The ice house

In short

• Ice is the only source that gives 0–4 °C in summer without power, enough for meat, milk and leftovers.
• An ice house needs three things: thick insulation (30–45 cm of dry sawdust, 12–18 in, on all sides), drainage under the ice and shade and air above.
• A small ice house loses a lot. Below roughly 1.5–2 m³ of ice it rarely lasts until August.
• Pond ice never goes in drinks or on food. For direct contact, freeze drinking water in clean containers.
• Never go on a pond alone, take a rope and a board, and only when the ice is at least 10 cm (4 in) of clear, hard ice; for sawing and sledges 15 cm (6 in) or more.
• In the UK and Ireland natural ice is rare: there the icebox runs on ice from a freezer or a cold snap, not on an ice house.
• An icebox replaces a fridge only while the thermometer reads 4 °C or less.

What's inside

Chapters

1. How an ice house works
2. How much ice you need
3. Where the ice comes from: ponds, moulds and snow
4. Where to put the ice house
5. Building: floor, walls, roof
6. Filling the ice house
7. An icebox for the kitchen
8. Using the ice through the summer
9. Safety on the ice and in the ice house
10. Common mistakes
11. Printable checklist

Worksheets

• Summer ice calculator
• Materials calculator
• Ice house sketch
• A year of the ice house
• Ice log
• Equipment and safety on the ice