
An earth-cooled beer dispenser - gcoguiec
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
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cpursley
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 :)

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Lambdanaut
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.

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

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agoandanon
Because your beverage touches the outside of the can on the way to your mouth?

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Crito
Just rinse it off first. Most cooler water is pretty gross anyway.

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aluhut
This link created an interesting bug in my FF:
[https://i.imgur.com/1PZ01Ua.png](https://i.imgur.com/1PZ01Ua.png)

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minimalist
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.

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ant_sz
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...

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

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mschuster91
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.

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cmarschner
Probably not such a problem in Denmark...

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timdiggerm
Where there are no thieves?

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lutorm
No, everyone has plenty of beer in Denmark! ;-P

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oneeyedpigeon
Given that I don't choose a bigger fridge specifically to store beer in, and I
tend to have, say, 4-8 bottles of beer in the fridge at any one time, and I
wouldn't store anything else in the fridge to replace it, and a fridge becomes
less efficient the emptier it gets ... is this _really_ a good idea?

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Lambdanaut
Maybe it's not built for your home where you have electricity and a fridge.
Maybe it's built for your lakeside getaway where you go camping with the
family every summer.

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oneeyedpigeon
I suppose I can but dream :-) Seriously, I didn't mean to sound so negative in
that original comment, I just really wanted an excuse to install this in my
back garden!

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Crito
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.

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idrivebears
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.

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jqm
That looks cool. But I live in Southern New Mexico.

The soil temperature here gets very hot and isn't near beer cold even 3 feet
down. Perhaps I could still use one of these though. As an eco-friendly coffee
warmer. Fill it with canned starbucks and off we go!

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zokier
See also: cellar.

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

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mmoche
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.

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

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TallGuyShort
That's going to vary a lot more by location, and 2-4 feet puts you at much
higher risk for your beers freezing (although if you fully load this with
beer, you'll have some beers at 2-4 feet anyway). Where I live, for instance,
beers will probably freeze 2 feet below ground in winter. But my well is down
below 15 feet and is always liquid.

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zokier
I don't think this is supposed to be used at winter, and during summers I
don't think most people need to worry about beers freezing.

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soperj
$400?? That's insane.

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izzydata
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.

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jib
Danish KR, not Swedish. About 350 USD.

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soperj
I did a CAD conversion.

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viggity
if this interests you, you should checkout a Zeer Pot (aka Pot in Pot)
refrigerator. No electricity, but does require water and can get down to 43F.
[http://practicalaction.org/zeerpots](http://practicalaction.org/zeerpots)

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Crito
Another type of non-electrical refrigeration is using an icebox in conjunction
with an Icyball
([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icyball](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icyball))

You have to 'charge' the Icyball periodically with a bucket of water and a
fire, but they can go well below freezing.

I've never seen a modern incarnation of the idea, even though with some
training it could probably be manufactured locally in countries with poor
access to electricity. Maybe that is worth looking into... Here is a homemade
version that might be the basis for a modern version:
[http://crosleyautoclub.com/IcyBall/HomeBuilt/HomeBuilt.html](http://crosleyautoclub.com/IcyBall/HomeBuilt/HomeBuilt.html)

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bozokill28
What's the e-commerce platform / shopping cart / whatever behind this?

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chuckouellet
It is [https://snipcart.com](https://snipcart.com)

We are seeing a lot of activity on the website since it's on HN ;)

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xellisx
It's showing that it's only being used with cans, instead of bottles.

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thecodemonkey
This makes me proud to be Danish.

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fredsted
Indeed. Now if only I had a garden.

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chuckreynolds
that is seriously cool

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xxxmadraxxx
Pffft! Just drink it warm. Cold beer is for poofters who don't really like the
taste of beer.

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jcampbell1
I guess this is awesome if you really like drinking 55-60F beer.

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

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fivedogit
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?

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lutorm
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.

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zokier
Based on quick search, the average air temperature in Denmark is
8-9°C(46-48F)[1]. I suspect that you don't find that cold ground temperatures
though. I found some local statistics about ground temperature[2], which shows
that even around here the invention would barely work in the warmest months.
And I'm living nearly thousand miles northwards from Denmark, from the same
source the average air temperature here is -2°C.

I'm just giving this as more nordic perspective, seeing that most HNers
probably are from US/warmer climate.

[1] [http://www.dmi.dk/en/klima/klimaet-frem-til-i-
dag/danmark/te...](http://www.dmi.dk/en/klima/klimaet-frem-til-i-
dag/danmark/temperatur/)

[2] [http://i.imgur.com/LrUEPP7.png](http://i.imgur.com/LrUEPP7.png) ground
temperature at various depths

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lutorm
_And I 'm living nearly thousand miles northwards from Denmark_

That's far north... Tromsø? Kirkenes?

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zokier
> Kirkenes?

Close but wrong side of the border :) I'm currently (stuck) in Ivalo[1],
family home is in Utsjoki

[1]
[https://www.google.com/maps/place/99800+Ivalo/@68.6499997,27...](https://www.google.com/maps/place/99800+Ivalo/@68.6499997,27.55,7z)

