Top Prefabricated and DIY Root and Food Cellars or Shelters

If you look hard enough you will find some ingenious structures designed to provide affordable, insulating, and cooling storage for your vegetables, fruits, cheeses, or bug out foods or supplies. There are quite a few great designs for these pre-fabricated cellars or shelters popping up each year. And since more people are opting for a more self-sustaining lifestyle, this market will undoubtedly grow even more.

You’ve probably seen a few wine or traditional looking cellars in your lifetime. However, there are some innovative products currently out that make perfect sense for going off the grid and also helping to keep your food nice and cool. Let’s look at some of our top picks for an underground cellar or shelter for your home or land, starting with the Weltevree Groundfridge Cellar. But we recommend you click the following link first so you will know the best mre military food you can buy online.

1. Weltevree’s Groundfridge Cellar

 

Cellar Top View & Underground Diagram

 

Pre-fabricated Front and Interior Cellar View

A few things to note about The Weltevree Groundfridge Cellar is that it is air and water-tight, animal-resistant, and fitted with a ventilation system (which can be operated using an app) that monitors the cellar’s temperature and humidity. The shell of the cellar is hand-laminated and made of polyester. It has a wooden handrail and unique shelving that encircles the entire inside of the cellar. Other nice options you can add include LED strip lighting for low energy consumption and a cabinet for more storage.

The Weltevree Groundfridge can hold the capacity of 20 refrigerators without the use of electricity. The insulating effects of the soil around it and water keeps the temperature between 50° and 53° degrees Farenheit (10 and 12 °Celsius) throughout the year — perfect for your veggies!

2. Walk In Basement Cellar Plans

If you have a basement in your home, then you’re already halfway there. You can pretty quickly build your own walk-in cellar with convenient plans found online. The walk-in cellar below is one we easily found by simply doing a search for “DIY Cellar Plans.”

 

3. Earthbags Underground Root Cellar or Shelter

Build an ecological and cheaper underground root cellar or shelter with Earthbags, some digging, very few other materials, and a little ingenuity. All you need to construct one of these cool underground cellars is:

  • Earthbags (enough to complete your structure)
  • Barbed wire
  • Strong wood for door/window forms
  • Drainage and foundation material (we used gravel and perforated pipe)
  • Some straight pieces of wood or metal or plastic to make a compass.
  • Baling twine
  • Tampers (full pounders and quarter pounders)
  • Levels
  • Measuring tapes
  • and a little time!

 

4. DIY Root Cellar and Shelter Ideas

Some people with the aptitude and experience may just opt to build their own cellar from scratch. Much like the Earthbags cellar/shelter mentioned above, a true DIY shelter could be your best option. If you have the yard space, a bobcat, some concrete and some other materials to make it all happen. Here is one DIY underground cellar with the top that’s a standard wood building structure that we really liked.

 

Cellar Construction Under Building Shown Above

 

Second Construction Pic

 

Inside Pic of this Awesome Root Cellar

 

5. Another DIY Underground Shelter

There are plenty of DIY underground cellars and shelter plans online. Much like the above root cellar, the one below is also a DIY root cellar. You can find the information on this one at Robert’s Projects website.

 

Top of Cellar

 

Top of Cellar on Underground Blocks/Structure

 

Top of Cellar Completed w/Rebar and Concrete Poured

So, there you go! Above we’ve listed a good starting point and links to some plans for anyone looking to build their own DIY cellar or shelter or buy one already prefabricated. Labor for digging not included. 🙂

Do you have any cellar or shelter ideas you’d like to share or tell us about? Please leave your comment below… Or, if you have any links to other cellar plans we may be able to add here, please leave them in the comments and we’ll look at adding them.

6. Green Roof Root Cellar

You can make a beautiful and purposeful root cellar with the help of cordwood. You can fill in the roof with sedum soil, a highly recommended one is the green roof sedum which keeps the temperature in control and also serves as a great way to keep all the vegetables fresh and cool throughout the year.

7. The 7-Step Root Cellar

Building a Root Cellar wasn’t that easy until this 7-step DIY root cellar was introduced by Walden Labs. All you would need is cinder block walls, plywood and concrete footer to make this sturdy and versatile roof. The steps are easy to understand and come with the detailed layout so some pre-reading will help you manage.  The result is a phenomenal dome-shaped root cellar that can be customized as per your design and requirement.

8. The Organic Garden Blanket

We all know that the earth holds plenty of things in itself that is useful in unique ways but who knew you could make your own root cellar with the mother earth.  So all that you can find around; from leaves to straws, sawdust and snow, everything can be recycled into a fluffy organic blanket which will be as effective as any other root cellar. Keep your crops beneath this organic blanket and let them be harvested, remaining fresh and green throughout the year.

9. Hobbit Hole Root Cellar

If you are looking for a budget-friendly idea to build a root cellar, take some inspiration from the hobbit. Simply dig a hole in the ground, large enough as per the food you wish to place and cover the hole with a wooden door, mulch or any other organic matter for insulation.

10. School Bus Root Cellar

Think of us as crazy but yes a school bus works magically as a root cellar. You can use an old vehicle or school bus (if available) for this purpose. Dig a hole in the ground and place the vehicle inside. You can also use an old boat to have a large cellar that can be filled with food and vegetables.

Conclusion

So, there you go! Above we’ve listed a good starting point and links to some plans for anyone looking to build their own DIY cellar or shelter or buy one already prefabricated. Labor for digging not included. ????

Do you have any cellar or shelter ideas you’d like to share or tell us about? Please leave your comment below… Or, if you have any links to other cellar plans we may be able to add here, please leave them in the comments and we’ll look at adding them.