Fridge insulation

[Metabarca]

I'm presently in the rather self-defeating position of having the fridge compressor under the cold box (!) and as you may understand, wish to move it. While doing this, I thought a bit of new insulation around the cold box would serve too. Any suggestions as to what type and how thick?

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[HenryB]

Lucian,

The best that I could find (without paying silly prices for vacuum panels) are sheets made for the building industry by a company called Celotex. These are available in several thicknesses and are faced with aluminium foil. For Med conditions the recommended thicknesses are 150 mm at the bottom, 125 mm at the sides and 100 mm at the top.
I rebuilt my fridge and the running time dropped from 70% to 25%, saving me about 45 Amp hours of power per day. Those times are for Greece and Turkey in the summer.
The downside is that there isn't a lot of space in the fridge compartment!
It's worth taking care to make sure that air can't get into the insulation otherwise you will get condensation and, even with closed cell insulation, this will reduce its effectiveness.

Regards,

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[steve_cronin]

Yes this is a problem in the Med. The other problem with my O/E fridge is that there isn't an effective thermal break in the aluminium around the top opening or the lid frames. This is evidenced by the amount of condensation that forms there. So it's obviously admitting heat. I had intended to make a top cover out of a piece of "Celotex R" to sit on top of the fridge whilst not actually being accessed.

Often opening the fridge trunk is a major "de" construction project on a lot of boats. I once had to do it on a Westerly to recover something lost and was dissapointed by the voids without insulation. On the Hunter we had up to three years ago, the box was well insulated and didn't require much current to keep it cool but then Hunters are particularly proud of their coolboxes (or so they told me!)

If you can get at it though it must be a vast improvement. The only refinement I'd make is to ensure that every small gap is filled, which isn't going to be easy using slab materials on some curved surfaces. A can of "expanding foam" to fill in the voids before re-installing the top panel might be a wise additional precaution. It may however degrade the foam slabs so if it can be insulated from them by more loose foil or only spraying it on the foil sides of the slabs, all the better.

Steve Cronin



<hr width=100% size=1>The above is, like any other post here, only a personal opinion

 

[stephenh]

If you do use expanding foam it is well worth buying the 'Screwfix' gun (less than a tenner?) into which you attach their tubes of foam. The control you have over using the stuff is impressive - you will save the price of the gun in 2 tubes - compared with the 'self emptying' DIY type.
Buy the cleaner as well & 3 tubes later you are showing a profit.....

good luck

Stephen

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[MedMan]

In addition to the insulation, have you considered adding a keel cooler? It would avoid the need to re-site your compressor as the 'hot end' would move to the outside of your boat. We went through the process of beefing up all the insulation around our ice box but the addition of a keel cooler had a far more dramatic affect on reducing the running time.

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[VicMallows]

Useful info. Had wondered on the cost effectiveness. I assume part-used cartridges keep? ... obviously gun cleaned out.

Vic

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[stephenh]

Vic - yes they do - only ever kept them for 5/6 weeks , not too sure about months.

Stephen

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[Metabarca]

Thanks to all for your considered replies!

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