Extractor fan operated by an hourly timer?

[ban-all-sheds]

Potatoes, onions, flour, rice, condiments, spices, store cupboard items. Basically everything which wouldn't ordinarily be stored in a fridge.

As John said, most of those things don't need any special environments, and might actually be harmed by them, e.g. bringing chilled flour out to use could cause it to get damp.

Why do you think you need this room? Why do you think people don't have them any more?

It will eat space, be expensive to construct, and probably won't work well. Just buy a bigger fridge and keep your potatoes and onions in it.

 

[viewer]

Wow, did your question open the floodgates!
Here's another twister: Construct the pantry without insulation and vent to kitchen or a tiny fan to external. Use shelves for the 'warmer' goods. On the floor put a larger chest freezer with external thermostat to keep it at say +6 C. This way the chest freezer would warm the air above a little giving natural circulation and avoiding condensation whilst avoiding the loss of cold air which happens with a conventional frig. Freezers are better insulated so more efficient generally than upright frig.
BTW, don't worry about rising air if using a plenum; it isn't a problem just look at any large commercial kitchen. You don't want inlet and extract fans. The idea is that the fan tries to push in more air than can escape giving a slight overpressure and preventing warm, moisture-laden air entering the pantry. Condensation could otherwise be a problem.

 

[travisbickle]

I can understand the logic of the plenum system however we have now decided that cooling is no longer a necessity and since the fan will be running at intermittent intervals it won't be as effective.

Good ventilation is now the only requirement. We'll depend upon the (thermal masses, stone tiled floor and such) to do what little they can in terms of cooling.

 

[JohnW2]

Good ventilation is now the only requirement. We'll depend upon the (thermal masses, stone tiled floor and such) to do what little they can in terms of cooling.

That's certainly the traditional ('tried and tested') approach. As I'm sure you understand, thermal masses will not, in themselves, result in any true cooling. What they will do is help to maintain the temperature at a previous level - so if you can get the pantry (and thermal masses) cold by ventilation with outside air at night, those cold 'thermal masses' will help to keep the temperature down during the day - essentially the concept of storage heaters in reverse! Ideally, you would also do something to prevent hot outside air circulating through the pantry during summer daytime.

Kind Regards, John

 

[ban-all-sheds]

And more importantly, do something to prevent warm moist air getting in, where it will condense on your cold surfaces and make your food damp and mouldy.