Have the appliance attached to a duct that can blow in cold air during winter months when a sensor indicates that it could save energy over using the refrigeration mechanism.

Also, it allows for the condenser coils to be exposed to cooler air than room temperature for much of the year, so the refrigerator doesn't have to work as hard.

Also, since power outages usually occur during cooler times of the year, it allows food to stay cold if there's no power, unless the battery-powered sensor indicates that it'd be better just to be sealed up.

You just need to have a good screen system to keep bugs and critters out.
-- seal10, Oct 10 2001

In days of yore, rich people used to have cool stone-walled cellars where they'd keep blocks of ice that would last all summer. More recently, students have been known to hang perishable goods out their windows, with ample opportunities for hilarious thievery.
-- pottedstu, Oct 12 2001


In days of not-very-yore, poor people kept broken refrigerators on the unheated back porch and used them in the winter. (A broken fridge will still keep raccoons out.)
-- hello_c, Oct 12 2001



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