Ideal in the heatwave! Underground FRIDGE is 20 times the size of a standard refrigerator and naturally cools your food to 50°F year round – but it will set you back £15,000
- Dutch company has created a weirdly-shaped underground walk-in fridge with a 3,000-litre storage capacity
- It’s been designed for storing wine, general provisions or fruit and vegetables grown in your own back garden
- A battery-driven ventilator helps keep cool air circulating while expelling hot air to prevent food from spoiling
A subterranean ‘ground fridge’ can naturally cool your food without needing a mains supply from your home – but it will set you back a whopping £15,000 (17,000 euros).
The 300kg Groundfridge, which is being sold by a Dutch company of the same name, is 20 times the size of a standard refrigerator and has enough standing room for two people.
Made from hand-laminated polyester, it has a 3,000-litre storage capacity – holding the same amount of food as up to 20 family-sized fridges – and can keep a moderately cool temperature at 50°F (10°C) all year round.
It works on the principle that underground structures in the summer are sheltered from the blast of the sun and are therefore cooler than buildings above the ground, while being insulated from the worst of the frost in winter.
A battery-driven ventilator also helps expel hot air out of the exit and let cooler air circulate, keeping wine, cheese and homegrown produce from your garden from spoiling during heatwaves.
The Groundfridge is suited to the eco-conscious homeowner who wants to cut the electricity consumption of today’s slick indoor refrigerators – as long as they have 64 square feet to spare in their garden.
The company calls the Groundfridge ‘an innovative version of the traditional root cellar’ for today’s sustainable companies and ‘cosmopolitans with their own vegetable garden who lead modern, self-providing lives’.
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This unique underground fridge has been created in the Netherlands with enough standing room for two people. Its interior temperature is affected by local factors such as soil type, groundwater levels, exposure to sunlight, mound vegetation and the average outside temperature
The Groundfridge is apparently designed for storing wine, general provisions or fruit and vegetables grown in your own garden – and it has a lock on the door to keep intruders from helping themselves
The colour of the fridge’s door is green ‘so it will merge in the landscape’, while the body of the fridge is white to help reflect light.
Inside, the giant cooler has four shelves that go around its spherical interior, although it can be ordered without these at a cheaper price.
Lucky owners may delight at seeing unsuspecting visitors to their garden get a pleasant surprise when they open the door to a secret pod filled with tasty produce.
And to keep out intruders, an optional padlock on the door, which is not included in the asking price, can be operated from both the inside and the outside.
The Groundfridge is fitted with a battery-driven ventilator that gives the option of setting ventilation times to the user’s desired specifications
The giant cooler, which needs no electricity and has a 3000-litre storage capacity, has four shelves that go around its spherical interior, although it can be ordered without these at a cheaper price
The colour of the fridge’s door is green ‘so it will merge in the landscape’, while the body of the fridge is white to help reflect light
No soil needs to be disposed of when installing the Groundfridge, which can also be buried underneath sand (although your local authority might have something to say if it’s not installed on your own land).
However, installing the Groundfridge will require you to dig out a seven-foot-deep hole measuring eight by eight feet in size – a service that’s also not included in the asking price.
During the hotter months its cooling ability is bolstered by the additional battery-driven ventilator that inhales cool air to lower the temperature further, although it works without this option.
‘The Groundfridge uses the insulating capacity of the ground and the cooler night air temperatures,’ the company says on its website.
‘This allows the temperature within the Groundfridge to remain steady and cool throughout the entire year – the perfect temperature to store fruits, vegetables, wine and cheese, for example.
‘The lightweight Groundfridge is very easy to transport and install and placing it doesn’t require any permits like a normal cellar would.’
The company says: ‘The lightweight Groundfridge is very easy to transport and install and placing it doesn’t require any permits’
No soil needs to be disposed of when installing the Groundfridge, which can also be buried underneath sand (although your local authority might have something to say if it’s not installed on your own land)
According to the Dutch firm, the interior temperature of the Groundfridge is affected by local factors such as soil type, groundwater levels, exposure to sunlight, mound vegetation and the average outside temperature in the country it’s installed in.
It also recommends putting local plants and trees that can withstand drought on top of the mound created by the fridge to provide plenty of shade.
Customers should allow approximately eight weeks for delivery and are restricted to a maximum of one Groundfridge per address.
They also have to be based in Europe, meaning eco-friendly Americans miss out ‘for now’, the company says in its FAQ.
Unsuspecting visitors to your back garden may get a pleasant surprise when they open the door to a secret pod filled with tasty produce
The company calls the Groundfridge ‘an innovative version of the traditional root cellar for today’s sustainable companies and cosmopolitans with their own vegetable garden who lead modern, self-providing lives’
THE GROUNDFRIDGE: BENEFITS AND SPECIFICATIONS
Benefits
– Uses the insulating properties of the ground so the temperature within will barely vary.
– No permits required
– Lightweight and easy to install
– Dug in and covered up with the removed soil
– No soil needs to be disposed of when placing
– Big enough to comfortably stand in for 2 people
No household electricity needed
– 3,000 litres of storage capacity
Technical specifications
Globe diameter: 7 feet
Standing height: 6.8 feet
Storage capacity: 3,000 litres
Weight: 300 kg
Deepest point in ground: 7.2 feet from ground level
Hill diameter hill: 16.4 feet
Hill height: 5 feet
Material: Hand-laminated polyester
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