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In winter, the cost to heat your home can skyrocket, but you can actually use the freezing temperatures outside your advantage.
Before electricity was common in households, people used to keep their food cool in ice-boxes: Literally a wooden-box with a giant block of ice in it to keep it cool. A man would come around the neighborhoods in a horse-drawn cart, and sell fresh blocks of ice to the homeowners when the old ones melted.
We're going to take a tip from the old-timers to save a few dollars in electricity.
Get a 1 gallon ice cream pail, and on your way to work in the morning, fill it about 3/4 full of water and place it outside. When you come back from work, you'll have a great big pail of frozen ice... a giant ice cube!
Bring the pail inside and place it in your fridge. The giant ice cube will naturally cool your fridge, which means it uses less electricity because it doesn't have to run as often.
As the giant ice cube melts, water will collect on the sides and drip down into your fridge. Prevent this by putting a pan underneath the pail.
Notes:
- Since water expands when it freezes, you should only use flexible plastic containers; If water freezes in a container made of rigid material such as glass or hard plastic, the container can shatter.
- Since cold air sinks, you should place the pail at the top of your fridge to ensure uniform cooling
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