ChillCast: Fridge TimerSupport
ChillCast uses a physics model to estimate how long it takes a drink to chill, based on the container, the cooling environment, and the weather where you are. It is not a food safety tool: it is built for chilling drinks and does not judge whether anything is safe to eat or drink. If something is not behaving as you expect, the notes below cover the questions we hear most. Anything else, just email us—we read every message.
FAQ
Why does the estimate sometimes change after I set the drink going?
ChillCast fetches the current weather for your location using Open-Meteo. If the ambient temperature or your location changes, the estimate recalculates to match. This is especially noticeable if you move a drink from outside (say, room temperature in the sun) into the kitchen, or if the weather data updates.
Can I use this to decide whether a drink is safe to consume?
No. ChillCast is built for timing and observation, not for safety judgements. It does not assess food safety or spoilage risk—it only estimates when a drink reaches your target temperature based on physics. If you have any doubt about whether a drink is safe to consume, do not consume it.
What if I don't have a thermometer to calibrate my fridge?
The presets are designed to work on their own. They reproduce what people already know from experience—roughly an hour in the freezer, three to four hours in the fridge, a few minutes in stirred ice water. They are not guesses; they are anchored to real-world measurements. If your fridge feels particularly cold or warm, you can adjust the temperature manually.
Why do I see a range instead of a single number?
A packed fridge and an empty one do not cool the same way. The presets show a ±25% band to capture that variation. If you calibrate with one measurement from your own fridge, the range tightens to ±5% because ChillCast now knows your container's exact cooling rate.
Where does the weather data come from?
Hourly forecasts come from Open-Meteo. ChillCast sends only the coordinates of your location, rounded to roughly a kilometre, and nothing else. Those coordinates are not stored or linked to you.
Does it work without a connection?
Yes, using the last forecast it downloaded for your location. The app tells you when it is showing cached data so you know the figures may be out of date. Live Activity and notifications also work offline.