Old Fridge to store paint for winter

[FSR BIKER]

I am sure some of you have heard or are using this idea to store your paint, etc during the cold months but I have a question. For those who haven't heard of this basically you use an old fridge with a 25 or 40 watt bulb inside that is always on that will prevent anything from freezing. My question is what shouldn't you store inside and did you vent it anyway or is it not necessary.

[Hillbilly]

wire up a thermostatic switch and the light won't have to burn all the time. i built what you're talking about, except i store all my welding rods, and related supplies in it.

[PAToyota]

I had a suggestion to use one of those "heat rocks" for reptiles instead of the lightbulb. Makes some sense. Practically no chance that it will burn out.

[FSR BIKER]

Both good ideas, I like the rock idea since you eliminate the chance the bulb popping and possibly igniting something.

[PAToyota]

That comment (ignition) had also been made to me, but I wasn't exactly sure how much of a deal it really was. The idea of the bulb burning out and junking all your paint seemed like more of a concern. Better safe than sorry on the ignition issue, I suppose.

[PTSchram]

Put the thermostat box outside the fridge so the switch is outside, run the sensor inside. A little secret about thermostats, thrift stores often have piles of old waterbed thermostats for cheap! the light bulbs ought to work fine in an insulated environment.

Any container for the storage of flammables should be vented to the outside atmosphere. Even the big boxes found in industrial facilities make comments about either venting or using blast disks to release any pressure that builds up should there be an ignition.

[CanuckJeeper]

This is essentially the controller that you need. They are often used by homebrewer to control the temperature of a fridge externally.

http://www.williamsbrewing.com/CONTROLLER_II_P183.cfm

JP

[PTSchram]

Originally Posted by CanuckJeeper

This is essentially the controller that you need. They are often used by homebrewer to control the temperature of a fridge externally.

http://www.williamsbrewing.com/CONTROLLER_II_P183.cfm

JP

$99! The waterbed thermostats are damned near free at the thrift stores.

[CanuckJeeper]

Originally Posted by PTSchram

$99! The waterbed thermostats are damned near free at the thrift stores.

I was only SHOWING what can be used. They can be had for much cheaper.

If you are a REAL cheapskate like me... You use a mechanical (aka "mercury switch") heat-only thermostat, a 12VDC power supply, a car relay, and you rig the thermostat to turn the light bulb on - YES, the 12VDC relay WILL let 110VAC thru. I've tried it and it works.

The beauty of that setup is that you can mount the thermostat upside down and it will work in the opposite, ie it will turn on the fridge when it gets too hot.

JP

[PTSchram]

I'm using a waterbed thermostat for my yeast incubator. The waterbed thermostats are self-contained in that one does not need an outboard relay or other circuitry.

I mounted the capillary tube inside the incubator, the thermostat outside, removed the connector that went to the waterbed heating element and wired it up to a 60 watt light bulb.

Cheap, simple and it has no problem keeping an uninsulated plywood box at slightly above room temperature. I'm certain a similar setup would work even better if put inside the insulated box of a refrigerator. Now, I need to build one for my welding rods

[ironpig70]

i thought about using an old freezer over a fridge because its lockable to keep people out, namely my kids.