It's not the heat, it's the humidity. Using a mini fridge part time.

August 21, 2013 7:26 AM

So I have a seven year old mini fridge, very similar to this one, only seven years older. How can I use it minimally? Or should I let it go 24/7?

This summer it was perfect; throw pasta and cookies in there, have the kids pack their lunches ahead of time and shove them in there until morning, and so forth.

To keep it "full", I shoved in more and more pasta and cookies as my supply of children dwindled down to one for the last week or so of summer; unless school starts with horrible lunches we likely won't need this thing to fridge goodies full time until next summer when the thundering hordes rummage through again.

But right now, it's full of pasta. Bogo cheap stuff from the super market, giant bags of fine fine spatzle made in Germany (for nights I'm too lazy to make my own), and I'm even thinking of getting my dry beans and rice off of the counter and put in there.

I've cranked it down to its lowest setting now that it's all pasta, but can I, here in the humid dankness and heat that is Florida, just set it on a timer to run a couple hours a day at the lowest setting, just to keep the food (which is mostly in paper boxes; when I put in my pantry I seal in bags or bottles) fresh and unhumid-ruined?

The house, during the day, is kept at 85-82. At night, we step it back to 77 about a hour before we get home, 77 overnight, pops up to 85 until about 1 or 2, then down to 82, and back to 77 an hour before we get home. Right now the fridge is in the hallway of the middle of the house, near the thermostat. I'm looking at moving it to the laundry room (door open) which is usually 2-3 degrees higher than the rest of the downstairs (but gets no direct sun - just has limited airflow).

I've thought about using it for fresh food, but as I found out when the big fridge died, it's pretty useless for milk and eggs and fruit and veg for long times (dairy stays too warm or freezes, fruit and veg freeze if I try to keep the milk and eggs cool). Plus, we have a big fridge - and the spouse is delighted the pasta is no longer taking up a good portion of our freezer (as evidenced with the glee with which the rest of my family stuffed several gallons of ice cream in it was).

Can I run it for a few hours a day for pasta on a timer? Or does it make sense to run it all day, but on the lowest setting?

Alternative use: less pasta, more root veggies and apples. I end up buying them multiple times weekly as we go through them (or buy a weeks worth and they spoil before being used up). Again - run lowest full time, or lowish on a timer?

posted by tilde to Food & Drink (5 answers total)

Response by poster: And yeah, I don't have a ranged thermostats - working on it.

Program:

4pm 77
6:30 am 85
1pm 82
4pm 77
posted by tilde at 7:33 AM on August 21, 2013

Is there a reason you want to run it minimally? I can't imagine a mini-fridge, even one that is 7 years old, racks up the electricity bill by very much, particularly if you are keeping it at a food safe temperature setting. In other words not the coldest it can/needs to get.
posted by wocka wocka wocka at 10:16 AM on August 21, 2013

Response by poster: I dunno, hypermiling kick, I think. Just pulled my fridge thermom out of the big fridge (in the blue for fridge range) and threw it in the mini fridge (still in the hall, set to low and full of pasta and beans - house at 77 because the kids are home from school). Will see what the temp is at 5pm.
posted by tilde at 10:56 AM on August 21, 2013

Best answer: Well, conventional wisdom says that a) mini-fridges lack insulation so use more power than a full-size fridge per cubic foot of storage, and b) other than the more expensive kind using a compressor (these usually have a small freezer, though not a separate compartment) they can't keep much more than beer and soda cool. But if you only have so much space, they can be kinda useful. That is, they're only a "fridge" in the barest sense, and I really don't know that I'd even keep pasta in them.

Having the fridge near a house thermostat is probably a bad idea given the heat they put off.

This whole idea of "only running it sometimes" flies in the face of basic food storage recommendations, which is 40°F or below at all times. The fridge may not have a thermostat with temperatures on it, but you can use a portable to find out what setting keeps it at food-safe temperatures. Basically, if you allow the food to warm up for any period of time, it's going to let bacteria grow. So find the right temperature setting and keep it there or don't keep food in it.

Your best bet for long-term food storage and low energy usage would be a deep freezer with a top door.
posted by dhartung at 1:53 AM on August 22, 2013

Response by poster: Dry pasta, I should have clarified. :P

So when I got home last night, it was not in the "safe refridge zone" at lowish settings (no worries, only dry goods in there at that point). Moved it to middle dial settings and it's in fridge safe zone.

I'll probably stick to dry goods, then, or pop for the kids to splurge on.

As for long term storage, I know a deep freeze would be better - just trying to work with what I have.

Thanks!
posted by tilde at 9:51 AM on August 22, 2013