Anyone done this?

[BootHead]

I was thinking of just wiring a light bulb inside an old upright freezer to keep stuff from freezing, mainly shop supplies like rtv, spray paint, window cleaner etc...

How hot would it get if the seal is still good? would there be a need for a thermostat rigged up?

 

[dodgechargerfan]

Never done it, but it's good enough to cook a cake in an Easy Bake Oven...

I'm not sure if I'm on the right path for the conversion but 1 watthour is equal to about 3.4 BTUs.

Figure a 100 Watt bulb at 5% efficiency that means the bulb is tossing 95W away as heat.

Over an hour's time - 95 watthours

that would equal to 323 BTUs.

In terms of radiant heat, which is cumulative to the point of the maximum temperature being radiated, that could get pretty warm over a period of time.

I'd hook up a thermostat just so I'd know how hot it is getting in there - even if it never got too hot, I'd still want to know.

 

[v8440]

DCF, one small quibble with your calculations, not enough to likely affect anything...I think you should assume 100% efficiency, because in the closed refrigerator, even the 5% turned into light will strike interior surfaces and be converted back to heat.

 

[restoman]

I've got a 60 Watt bulb glowing all winter inside my paint lockers.
Isocyanate products are not (supposedly) supposed to drop below 55 degrees and since I'm too cheap to leave the heat turned up in the shop, it serves me well. Thermometer says it is typically 60 -65 degrees on there and the lockers are not insulated.

One of the welding shops I used to work at kept their welding rods inside a fridge with a light bulb burning - mainly to keep the dampness away.

 

[Not A Duster]

Do it quickly before the tree-huggers have all of the incadescent light bulbs outlawed completely.

 

[BootHead]

Do it quickly before the tree-huggers have all of the incadescent light bulbs outlawed completely.

:bravo: bastids

DCF per the easy bake, I was also thinking that you can hatch chickens with a lightbulb.

I'll get all this figured out and it will be spring anyway:bravo:


Maybe two nights with a thermometer inside as an experiment

 

[68R/T]

Use a 40 watt bulb for less heat.

 

[69.5CUDA]

just take it all in the house

 

[65furyIII]

You're all wrong...............When you close the door, the light goes out!!!!!!

 

[BootHead]

yeah, and it's 12 degrees outside and I'm paying to keep the firidge at 45. :huh:

 

[65furyIII]

Yeah I heard that, I had to turn my garage beer fridge up cause my beer was freezing.

Mayby if I didn't open the door so often it would stay warmer in there.