Cooler?

[Rick Potter]

My remodel is coming along, and pretty soon I have to build the kitchen. My wife was telling me about living in an old house which had what she called a cooler, where they put the fruits and veggies. She was not talking about a 'root cellar', she insists it was a cooler.

As she describes it, it was a cabinet in the pantry, which had an opening in the bottom, open to the crawl space under the house. Presumably, this would let cooler air into the closed cabinet.

She wants me to investigate the possibility of making one of these in our new pantry, which is on a raised foundation floor, about 32" above the ground. I was wondering if anyone has knowlege of how to construct one, and if it really would work.

I am thinking of a cabinet, floor to ceiling, with a hole in the subfloor below it, covered with screen to keep the bugs out. This cabinet would have multiple slatted shelves to hold the fruit. Is this the way it works, or am I missing something? Does it need holes in the top to allow circulation?

Anyone have such an animal?

Rick Potter

[john duglus34]

Definitely need for holes on the Top otherwise cool air never comes. Fell free to ask if you want anything you want.

[James Jaragosky]

Definitely need for holes on the Top otherwise cool air never comes. Fell free to ask if you want anything you want.
Do you really want your crawl space venting into your kitchen?
Because that sounds like a result of what you are planning.

[Lee Schierer]

Bear in mind that cool air sinks, does not rise, so even with vent openings to the room or only the crawl space the cupboard will be warmer than the crawl space unless you use some mechanical means to move cooler air into the pantry.

[Dan Friedrichs]

Do you really want your crawl space venting into your kitchen?
Because that sounds like a result of what you are planning.

Yeah - yikes. I don't think I'd want that either. You veggies might take on that musty crawl-space smell. Also, is radon a concern?

It's an interesting idea, but I think I would rig up some sort of mechanical refrigeration device. Bury some PEX, fill with water, and hook to a radiator, pump, and fan....

[Doug Shepard]

I think my grandmothers house had something like that. It was a small closet area in the kitchen directly over the root cellar in the basement. It was cooler in there, but that whole area in the kitchen was downright chilly in the winter.

[phil harold]

My brother in Bay area had this. It was vented to the outside at the top and bottom of an upper cabinet

[Rick Moyer]

Well at least she didn't ask you to did a big hole in the back yard, build a small building over it, and put a crescent moon on the door.:D

[Mac McQuinn]

My wife and i are Bungalow enthusiasts and if you check some of the many publications out there on Bungalows you will find Coolers noted. I was at the Craftsman home Weekend last October in Pasadena and toured more than one home with a Cooler, usually located between the kitchen and pantry. Never saw one in cellar. Was a cabinet door in-letted into wall approximately 12" wide and 18-21" tall, about 8-10" deep. Looked like a small framed window w/ screen on outside. When you opened door to access fruit or veggies, everything was on shelves. Neat thing was you could open the screen door from outside and put veggies, etc on shelves right from the garden and when it was needed, pull them off the shelf and wash it for eating. There were no provisions for winter as temps in CA are rather moderate all year-round. I'm sure you could make some mods so this would be usable for fruit and veggies year round.

Mac

[Rick Potter]

Thanks guys,

I always am impressed by the knowlege shared here.

Rick Potter