Fridge to keep stuff warm

[acer66]

I thought I remember to have seen people posting using a non running fridge with a constant running light inside to keep stuff warm during colder times.
If someone is doing that and how is that working out?

Thank you.

 

[jhn9840]

Buddy of mine used an old fridge as a rod oven. Worked well. Be surprised how warm a light bulb would make it.

jhn9840
John

 

[dirtrider88]

I keep paint in an old freezer. Have a light bulb plugged into a thermoucube outlet inside the freezer (on at 35F, off at 45F)... not sure if that's 100% ideal temps but at least it's not freezing.

 

[MScott]

Probably should use a low wat incandescent bulb. LEDs don't throw off much heat.

 

[Skiff Builder]

My shop fridge is full of boat building epoxy in winter. 40 w bulb.
Summer= beer/soda/bait/ice

 

[Falcon67]

Buddy of mine used an old fridge as a rod oven. Worked well. Be surprised how warm a light bulb would make it.

jhn9840
John

Back when we lived in the country, I kept the well house cross pipes from freezing - 3x3x8' tall with R19 insulation - with two 100w bulbs. One on the floor and one on the wall.

 

[strutaeng]

That's a neat idea. Maybe a 60-100W incandescent with a dimmer?

Put a thermometer in there and regulate the temp. via the dimmer.

 

[DJL1967]

I built my neighbour a towel warming box to put beside his hot tub. Insulated box with a 100w light bulb keeps the towel nice and toasty. Our winters get pretty cold up here.

 

[ER70S-2]

Use one of these or something similar to hold the temp wherever you want it if you need some kind of control. You can use a variety of things to provide the heat (light bulb, small ceramic heater, reptile heater, etc). They are so cheap that there's no reason to **** around with cobbling up some Rube Goldberd device with thermometers, dimmers, etc.

https://www.amazon.com/Inkbird-Max-1200W-Temperature-Controller-Greenhouse/dp/B01HXM5UAC

 

[2ltime]

I had an upright freezer that we used to keep beer in during the winter. It was on the back porch, unplugged. We grabbed one of those clip on lights you would commonly see in a chicken coop, a regular house bulb, and ran the wire through the door. The light was on a timer, we would put beer in there (pbr cans) and if they started freezing we would flick on the light for 20 mins or so. It was between -10 and -25 out with wind chill all winter, and this worked well. I would imagine a temp prob and readout would help. We tried to keep it just above freezing, so about a 20-30 degree real temp difference. If you opened the freezer every 20 min, we would flick on the light about once an hour.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[alfazer]

I use a dead fridge as a warming cabinet for honey. (I keep bees and if the frames of comb are warm then honey spins out more easily.)
I can use it for homebrew wine or mead too.

I wired up a small device called a STC1000. It's a digital temp controller with a heat sensor on a wire so it can be installed inside the fridge and keep the controller outside. They are very accurate to 0.5 degree and can be wired for heating or cooling.

It's a small fridge and I only need 30-40 degC so a 60W or 100W bulb worked ok. But I changed it for a small 100W tube heater because it's safer, won't shatter. Some folks add a small fan to help circulate the heat but I didn't bother.
The STC1000 is commonly available on Amazon or ebay for around £10UK, probably cheaper in USA. There are now even better ones for the amateur which come ready wired with a plug.

 

[Rattle]

Worked at a number of different shipyards and they had fridges with a lights bulb all over the yard for rod storage. Worked well. Not the same as a rod oven for hi/low but more than enough for the repair work.

 

[rbgearz]

I keep all my paint, car wax, caulking, etc. in a non running fridge. Using a 40w bulb and it stays right around 60 degrees all winter.

 

[rburke65]

Yes, an old refrigerator and a low wattage bulb will keep things dry and toasty.

 

[acer66]

Thanks for all the infos.
Looks like my old mini fridge will find a new use.

 

[oldecarnut]

a place my wife works had a fridge that wasn't getting as cold as it should. Repair man looked at it and said compressor is bad and they shut off by the thermostat, When she went to clean it out it was hot inside. Door switch was bad and fridge was trying to keep up with the heat of a light bulb burning all the time.

 

[The Cobbler]

years back I had an old fridge for a warmer. rigged up an electric heat stat to the bulb and set it to low. kept it above freezing. disabled the door switch & used the OEM socket with bulb in it

 

[kaymccampbell]

Back when I stocked a few hundred pounds of rod, I had a porcelain lined fridge rigged up as hot rod storage. A few light bulbs and a clixon switch kept my rods hot n dry. Too hot to touch with bare skin. If a batch got accidentally soaked, then I'd just put them in the oven at 325 for a while. Then back into the hot box.
Now that I just stock MIG wire, a nice dry cabinet is sufficient, so I sold the old hot box.