There are many simple and practical substitutes to refrigerators, even more than teams are allowed to make in Champions League matches extending into extra time.
It may surprise you to know that long-term traditional methods are a part of these alternatives. Our forefathers also paid attention to keeping things cold. Think about it: there must have been a reason someone worked towards developing refrigerating systems.
You need to know now that regardless of the supplies type at your disposal or the type of shelter you occupy, there are always several ways to keep things chill & preserved. Let’s see some of these systems below.
Highlighting 6 Simple And Practical Substitutes to Refrigerators
Ice Machine/Bucket Cooler
There’s an easy way to create ice daily provided you live in an environment where the daytime & nighttime temps drop below freezing degrees often & remain so for hours.
With just a couple of buckets, you are good to go. To set up this system, fill a bucket with water & leave it to freeze so ice is made. When this is done, you have to remove the ice, beat into pieces & pour it into the other bucket, and then line it with a trash bag, making a handy cooler.
This is a quick way to keep your supplies cold, although you must live in a cold place for this to work. In some climates, only nighttime is cold, and this too is enough.
Ice Chest
The ice chest is another good option for persons living in cold environments. It involves the use of the ice chests of antiquities, which are simply windowsill boxes hung outside your house by the door or windows, and then hoping on the cold atmosphere to freeze or at least chill whatever is stored within.
Items to be stored here must be able to withstand freezing. This means that nothing beats this technique when the aim is to keep meat & specific vegetables preserved throughout winter.
These boxes can be made from any materials: you can use scrap metal or wood to make them, in fact. However, you’ll have to make tightly fitting covers to prevent unwanted foreign materials from getting into them. These involve insects that may be attracted by the smell of whatever you’re preserving, for example, meat.
Modern Cooler
There are truly overpriced brands when it comes to modern coolers, but I daresay the importance of this high-performer cannot be denied. Every prepper should have a standard one in his possession.
From the normal lunch box coolers to behemoth chests of treasure, these modern coolers will preserve ice for days & keep your stuff chill for days, too, as long as every empty space is filled up.
I understand that you may not be an outdoor enthusiast, but it doesn’t require much to imagine how beneficial a gear like this can be in a tailgating emergency. This is particularly essential if you depend on chilled medicines for health & survival. For preppers on the go, the small-sized modern coolers are a must-have.
Pit Chiller
Have you noticed that the earth is always cooler than its immediate environment? You could be sweating like you carried Jesus’ cross across the Sahara as you sit on your bed & immediately feel cool as you lie on the ground. That is why we always advise a sleeping bag when in the wild. Sleeping directly on the earth will suck out your body heat.
The earth is one large heat sink, and we can’t dig into it. To do so, dig a hole that’s about a foot deep in a shady area where the sun barely gets to. If you’re able to do this, that’s plenty of hot degrees chalked off.
In essence, what we are saying is a root cellar on a minuscule scale. All you need do is feel a container with the liquid or supply to be kept come & then put the container inside the dug hole.
To prevent the setup from dirt, you can place some stones or a wire rack at the bottom to directly keep the supplies from touching the soil. But of course, this is only applicable if the container you used has no bottom covering.
Root Cellar
And now the elder sibling to the entry made immediately above.
Root cellars are a time-old technique for keeping vegetables, fruits, nuts & squashes preserved. They are initially meant for root vegetables, though, which explains the name in the first place.
Root cellars can be built completely underground, but they are often built partly underground. These constructions hold an advantage over other alternatives to refrigerators, as they keep the item at a stable level of humidity while maintaining a constant degree of temp.
You can build your root cellar in an existing home, or you may decide to construct it separately from your main building. This system of refrigeration is quite impressive, and I’d advise it to every DIY-centric prepper. You don’t even have to wait for your refrigerator to develop a fault!
Evaporative Pot Cooler
This is an ingenious piece of ancient tech that has remained effective in the discharge of its functions forever. The setup is basically two typically clay pots of overlaying sizes. The first is larger, while the second is sized to fit into the first with some room to spare.
The mechanism behind this is simple. First, the first pot’s inner wall is lined with wet sand, after which the second pot is fixed in the space left inside. When this is done, you should be left with a small pot that’ll be kept cool by the evaporation.
Also known as Zeer pot, this simple yet amazing arrangement was primarily used in Africa & the Middle East. You can make one yourself without having to dispense a lot of effort. Some may find this pot heavy, but I think it’s portable.
Concluding the Simple And Practical Substitutes to Refrigerators
Many people are unfamiliar with the functions of these simple and practical substitutes to refrigerators. You should share this piece of knowledge with plenty of others. Equip the community for what may come. You don’t want to be the only oasis in the desert — a cold oasis at that.