An electricity-free underground fridge
A Dutch designer has invented an underground fridge that does not use electricity. Floris Schoonderbeek created the Ground Fridge, an underground cool storage solution, for Dutch brand Weltevree.
Modern houses are often built without a basement while a lot of people nowadays feel the need for one: theyre focused on healthy food and, for example, grow their own food or buy in bulk at the local organic farm market. An innovative version of the traditional root cellar, the Ground Fridge is for the new cosmopolitan with its own vegetable garden and a modern self-sufficient existence.
The fridge makes use of the insulating effect of the ground and the cooling effect of groundwater. The temperature inside remains stable throughout the year between 10 and 12 C _ the ideal temperature for the storage of, for example, fruit, vegetables and cheese.
The spherical Ground Fridge is buried and covered with the excavated earth. This layer of soil is about one metre thick and insulating so the temperature inside the fridge barely varies. The fridge is equipped with wooden shelves for storage.
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