Peltier Mini Fridge

So I just came into possession of a small filing cabinet, and was just going to store it. Then I had a crazy idea, why not make it into a mini fridge?


What I am thinking is using one or more peltier (never worked with these so I'm not 100% sure what I'd need). How is the 69watt one from Sidewinder? I didn't see any at jab-tech. I'm thinking I can just use one of my spare old psu's to power it. I have a couple 200 watt oldies.

As far as cooling the peltier, if it's just a 69watt one can't it be air cooled? If I through a tuniq tower (or whatever the latest HSF is) would that be enough? I'm looking for this to be mostly quite though. Also I was hoping for it to be mostly incognito, s perhaps a custom HSF, using a larger than 120mm fan and a copper plate?

I'll wrapped the filing cabinet with insulation, It's $10 for 31.25 square feet. I like this insulation because it's R30 compared to all the other insulation. If I can figure out how to remove the drawers of this filing cabinet, then I'll wrap the inside with the insulation and cut a small whole in the metal where the peltier(s) will fit.

The drawers themselves I'm thinking will be semi easy to put rubber around them to seal them when shut. I imagine I get get weatherstripping from the autopart store or find a local place that self rubber for fridge/freezer. Might even be able to go to a junkyard and find some.

Since I have the filing cabinet, I'm thinking total cost is peltier + insulation + rubber + HSF, $10 + $10 + $20 + $30 = $60 + shipping. I don't think that is too bad at all for a mini fridge inside a filing cabinet. What is your guys opinion on this? Am I thinking on the right track?

I cant imagine that small of a pelt would keep anything byt a low end dual core cool... Otherwise, you are at least pointing in the right direction.

EarthDog said:

I cant imagine that small of a pelt would keep anything byt a low end dual core cool... Otherwise, you are at least pointing in the right direction.

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So then, should I have multiple 69watt peltiers or should I go with a 226watt? I read the problem with the 226watt ones is the heat produced air cooling is really out of the question?

And therein lies the crux of the pelt issue..

It'd keep an atom nice and chilly, or maybe a single core celeron. That's about it though, you need a beefier peltier for duals (maybe a 45w dual).

Bobnova said:

It'd keep an atom nice and chilly, or maybe a single core celeron. That's about it though, you need a beefier peltier for duals (maybe a 45w dual).

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I don't think you (and now I think earthdog) understand what I meant. My goal is to make a mini fridge, where I can store food and drinks in. This in no way will be used for cooling any part of the computer (cpu/gpu). It's strictly a fridge. I know I know I posted in the extreme cooling section, but you guys are the peltier masters.

LOL, no I missed that part where this WOULDNT be used to cool a CPU. Did I suddenly warp to a HVAC site? haha!

Well on that, you lost me. Just buy a mini fridge for pete's sake.

EarthDog said:

LOL, no I missed that part where this WOULDNT be used to cool a CPU. Did I suddenly warp to a HVAC site? haha!

Well on that, you lost me. Just buy a mini fridge for pete's sake.

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but a mini fridge would stick out an in office environment
this way you can have easy access to eatables and the boss will be none the wiser

That sounds much more reasonable!
Give a shot, you'll want lots of insulation, but i bet it'll work.
Any modern tower heatsink should be able to cope with 100-150w fine.

You think one peltier will be enough? Also would a passive U1/U2 hsf work? I saw this one, I only point to that because it listed a max TDP of 95 watts. So if U bought a similar (cheaper) copper U1 and addd my own 120 mm silent fan you think that would work? I'd be great if I could get a HSF that instead of going vertical went horizontal, which is why i though of a u1 hsf.

are you planing to have it thermostat controlled?

if not it mite end up getting too cold in there. lol

Those "passive" heatsinks live in a space with a ton of airflow, all the passive rating means is that the fan isn't bolted to the heatsink.
I think a 1U/2U heatsink for a 95-100w quad core could probably deal with a 68w peltier, but there is something to consider:
Peltiers provide a fairly stable temp drop from side to side, the colder you can get the hot side the colder the cold side will be. A 1U heatsink that keeps the hot side to 110*f will give cold side temps of 50*f to 60*f, a larger heatsink that holds the hot side to 90*f will give you a 30-40*f cold side.
Obviously the numbers above are not exact, but you get the idea. One degree colder on the hot side equals one degree colder on the cold side.