Picked up a wine fridge to convert into an ultrahighland chamber

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pitcherperfect

Carnivorous Plant Addict
This has to be a common thing to do, right?
Anyone else out there who has converted a wine fridge into a cool terrarium? I would love to hear about how you did it and what issues you ran into along the way.
or if anyone has any ideas, please chime in, I could use all the advice i can get :)
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I got it for free because they said it was broken. the electronics seem to work ok. I havent tested the cooling yet, just letting it settle for 24 hours because i think i remember hearing you are supposed to do that with fridges after moving them?
if i cant get it repaired cheaply, i am going to put a peltier cooler in there and use an old CPU water cooler radiator to dump the heat outside
 
I was thinking of getting one to grow heliamphoras given that they like cool temperatures, but they're super expensive. If you got it for free and you get it to work, you've got a prize!
 
I've imagined more than once getting a dessert case with cooling for Heli's. Instead of pastries on the shelves, you'd have plants, and a whopping great bank of lights above.
 
Well it looks like it is going to cost a lot to fix the wine fridge (if i can even find a person willing to do it, which i cant) so i will tinker around with it and put a peltier cooler in there or something.
I DID, however, luck out and bought this beautiful cooled display for $50 today! and the refrigeration works great! Ultrahighland plants, here i come!
display1.jpgDisplay2.jpg
 
Just gave it a pretty thorough check over and its really dirty but thats not a big deal.
There is a bit of mold and some water damage; some of the plywood will need to be replaced.
It has a built in T8 fixture so maybe I can find an LED grow light version to put in there.

Going to strip the inside and line it with diamond-print reflective mylar for waterproofing and good light reflection;
then probably caulk the living hell out of it and put some weather stripping around the doors if they need it.
 
pitcherperfect said:
Well it looks like it is going to cost a lot to fix the wine fridge (if i can even find a person willing to do it, which i cant) so i will tinker around with it and put a peltier cooler in there or something.
I DID, however, luck out and bought this beautiful cooled display for $50 today! and the refrigeration works great! Ultrahighland plants, here i come!
View attachment 9956View attachment 9957
Click to expand...
That's a steal deal!
 
Right?! I still can't fully believe that happened!!
I think that the lady bought a shop with some of its appliances left behind and she just wanted them gone.
So rather than pay someone 200 bucks to dump it, she sold it for cheap

I dont know if it can be converted into anything useful but she still has a refrigerated prep table if anyone wants that?
 
Just that glass alone is awesome enough. I'd totally clean and seal/upgrade everything inside, LED lighting sounds great! Instead of reflective walls maybe consider white acrylic outdoor paints. It will look really nice and become a highlight display at your home!
Just my two cents.
Willy
 
Thats a good idea actually. After cleaning it out thoroughly and replacing some of the plywood, i will caulk it and give the interior a few thick coats with a nice waterproof outdoor white paint

Thanks for weighing in :) I think this will look really really nice with just a little bit of work!
 
I was thinking about using pressure treated plywood and covering it with some kind of waterproof sealant or paint or something.
What else could I use?
 
Dude...I have always looked at those cake / meat displays and thought they would be perfect. In fact I remember that at California carnivores, they use a similar grocery store fridge / cooler to keep some young ultra highland plants. I think that would work out perfectly for you. :D . That is such a steal deal...but now...be prepared to shell out a lot of your money on the rare plants. Its an obsession that never ends. lol
 
haha Definitely! I am afraid to calculate how much I have already spent on this hobby and its been like a year and a half

Next plants i want to get are edwardsiana, macrophylla and now that i have this cooler, villosa (but i might hold off on that for a little while)
 
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