An earth-cooled beer dispenser

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=da&u=http://www.ecool.dk/&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dhttp://www.ecool.dk/%26biw%3D1680%26bih%3D929

by gcoguiec • 12 years ago

73 76 12 years ago

translate.google.com

grimmdude• 12 years ago

That's pretty awesome. I wonder how well it works in the summer.

eskil• 12 years ago

Obligatory joke about danish summers goes here.

mmoche• 12 years ago

Depending on location, ground temperature tends to stabilize once you get a few feet down. Here in the northeast United States, it's about 60 F year-round once you get 15 feet below the surface.

I worked for a company that was making direct-exchange geothermal heat pumps for homes - think about a big refrigerator whose coils are buried in the soil.

dlsym• 12 years ago

(About 15,5 °C)

Brashman• 12 years ago

15 feet sounds pretty deep to dig to install something like this. Any idea what the temperature is like 2-4 feet?

mschuster912• 12 years ago

I'd be worried about fools trying to steal my beer - can't see a locking mechanism on that picture. And no, I'm not joking - some retards once stole a whole fridge worth of beer from a friend's terrace.

cmarschner3• 12 years ago

Probably not such a problem in Denmark...

timdiggerm• 12 years ago

Where there are no thieves?

thecodemonkey• 12 years ago

This makes me proud to be Danish.

fredsted2• 12 years ago

Indeed. Now if only I had a garden.

soperj2• 12 years ago

$400?? That's insane.

izzydata• 12 years ago

Where do you see that? I only see 1895 KR which google claims to be $285 worth of Swedish Krona.

Still expensive. Google might also be giving me the wrong currency.

jonas_b• 12 years ago

It's in Danish crowns, which equals US$346

jib• 12 years ago

Danish KR, not Swedish. About 350 USD.

cdoelling• 12 years ago

Yea, I wonder how long it takes you to make your money back on the fridge savings. Good conversation topic at least for the BBQ's.

Crito5• 12 years ago

I imagine it would be most useful for people who camp without electricity often. However dry ice is very cheap (like $1/lb cheap) and more convenient (you don't have to dig a hole) so unless you are camping very often or camp for very long periods of time, it would probably take a very long time to break even.

It is a pretty cool idea though, that alone could justify part of the price for some people.

tambourmajor• 12 years ago

Less aristocratic but I would simply dig a hole for a bucket on a string.

Crito5• 12 years ago

It might be a translation issue, but "well insulated" seems like exactly what you don't want for this sort of cooler. Maybe they mean the top is well insulated while the bottom is not.

idrivebears• 12 years ago

Keep in mind its Google's translation, what they probably meant is there will be no dirt on your beer when you pull it out.

jcampbell1• 12 years ago

I guess this is awesome if you really like drinking 55-60F beer.

Otherwise, this is luddite technology designed to appeal to ecotards.

jksmith• 12 years ago

True dat. Half frozen Corona is the rx for summer heat. And once you've been in a quick mart beer cave on a 100 degree day......

lutorm5• 12 years ago

I'd wager Denmark never gets anywhere near 100F...

fivedogit2• 12 years ago

Exactly. The ground is usually 58F. I remember reading about this in a thermal home book. (If you effectively bury 3/4 of your house, you only ever have to warm it to 70F from 58F.)

It's actually somewhat funny. Did they think there were ice cubes under the grass when the designed this?

zokier5• 12 years ago

Did they think there were ice cubes under the grass when the designed this?

Permafrost does exist, albeit not at Denmarks latitudes.

lutorm5• 12 years ago

AFAIK, the ground temperature will be the average air temperature over the year. It's certainly not 58F everywhere, because in Siberia there's permafrost, and in Denmark might likely be less than 58F, too.

msandford2• 12 years ago

The ground is not usually 58F. It depends entirely upon where you live AND how deep you go.

Where I live, in Houston, TX the readily-accessible ground temperature is in the high 60s or low 70s.

fredsted2• 12 years ago

Amazing how a little fun garden gadget can evoke such repugnance.

cpursley• 12 years ago

Interesting. At our family lake house, we've been putting beverages in a net with a rope and dropping it to the bottom off the dock. They always come up cold :)

Lambdanaut2• 12 years ago

Haha I imagine this works really well in most places. If I tried this in Florida I think I'd pull up a pile of green sludge with my beer.

peterwwillis3• 12 years ago

Use your pool instead of the canals?

TeMPOraL2• 12 years ago

As long as it doesn't eat through the can, I don't see a problem ;).

aluhut• 12 years ago

This link created an interesting bug in my FF: https://i.imgur.com/1PZ01Ua.png

peterwwillis3• 12 years ago

Same here. It seems like most or all google translate links do this.

Glyptodon• 12 years ago

Same thing here. Sometimes I wonder if Google makes certain things buggy in FF on purpose.

minimalist• 12 years ago

The solution is to disable https everywhere (if you have it enabled) and to make sure that you are accessing translate.google.com insecurely.

For what it's worth.

ant_sz• 12 years ago

I love this invention. Imagine put one in your back yard and the next time you are holding a party, you can take out your beer like a magic.

But I think compared with the CO2 that comes out from your beer, the CO2 release reduced by saving electricity isn't that much...

lutorm5• 12 years ago

The CO2 in the beer is not of fossil origin, so it's not a relevant comparison.

zokier5• 12 years ago

An earth-cooled beer dispenser

Related Stories