Iceless Refrigerators; Water Coolers

124. Comparative Efficiency of Iceless Refrigerators. In some localities, where it is difficult to get ice often enough to pay for having a refrigerator, other devices have to be depended upon for keeping food cool. Except when cold running water can be used in coolers, they do not take the place of refrigerators, because they cannot maintain the low temperature of a good refrigerator. As a rule, the best of the makeshifts are about on a par with the poorer refrigerators. They are very useful in emergencies.

125. Iceless Refrigerator. One of these devices is called the iceless refrigerator (Fig. 58). It depends upon the evaporation of water to make it cool. Water will evaporate sufficiently fast to cool a refrigerator enough to be of value only in a dry, hot, breezy place. Under the most ideal condition, an iceless refrigerator may hold as low a temperature as 65 degrees Fahrenheit, when the thermometer is registering above 90 degrees.

This refrigerator consists of a cloth-covered frame and a device for keeping the cloth moistened with fresh water. Since wind or a good circulation of air helps in the evaporation of water, the iceless refrigerator must be placed where breezes may reach it, and it should be anchored so that it will not blow away.

An iceless refrigerator may be made from a rectangular frame of wood, to which heavy canton flannel is buttoned or tacked. On the top of this should be placed a pan of water with strips of cloth extending from the water to the covering of the frame. This will conduct the water from the pan out onto the cloth. The number of strips of cloth regulate the rapidity with which the water is carried to the sides of the refrigerator. The food is set inside (Fig. 58.) The refrigerator should be placed in a shady spot where the breezes can strike it. Iceless refrigerators must be kept clean, and the covering of cloth should be washed occasionally.

Some iceless refrigerators are enclosed in a chimney-like closet built on the house, the cold air coming in at the bottom and being drawn upward by the natural draft of the chimney-like structures. This draft hastens the evaporation of the water. Such refrigerators are expensive and less satisfactory than ice ones.

126. Small Cooler. A few things may be kept cool, like a bottle of milk and a small dish of butter, by setting them in a shallow pan of water and covering them with a flannel cloth which comes down into the water and so remains moist (Fig. 59). The evaporation of the water from the flannel cools the food somewhat below the temperature of the surrounding air.

127. Covered Pail. Another device is a metal pail (Fig. 60) covered with a heavy layer of cloth and a pan set on top of the cover. Into the pan is put some water and strips of cloth to conduct out the water. This may be hung in the kitchen window if it is shaded. The cover and the strips must be secured so that they will not blow off.

128. Unglazed Earthenware. Unglazed earthenware pitchers and jugs make excellent water coolers. The water is put in them, and, as the container is porous, a small amount filters thru the earthenware, and, as it reaches the surface and air, it evaporates, cooling the remaining water.

129. Cooling with Running Water. A very little stream of water from a faucet will cool the baby's milk and keep it from souring. The bottle should be set in a pan of water which is constantly renewed by the small stream running from the faucet. (Fig. 61.) This method of cooling should be used only in homes supplied with water from a spring or in an emergency. Under most circumstances, it is too extravagant a method of keeping food to be recommended. In cities it should be prohibited because it might cause too great a drain on the city water supply.

A larger device used for cooling milk is a tank of running water (Figs. 61-a-b). The water flowing thru this tank commonly flows into another tank used for the watering of stock. Cans with inverted covers like those illustrated are waterproof, because the air is caught inside them so that it cannot get out for the water to replace it. It does not require a large stream of water to renew that in the tank and keep it cool. The efficiency of this device depends entirely upon having a supply of cold water available.

130. Refrigerating Plants. Refrigerating plants are sometimes installed in private dwellings. These consist of a motor and a machine for compressing gas, a chamber which is to be cooled, and sometimes coils of pipe containing brine.

When the gas—for example, ammonia or carbon dioxide—is compressed, it heats the pump which compresses it. That is, when a liquid or gas is being compressed, it gives up heat. When a liquid or gas expands, it takes heat from somewhere. In refrigerating plants, the expanding gas is made to take the heat either directly from the refrigerator or storeroom, or from brine which is then used for cooling the refrigerator or room. Refrigerating plants require the same care as pumps, motors and refrigerators.

131. Water Coolers. Since ice is not always pure, it is necessary to use cooling devices which do not permit it to come into direct contact with the water. One type of water cooler consists of a can set in an ice box with a pipe leading to the outside so that the box does not have to be opened every time that water is wanted (Fig. 62). This can should be made so that it may be removed, washed and scalded.

Another cooler consists of a tank or water bottle placed on the outside of a refrigerator or box of ice with a pipe leading thru the refrigerator or box of ice (Fig. 63). The water flowing thru the pipe is cooled. The pipe ends at the outside of the ice box with a faucet to let out the water. This cooler cools only the water flowing into the pipe instead of the entire tank of water.

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132. Care of Water Coolers. Put only clean, pure water into the coolers, and keep them clean by flushing them out occasionally with boiling water.