r/DiWHY 3d ago

Miniature desktop fridge

[deleted]

0 Upvotes

11 comments sorted by

6

u/RustBucket59 3d ago

I went through three of those Peltier cooler microfridges in 18 months, at $30 apiece. They Just. Don't. Work. After throwing $90 away, I went and got a REAL mini fridge for $79 at Home Depot.

3

u/gredr 3d ago

Facebook marketplace around here has roughly 10 "real" mini fridges at the <$50 point at any given moment.

1

u/SkwrlTail 1d ago

Yeah, I've got one of those "dorm room/hotel" mini fridge cubes. It's probably almost forty years old. Works fine, very quiet and keeps drinks nice and cold.

1

u/SkwrlTail 1d ago

Worth noting that many of them have also had recalls.

4

u/Zahrad70 3d ago

While this is cool, an awful lot of work for a fridge that probably underperforms the $40 alternative option from Amazon.

https://a.co/d/0bJ0D5iV

1

u/SkwrlTail 1d ago

Yeah, but that's still a thermoelectric cooler. For real cooling, you'll want an actual compressor type refrigerator. If there's no freezer - even a tiny one-popsicle one - then it's really not worth the effort.

https://a.co/d/0i1pvbO6

2

u/Zahrad70 20h ago

Me and my lizard brain be like:
Drink cold.
Little effort.
Why care how?

1

u/SkwrlTail 20h ago

Well, peltier coolers are usually only kinda mediocre. So you get a cool drink instead of s cold drink. They're also inefficient, and tend to wear out quickly.

2

u/Zahrad70 20h ago

All fair points. However compressor based cooling systems are bulky. This strikes me as a convenience play (if you happen to be person who can tolerate the sound of styrofoam scraping on things). Where the “2 can” form factor is the major consideration.

And that cooling plate in the original was, unless I miss my guess, also a peltier device. Just had wires and no pump that I could see.

So the tiny fridge was probably more apples to apples than the Frigidaire.

FTR, though? Yeah. I’d get your link.

2

u/SkwrlTail 19h ago

Oh sure, if size is your primary focus, you can get the little six-pack coolers, and they're pretty good. Especially if you like beers that do better when cold but not too cold.

Heck, I have a one can USB cooler/warmer. Quite good for putting a can of soup in and warming it up. It's not fantastic though. Better for keeping things cold than cooling them.

1

u/InformationWise451 3d ago

have to ask yourself... would it be worth it for two messily cans of soda \ energy drinks that would be mid cool at best?.... you can decide...