in single-serve packages versus refrigeration? The Amish and Mennonites do not do without electricity. They are not connected to the grid, but they use generators and propane refrigerators. Pegi> Date: Thu, 25 Dec 2008 10:37:40 -0800> From: [email protected]> To: [email protected]> Subject: Re: [SustainableTompkins] Why not just dump the 'fridge altogether?> > > Why is the discussion even about a better, more energy efficient refridgerator? Let's discuss life without the refridgerator. > > Although you won't read about it in the New York Times, the refridgerator is as much an engine of sprawl and unsustainable growth as the automobile. It is the one appliance that has permitted us to eliminate the daily trip to the market and the need to live close to our food retailers. > > Moreover it's an appliance that the vast majority of people outside the U.S.. get along just fine without. They just treat and package their food sources in a manner that eliminates the need for refridgeration. > > Take milk for example. Much of the rest of the world uses aseptic packaging technology for packaging milk. As a result milk can sit on the shelf in a tropical environment for up to six months without refridgeration. It is also available in small enough packaging that it can be consumed in a day or less, thus elimination the need for home refridgeration after the package is opened. > > Been there, done that.> > Imagine how much our demand for energy and our generation of greehouse gases would drop if we just accepted room temperature milk and other beverages. > > It's not just the Third World that does nicely without refridgerators. A substantial number of the new homes built over the past decade in Seneca County just to our north have been built not just off the grid but without electric service entirely. > > They are owned by Plain Sect Mennonite farm families.> > George Frantz> > > > --- On Thu, 12/25/08, Joel and Sarah Gagnon <[email protected]> wrote:> > From: Joel and Sarah Gagnon <[email protected]>> Subject: Re: [SustainableTompkins] Prius as an emergency generator> To: [email protected], "Sustainable Tompkins County listserv" <[email protected]>> Date: Thursday, December 25, 2008, 4:04 PM> > At 07:02 PM 12/24/08 +0000, you wrote:> >Years ago I read about Amory Lovins setting up his fridge so it would vent > >heat outdoors in summer and, in winter, using outdoor air for cooling > >whenever the temp diff was propitious. Anybody doing that? Should be done > >by architects in designing a house.> >Andrejs> > I remember reading that too, and it makes a lot of sense. To pull it off, > though, you need not only to integrate it into the design of the house, you > also have to design the refrigeration device for it as well. I know of no > "off the shelf" product that is designed to take advantage of> exterior cold > air in the winter.> > In the summer, a ground source heat pump (operated to dump, rather than > pump!) would be more efficient than trying to dump heat into already hot > ambient air. It should be possible to use the same equipment that heats the > house in the winter to cool refrigeration units in the summer.> > When we first moved to this house, the refrigerator that came with it > needed a new door gasket. It was some weeks before I got it on. In the > meantime, it being January, we used the coldest room in the house as a big > refrigerator. It was plenty cold (the rest of the uninsulated house wasn't > much warmer). I know folks who keep refrigerators in unheated porches to > minimize run times. Unfortunately, this does not work very well. You may > have noticed that you have to adjust the thermostat in your fridge with > changing ambient temperatures. Perversely, the warmer the ambient > temperature, the colder the refrigerator gets at a given setting. The > freezer compartment is even harder to regulate. The controls are designed > for a relatively constant temperature environment. Better controls > (including separate thermostats for freezer and refrigerator compartments > and the needed ability to self-adjust the cooling to each compartment) > would cost more, of course, and so far manufacturers don't see much of a > market for high-end efficiency. The low-hanging fruit of energy efficiency > has already been picked, with better insulation and more efficient > compressors. Since the currently-produced products are not designed for the > longevity of their predecessors, further improvement in efficiency could be > rapidly introduced. I'd like to see a return to durability along with > improved efficiency.> > Joel> > _______________________________________________> For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, please> visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ > > RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for:> [email protected]> http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins> Questions about the list? ask [email protected]> free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org> > > > > _______________________________________________> For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ > > RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for:> [email protected]> http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins> Questions about the list? ask [email protected]> free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org _________________________________________________________________ Life on your PC is safer, easier, and more enjoyable with Windows Vista®. http://clk.atdmt.com/MRT/go/127032870/direct/01/ _______________________________________________ For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/
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