DIY cool refrigerator

Summer is really hot and one would never say that a refrigerator is an unnecessary accessory to keep one's vegetables and beverages fresh and cool. But the price of a refrigerator is so high that one would think of enduring the heat of summer rather than buying that costly apparatus. But here is an idea that can cut cost by 150 times and works quite smart.

This is a DIY (Do It Yourself) project. You can build it yourself. The items you need to assemble this cool refrigerator are available in any village market and are damn affordable- less than the cost of two days' vegetables! And, you don't need to worry about electricity bills. It works on capillary principle-doesn't need electricity!

I have built it a few months ago and it still works well for me. I spent Rs. 110 on two pots. The rest of the items were picked from household articles. A fridge at Rs.110 is quite an attraction, isn't it? Try it. You will like it.


These are the items you need

1. a plastic basin

2. two flower pots 
(with a difference in size so that one can be inserted into the other)

3. a towel

4. water

5. a handful of clean sand

6. a plastic sheet

7. a cleaning cloth

How to make it your cool refrigerator

1. place your plastic basin in an appropriate location where there is sufficient breeze and no direct sunlight.

2. place the bigger pot in the basin. 
(Note: some flower pots have a drain hole in the bottom. For both the pots, you should plug it using cement before you place them in the basin.)

3. spread a thin layer of clean sand at the bottom uniformly 
(so that both the pots do not grind against each other and damage each other)

4. place the smaller pot inside the bigger one

5. place the plastic sheet inside the smaller pot.
 This prevents moisture troubling your vegetables.

6. arrange your vegetables neatly in the pot. 
Hard ones below and soft ones on top.

7. fill the space between both the pots with clean water, upto the brim

8. wet the towel generously

9. spread it over the pot, carefully covering it. 
(the towel should stay within the plastic basin so that your house remains clean)

10. Ready. Your DIY cool refrigerator is ready. 
Open it after a few hours and feel the vegetables. They will be ice cool.

How to maintain

1. one should take out the vegetables everyday at least once and dry the walls of the inner pot using a cleaning cloth.
2. everyday, one should replenish the space between both the pots with fresh water. Never let it dry. This is the engine of your DIY cool refrigerator! If there is no water there, your DIY cool refrigerator dies.
3. twice everyday, wet the towel and spread it over your DIY cool refrigerator.

NOTE: Some vegetables need deep freezing. They cannot be kept for long in your DIY cool refrigerator. But vegetables like carrot, beetroot, brinjal, snake guard, ivy gourd, etc.