Seeking material for fridge insulation

IanR

IanR

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Been looking at this forum and online for several weeks now.

I need to find a source for an insulating panel to put inside the large vertical fridge on its ceiling as currently it just has a plywood top and an insulated lid, consequently I am getting a lot of surface condensation and inefficient cooling.

What I had in mind was a sandwich of closed cell foam bonded on to plastic sheet both sides , with some facility to bond some edging strips in order that the sheet can be cut to size, inserted through the lid aperture and still wiped clean for hygiene.

All my searches have been fruitless except for celotex and radiator laminated aluminium foil. In my last house I had just the stuff made up into a loft hatch. Blue foam, white pvc cover both sides.

Can anyone provide a searchable brand name?

I have looked at shower panels, wall panels, insulated panels, blah blah with no success

It would be nice if it came in sheets less than 8x4 but this job needs doing and I can not dismantle the whole fridge

Thanks
 
Kingspan panels are great insulators come in all flavours with plastic/PVC coating, flex wraps, steels you name it, you can cut to size and you get edging strips to make them neat, its what they use for cold stores / commercial fridges

easy access for me to get hold of them from work with all the trimmings but not sure outside of trade warehouses where sells them, i fitted them to my summer house which is now better insulated than my house!

Kingspan is the brand name, PIR panels is what they're called, also known as composite panels & PVC composites

could always use Polystyrene too, and encase it in a boxed ply section... a lot cheaper
 
I rebuilt a cool box into a perfectly acceptable fridge using cellotex, I then fibre glassed over the top with woven mat and painted after sanding.

Taking advice from this forum, I used 25mm depth material, which did reduce the working space inside the fridge but was required to make an effective insulation depth - in reality I could have used a greater depth for more advantage - but a compromise was reached.

The cool box had existing insulation around it of about 60mm, this was done with expanding foam and encased in grp - this I found had degraded in parts which I 'topped up' with foam myself.

This link describes my efforts (without images I'm afraid, allthough I can find them if you want : http://blog.boatnotfound.uk/2016/06/fridge-install/
 
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Another vote for 25mm Celotex. Our fridge sounds just like the OPs - top-loader and the outside of the lid would be very cold. As well as lining the inside of the lid I wanted to line the outside of the whole box but that would have meant dismantling the interior which was clearly not designed to be dismantled in any way which would allow it to be remantled [sic]. So because the box was somewhat bigger than we need I lined the interior of it with 25mm Celotex. It's made a huge difference to how often the compressor runs.
 
IanR said:
Can anyone provide a searchable brand name?
Click to expand...

The stuff you're looking for is known as "PIR" (Polyisocyanurate), which should help you find the stuff on line. Celotex is one trade name for it. 'Kingspan' is not PIR, although PIR is amongst the products of Kingspan, the company, if you see what I mean. (Come to think of it, the same may also be true of Celotex.)

The blue stuff you mentioned is probably a form of polystyrene, probably more crush-resistant than the white stuff, but inferior to PIR as an insulant and much less fire-resistant.
 
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macd said:
The stuff you're looking for is known as "PIR" (Polyisocyanurate), which should help you find the stuff on line. Celotex is one trade name for it. 'Kingspan' is not PIR, although PIR is amongst the products of Kingspan, the company, if you see what I mean. (Come to think of it, the same may also be true of Celotex.)

The blue stuff you mentioned is probably a form of polystyrene, probably more crush-resistant than the white stuff, but inferior to PIR as an insulant and much less fire-resistant.
Click to expand...

Within the trade Kingspan panels are a bit like a "Stanley knife" "sellotape" & "hoover" but Kingspan / Recticel / Xtratherm / Celotex all make PIR / Rockwool / Composite / plastic / recycled shredded plastic etc. panels.
 
Whatever you get you need to make sure it can't absorb any moisture whatsoever.

I'm currently ripping out a 'homebrew' fidge on my boat. It was insulated well, but then covered with boards, and crappy foam backed plastic tiles. Still trying to find the source of the stink.

Some of these materials linked to, like Isotherm are more expensive than just buying a commercial fridge.
 
Kenneth McGrew said:
Within the trade Kingspan panels are a bit like a "Stanley knife" "sellotape" & "hoover"...
Click to expand...

Indeed, and it can be confusing when someone recommends, say, 'Kingspan', which is scarcely more informative than 'Heinz'.
Of particular relevance to boats, you missed 'Jubilee' (who not only make clips of the type named generically, but many other types, too) ;)
 
Thanks to all for your advice, on to do much reading

I would hoe to put a waterproof sheet in for a bit less than 250 quid, although I accept it has to be done right

Cheers
 
I had similar problem and used used a sheet of kingspan/celotex etc and then glued white perspex to it. Looks quite reasonable and has made quite a difference to the efficiency of the fridge.....
 
If you want a flexible non absorbent foam material then either Armstrong Armaflex or Insulfoam can be found at most refrigeration wholesalers in various sheet sizes and thicknesses. Try googling Dean & Wood, HRP or Climate Center. Affix with impact adhesive, or very strong fabric adhesive.
 
Yes, bubble wrap will insulate. In fact great claims are made for multiple layers of reflective bubble wrap, although they are much disputed and it specifically does not meet UK building regs.

Lots of other things insulate, too. But, on the wild assumption that with the space restrictions present on may boats, a highly efficient and fire-resistant insulant is preferred, why not check out the widely-available tables for insulation values? PIR comes second. (The material in first place, Aerogel, is so wildly expensive few people would be interested.)
 
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