Anyone tried this Snus fridge?

[krugerfred]

Have anyone tried this snus fridge? thinking about bring it to the beach with my laptop this coming summer 8)

http://www.northerner.com/html/snus-A_USB-kyl.html

[Kindrd]

It has been discussed before but I don't think anyone has actually tried it yet. Wow, Northerner is really overcharging for these. Check here:

http://www.usbgeek.com/prod_detail.php?prod_id=0651

[SnusHound]

I gave one as an early gift to a friend that snus'. It's not really a fridge, there's no insulation. It appears to be just a huge upside down aluminum heat sink with a computer fan in the base of the 'fridge' blowing air up into it. It probably uses 'stock' computer parts for everything except for the plastic shell. I bet this thing costs almost nothing to manufacture. The actual metal for the heat sink is probably the only significant cost. (made in china)

I don't know how it gets so cold from just from air at ambient temperature blowing over a metal block (had no idea that was so effective), but it gets significantly colder than the room temperature. It's effectiveness is no doubt tightly coupled to the ambient air temp.

So the vast majority of the cooling is via conduction with the metal plate inside. The problem is that it's recessed to fit aluminum cans, and while snus cans will fit inside, they won't contact the metal, and the cans themselves don't conduct heat very well.

To maximize the effectiveness we put a large washer in there (temporary until a better conductor can be found that's dirt cheap without going to too much trouble, gonna thermal grease the better conductor to the plate ).

The washer is thick enough so that any snus can put inside will sit directly in contact with the cooled metal instead of sitting on plastic. Also, it just so happens that my friend has the stainless loose icetool snus box, which is perfect for this type of cooling.

I think it would be virtually useless any other way (plastic can, paper can, etc.). That's why the 'fridge' was designed for use with aluminum cans that are in direct contact with the heat sink. That picture showing a stack of plastic cans inside that are presumably being chilled is ridiculously misleading if you ask me.

In my opinion, the 'fridge' is effective if one wants to keep a single stainless snus box chilled via air cooling/conduction, and is actually pretty neat, even for that limited purpose. I'm enjoying a cold pris of my friend's loose snus right now (while bumming his pc). It's noticeably and enjoyably cold.

But beyond that specific setup (which I am tempted to imitate despite the ridiculous cost of a 30$ fridge + 37$ stainless snus box+shipping just for a single chilled can within reach of a PC ) I honestly wouldn't really expect to be able to get any more useful cooling out of it than that.

But hey, it beats the comparatively massive size, noise, and energy consumption (not to mention the heat output) of a real mini-fridge if you have some money to burn and want a can of chilled snus within reach of your computer at all times.

[Stargazer]

I was in sweden yesterday and got somethinf quite nice.

Since I bought a tower of N&J I got a nice contaniner to put it in.
it's a sliding rack just like the ones that are in the snus fridges in shops.
it look really nice with nick & jonny drawings on it.

I'll take pictures as soon as I can.

[RealmofOpeth]

It appears to be just a huge upside down aluminum heat sink with a computer fan in the base of the 'fridge' blowing air up into it. It probably uses 'stock' computer parts for everything except for the plastic shell. I bet this thing costs almost nothing to manufacture. The actual metal for the heat sink is probably the only significant cost. (made in china)

I don't know how it gets so cold from just from air at ambient temperature blowing over a metal block (had no idea that was so effective), but it gets significantly colder than the room temperature. It's effectiveness is no doubt tightly coupled to the ambient air temp.

Are you sure it's only a heatsink and fan? It could be a peltier plate...an electric plate that gets really cold on one side, hot on the other....the HSF could be attached to the hot side of the plate to keep it from overheating. The plates are good for heavily-overclocked CPU cooling because they go below room temp.
Of course the best way to cool a peltier is through water block...but the water gets cooled by air in the end anyways.

[SnusHound]

Yeah I guess it could be a 'peltier plate' (dunno what that is or how it works though). Regardless, I couldn't detect any heat output, but that could explain how the metal gets colder than the ambient temperature.

[PrisMaster]

if anyone knows for sure how well this would cool a few cans please let me know. i am thinking about getting one if it will keep my snus decently cool. I have always wanted something to cool my snus in my room since my freezer is on the other side of the house. I really always wanted a real snus fridge from sweden but i am not loaded. If anyone can confirm how cool this will keep regular plastic/cardboard tins please send me a PM. I would really appreciate it. Thanks

[RealmofOpeth]

anybody know how much real fridges cost? mini fridges made for holding stacks of snus cans? if they're even available?
if only they had one of those on buysnus' free gift selection.
I saw a camel snus fridge on ebay once. I don't know what it sold for.

[databat]

The USB fridge does use a peltier plate. The simplest explanation for a peltier plate, it uses electricity to push heat from one side of the plate to the other (leaving the other side cold). That fridge also does not have any insulation, so if you want maximum cooling for snus tins, you would need to build a metal rack with one shelf per tin. (and possibly insulate the inside of it yourself) The metal rack would need to have maximum contact with the plate. Most snus tins are plastic however, so I'm not so sure if it would do much good.

I am pestering my wife to get me a real low priced mini fridge so she can reclaim the crisper drawer. :P

From my wife:

If my cheese and veggies end up tasting like snus, you're gonna have to rely on righty and her five friends to keep you warm at night.

So yeah, if I can find one at a good price, I've got a good chance of getting one.

[SnusHound]

Databat is totally right on about how one might maximize the effectiveness of this device. But to re-iterate for PrisMaster, based on firsthand experience, I don't think this fridge is useful for any other purpose than keeping snus in a single metal tin nice and cold as long as the metal tin has sufficient contact with the peltier plate inside the fridge.

A stack of plastic/paper tins in this fridge would allow the snus to get no colder than the air in the room it's in, my opinion (even a single non-metal tin wouldn't do much in my opinion), but I was pleasantly surprised at how cold a metal tin got *as long as it was in direct contact with the peltier plate (via a metal washer)*. The can didn't just get 'cool', the snus inside it was truly and enjoyably chilled.

I don't know if the fridge could handle a stack of metal tins and keep the temperature of them all low enough to be useful, but that might work (I wouldn't bother doing it given the cost and hassle of maintaining all the tins, one cold tin on hand meets the purpose well enough).

If you have an icetool metal snus can and then use something (like a thick metal washer) to allow it to contact the peltier plate inside then you will always have chilled snus on hand at your PC in a very small and quiet form factor. Expensive for chilling a single can, but effective.