living without a fridge/freezer

[Tarrel]

Evaporation helps a lot. Putting a wet towel over a cool box helps to keep things cool in there for longer. Same with the cider. Wrap the bottles in a damp cloth and leave for a while. They'll cool off no problems.

If you really need reliable refrigeration, 12V expedition fridges are very efficient, and can easily be powered by a modest solar panel and a battery. They are pricey though.

We have a camping frdge that will run on 240v, 12V or camping gas. I'm not really sure of the technology, but I understand it works on the absorption principle, which requires a small heat-source. AFAIUI, the heat is supplied by a small gas flame, or an electrically heated element (which makes it much less efficient than the expedition fridges mentioned above). I wonder whether one could provide the heat source in some other way, such as an open fire?

I've seen kits online to convert a chest freezer into a fridge by modifying the thermostat. Freezers are much better insulated than fridges, and having a lid on top keeps the cold in when opened. So, when used as a fridge they consume much less power, again meaning they can be run from a modest solar PV off-grid setup.

Vegetables and, of course, meat, do keep much longer in a fridge, making more effective use of any food obtained post-collapse, whether hunted, grown, scavenged or bartered. However, I'd always plan for a fridge to be a "nice to have" rather than a "survival essential".

(Just got back from a weekends camping with no refrigeration, just a small Coleman coolbox with an icepack in. Had steak, sausages, eggs, milk and some pork pies. All kept cool till today from Friday lunchtime).