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I want to buy a mini fridge, not for food storage, but for storing stuff I don't want to evaporate (gets hot in my room during summers) or preserve.

I'm thinking maybe once in a while I want to make it extensible by putting a hole through it and then attach an insulated PVC pipe going to a cooler in the end.

I'm also playing around with the idea of being able to attach my PC water cooling system to the end of the pipe (though I haven't even set up my PC cooling system). As in the summer, my room gets almost as hot as the inside of my PC. Though I don't know if the fridge can handle that much heat being fed into it.

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  • What it the make and model of the fridge?
    – Tester101
    Commented Feb 28, 2016 at 16:34
  • If the cooling coil is the ice box and the condensing coil is on the back it might be worth a shot. Just make sure you don't cut one of the "freon" lines when punching the hole. Some coils are buried in the walls and the walls filled with foam. Can't repair these.
    – Ed Beal
    Commented Feb 28, 2016 at 17:15
  • Refrigerators are designed to operate at "normal" room temperatures. If your room is regularly > 90F degrees, it may be unable to maintain a cool temperature and will continuously. As an example, this owners manual says Ambient temperature below 50°F or above 85°F will hinder the performance of this appliance Worse, if the refrigerator is running all the time to keep cool, it's going to be adding to the heat in the room. So this plan may not work as well as you expect if your room gets unusually warm.
    – Johnny
    Commented Feb 28, 2016 at 18:19
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    All the heat that's removed from the interior of the refrigerator, is dumped into the room (plus whatever extra heat is produced during the removal of the heat). A refrigerator does not eliminate heat, it simply moves it.
    – Tester101
    Commented Feb 28, 2016 at 18:51
  • @Tester101 - All mini fridges will warm up a closed space even if left open. There is not a 100% efficient mini fridge on the market. So the inefficient way that the fridge makes the air cold will be offset by making ambient temperature warmer. Anyone with a mini-fridge in a basement bedroom or dorm room (without air/heat) understands that it can change the air temp by a 4-5 degrees.
    – DMoore
    Commented Feb 29, 2016 at 21:00

4 Answers 4

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The fridge will add more heat to your room.

You're much better off getting an air-conditioner, and keeping the fridge outside of the room.

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Careful, mini fridges often have their evaporator coils (full of refrigerant) embedded in the fridge walls. Once you've got your fridge turned on for the first time, if the walls feel warm, don't drill into them!

What's usually safe to modify, though, is the door. This isn't always true for chest freezers, but most fridges (large and small) only have foam insulation within the door.

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TL;DR No, this is a terrible idea.

Cutting a hole into a fridge, and hooking up a line to it that goes to your PC will not achieve the results you are looking for. The line will cause condensation to build up inside of your computer, and ruin it over time. It is also not very efficient for cooling.

A refrigerator will actually slightly raise the ambient temperature of the room. On hotter days, it will put out even more heat because the compressor has to work harder.

What you really should do is lower the ambient temperature of the room. You want to aim for a temperature that is below 80 degrees Fahrenheit. There will be a significant increased risk of component failure if it gets much higher.

An air conditioner is the cheapest alternative to lowering the temperature of the room. If you do not have one, and cannot put one in that space, then it would be a good idea to locate your computer in a different room that is cooler on average.

Water cooling is almost never necessary. They are most often used in overclocked computers. Usually, the stock fans that comes with a system are good enough. Usually, when people are complaining about overheating issues, they are either overclocking, or their PC is full of dust. If you are overclocking, put all of the settings back to default to see if that helps the stability issues. You should also spray out our machine thoroughly with compressed air, especially around the fans.

Some PCs do not have very good airflow. You can try adding or replacing fans to see if that makes a difference. Fans wear out over time, and can become less efficient.

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Not as crazy as putting your fridge in a hole. Sounds good to me, I don't see why it wouldn't be worth a shot. Well, except you "might" void the warranty. Don't forget an insulated cap for the pipe.

The PC cooling should work too, but I'd run that on the freezer tray as the fridge part my be struggling a bit to keep the bottom any cooler than the caddy cooler.

I'm kind of thinking if the caddy cooler's wider & can be a stable base while flipped on its side so the lid opens "like" the fridge that you might do better vertically since cold air drops & it would take up less real estate. Hole & pipe in the bottom of the fridge, but the cooler stability or a short table would be key...if you get drunk a lot & have a tendency to bump stuff then it may be a bad thought.

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