>Most (all) "coolers" or "refrigerators" only act as heat pumps. They
>"transfer" heat from inside an insulated container, and release it
>outside the container. This is done by boiling and condensing freon or
>other ozone-eaters. Anyway, therefore, a refrigerator heats up a room
>whilst it cools the inside of the fridge. This kind of thing does not
>seem like a workable idea for a terrarium, which is not well insulated
>to start (unless you would like to insert the ENTIRE terrarium in a
>fridge, with its own light source) hmm... this might be a plan, if
>you've got a spare horizontal deep-freeze unit, but I'd save it for
>frozen dinners bought bulk on sale...
This is exactly what I have done! My apartment gets hot as hell in the summer
and I knew If I was To keep my Heliamphora and other cold loving plants
alive, I would have to find some creative way to provide cooler temps for my
plants. I thought about it, and just decided to enclose the door of my
refrigerator. I used cardboard and then covered it with plastic. I have a
fluorescent light inside the box to provide light and some heat. I kept
adding layers of plastic until The temp inside the box was 68F. The box is
large enough --- normal people could put four three liter bottles on the shelf.
My plants have been growing quite well, and I'm glad my experiment is working
out so well.
-Tom- (tkh@mc3b2.bloomu.edu)