This post is going to be a bit long because it will be largely media, since I’ve done no writing for the last several months and have been busy in my shop. I will let the pictures and videos do…
Blog Archives
Refrigeration – Back at it!
Oh my; where to start? I’ve been away from the blog so long, and have so much to discuss, I fear I know not where to start. I’ve written quite a bit about refrigeration in the past, but that…
Tagged with: diy refrigerator, propane, r290, refrigeration, refrigerator, vapor compression
Posted in Dehumidifiers, Hot Water, Personal, Philosophy, Refrigeration, Refrigerator
Posted in Dehumidifiers, Hot Water, Personal, Philosophy, Refrigeration, Refrigerator
Noodle Soup Village – A Tiny House Community
For twenty eight years I’ve been searching for something. A mission, a purpose, a place to call home. I’ve been searching in myself, in others, in culture, books, careers, and geographic locations. I seek a lifestyle in which my actions…
Tagged with: "cooperative consumption", "lending library", "navy shower", "portland, "solar panel", "solar thermal", "tiny house on wheels", "urban living", "washing machine", carshare, communal, communal living, commune, community, composting, composting toilet, conservation, dehumidifier, food storage, gardening, hot water supply, humanure, minimalism, or", refrigeration, RV, rv living, tiny home, tiny living, village, zoning
Posted in Dehumidifiers, Dwelling, Hot Water, Humanure, Personal, Philosophy, Refrigeration, Refrigerator, The Squatch, Tiny House, Water
Posted in Dehumidifiers, Dwelling, Hot Water, Humanure, Personal, Philosophy, Refrigeration, Refrigerator, The Squatch, Tiny House, Water
The KillCap Catalogue
I enjoy designing vapor compression machines. It all started with a refrigerator. I have thought long and hard on how these mainstays of modern living could be improved and someday I will make some of them a reality. In the…
Tagged with: air conditioner, appropriate technology, dehumidifier, flooded evaporator, heat pump, refrigeration, refrigerator
Posted in Dehumidifiers, Hot Water, Philosophy, Refrigeration, Refrigerator
Posted in Dehumidifiers, Hot Water, Philosophy, Refrigeration, Refrigerator
The Great Gravity Flooded Evaporator
I’ve grown quite fond of the gravity flooded evaporator in the last year or two. It has a number of advantages over a dry type evaporator. I’ve discussed some of these in previous posts (here and here) and I will no doubt…
1930s Household Refrigerators
The evolution of the household refrigerator is not a well known story. There seems to be few people interested in the subject. Perhaps it is not as romantic as the development of the automobile. Nonetheless, a concerted effort was put…
Tagged with: antique, capillary tube, expansion valve, float valve, refrigerant, refrigeration, refrigerator, thermostatic
Posted in Old Refrigeration Texts, Refrigeration, Refrigerator
Posted in Old Refrigeration Texts, Refrigeration, Refrigerator
Trying Not to Blow Myself Up
I advocate hydrocarbon refrigerants for vapor compression systems whether it’s refrigerators, dehumidifiers, split systems, whatever. There are a lot of advantages to them over proprietary cocktails like R-134a, R-22, 410a and so on. First of all, they are naturally found…
Tagged with: propane, R-134a, R-290, refrigerant, refrigeration, vapor compression
Posted in Refrigeration
Posted in Refrigeration
Refrigerator Cabinet Design – Part 2
In Part 1 I complained a good bit about the design of conventional refrigerators. Since I was a little kid, I thought that surely their must be a better way make a refrigerator more convenient and at the same time consume…
Tagged with: brine, compressor, condenser, evaporator, killcap, PCM, phase change material, refrigeration, refrigerator
Posted in Refrigeration, Refrigerator
Posted in Refrigeration, Refrigerator
Refrigerator Cabinet Design – Part 1
I have some issues with the current state of domestic refrigerators. Anyone who has read my other posts is probably well aware of this fact. A Better Refrigerator, The Killcap Refrigerator and Hand Crafted Refrigerators. I have a great deal of…
Tagged with: chest freezer, COP, freezer, lazy susan, refrigeration, refrigerator, sliding door, turntable
Posted in Refrigeration, Refrigerator
Posted in Refrigeration, Refrigerator
“Free” as in “Freedom”
A part of technological design I think is important, is the distribution model chosen. In a dominantly capitalist economic system, marketability seams to be a deciding factor in the success of an idea or even whether anyone bothers building something…
Excerpts from “Elementary Mechanical Refrigeration” by Fred E Matthews, 1912
The following are several pages taken from the above mentioned book. A similar explanation is more or less copied in “Power’s Principles of Refrigeration” of which I have a 1921 copy. Take special note of the beautiful illustration below. Clicking…
Tagged with: back pressure, condenser, evaporator, heat engine, heat pump, refrigeration, steam engine, temperature pump, thermal potential
Posted in Old Refrigeration Texts, Refrigeration
Posted in Old Refrigeration Texts, Refrigeration
On the Subject of Compressors
The refrigeration compressor is where all the ‘magic’ happens. To understand the process of compression is to understand the fundamental principles of mechanical refrigeration. A compressor is the mechanism that allows us to reuse that same refrigerant over and over.…
Tagged with: clearance volume, compressor, discharge valve, ice machine, refrigerant, refrigeration, refrigerator, suction pressure, suction valve, volumetric efficiency
Posted in Refrigeration
Posted in Refrigeration
Recycling Hot Water
There are a number of different ways to heat domestic water for bathing, washing clothes, dishes and whatever else people need. Electric Resistive, Natural Gas, Propane, Kerosene, BioMass, Solar, Heat Pumps and even Compost Heaps come to mind. Obviously, some…
Tagged with: appropriate technology, biochar, COP, heat pump, hot water, refrigeration, sustainable, water heater
Posted in Hot Water, Refrigeration
Posted in Hot Water, Refrigeration
Hand Crafted Refrigerators
I’ve been collecting antique refrigeration books for a little while now and so far, my favorites have been two editions of ‘Household Refrigeration’ by H.B. Hull. It is a beautifully laid out book covering both thermodynamic engineering principles relating to…
Tagged with: air space, cabinet, cork, insulation, refrigeration, refrigerator, sliding door, thermal mass
Posted in Old Refrigeration Texts, Refrigeration, Refrigerator
Posted in Old Refrigeration Texts, Refrigeration, Refrigerator
An Outlook On Phase Change Materials
Phase Change Materials, usually abbreviated as PCM’s are wonderfully useful for thermal storage applications. These materials make it possible to store large amounts of heat relative to a substance’s mass. They do this in a similar way to the working…
Tagged with: glauber's salt, ice, paraffin, PCM, phase change material, refrigeration, refrigerator
Posted in Refrigeration
Posted in Refrigeration
Some Old Refrigerating Machines
I recently purchased these two books from abebooks.com. They are the second and fourth editions, 1926 and 1933 respectively. I don’t remember what they cost, but I would have easily payed double. They are filled with illustrations and descriptions of…
Tagged with: evaporator, GE, heat pump, high side float, ice box, low side float, monitor top, refrigeration, refrigerator
Posted in Old Refrigeration Texts, Refrigeration
Posted in Old Refrigeration Texts, Refrigeration
Some Thoughts On Refrigerants
Refrigerants are the blood of a vapor compression system. They are pumped round and round in an infinite loop of compression and expansion. The types of materials selected for use in refrigeration are based on a number of factors, the…
Tagged with: ammonia, appropriate, heat pump, hydrocarbon, refrigerant, refrigeration, refrigerator
Posted in Refrigeration
Posted in Refrigeration
The KillCap Refrigerator
As it stands right now, the machine I would most like to develop is a pedal powered refrigerator and possibly freezer. The compressor and drive mechanism will consist of a metal framework supporting a heavy flywheel perhaps 40 centimeters across…
Tagged with: appropriate technology, PCM, refrigeration, refrigerator
Posted in Refrigeration, Refrigerator
Posted in Refrigeration, Refrigerator
A Better Refrigerator
If you ask most people, “What are the most important things we are going to need in a peak oil world?”. I can guarantee that a better refrigerator won’t make it into their top 20. It probably won’t even come…
Tagged with: appropriate technology, peak oil, refrigeration, refrigerator
Posted in Refrigeration, Refrigerator
Posted in Refrigeration, Refrigerator
Household Refrigeration 1927
Notice the individual cabinet like doors on the refrigerator and the swinging drawer at bottom. Most units were belt driven external drive in this book. There was extensive use of flooded evaporators with low side floats at this time. I…
Tagged with: flooded evaporator, ice, refrigeration, refrigerator
Posted in Old Refrigeration Texts, Refrigeration, Refrigerator
Posted in Old Refrigeration Texts, Refrigeration, Refrigerator
musings on entropy 