[C38] Insulation material for icebox

[Tom T.]

Hi Gang,

I didn't do anything fancy with the insulation on our refrigerator but it sure works well.

The first thing we did was cut an access hole in the forward bulkhead of the sail locker.  I then glued pre-cut strips of regular urethane foam board against the refrigerator aft side and side facing the engine.  We later covered the access hole with a plastic access port from West Marine.  A one piece foam board on the aft and engine sides would have been good but without removing the engine we were forced to install the panels in place in pieces.

On the outboard side next to the hull and below the refrigerator we stuffed regular fiberglass wool insulation in high quality zip-loc bags and stuffed them into the voids.  We did this instead of urethane spray foam because we didn't want to seal the refrigerator case to the hull in case we ever wanted to remove it.  We did this 10 yrs ago and the zip-loc bags are still holding up dry and well.

We cut pieces of 2" Styrofoam to line the sides and bottom of the inside of the refrigerator.  This made the box smaller but we didn't need so much space inside the box and the reduction in size also makes less volume to cool.

The pieces on the sides were cut just slightly larger than needed and the edges sanded down until each piece made a tight fit in place.  We used some pieces of white duct tape to make tabs on the edges of the pieces so we could remove them easily when needed.

We used 2" Styrofoam on the bottom of the refrigerator hatch boards and filed them until we could easily lift them without them dragging.  They were then coated with several coats of epoxy to give the Styrofoam a tough hard finish.  Urethane would have been more efficient but I used Styrofoam instead.  2" of Styrofoam against the teak hatch boards is still a lot of insulation.

The box now keeps things cold for days without running the compressor.

One thing we also did which was the most energy conserving thing we did was to run the condenser line down and around the bilge clipped to the bottom of the bilge.  This gives an extremely efficient condenser with the return refrigerant coming back to the compressor at or below ambient air temperature with no additional electrical load.  We have no thru-holes or fans for our condenser but it's more efficient than the most expensive refrigerator kits on the market.  I don't know why the boat manufacturers don't use the keel for cooling of the engines and refrigerators.   The bilge is almost always cooler than the outside air and the residual half inch of water that is always left in our bilge dissipates the heat to the keel.  No noise from fans or pumps and more efficient than other air or water cooled systems.  Cheaper too!

Our compressor is mounted in the forward corner of our sail locker but because there is no condenser there, the fiberglass box it's mounted in is very small.  We insulated the high side refrigerant line going from the compressor to the bilge and now we have an extremely efficient system with very little expense.

If anyone wants more details or has questions, please contact me.  The bilge cooled condenser alone will drastically cut down on your electrical energy needs.  The only moving part is the compressor itself.

Tom Troncalli
Renata #95
hot St. Pete, Fla

 


----- Original Message ----- 
From: Patrick Harpole 
To: Catalina 38 Listserve
Sent: 7/23/2009 6:46:14 AM 
Subject: Re: [C38] Insulation material for icebox


 
 



From: listserve-bounces at catalina38.org [mailto:listserve-bounces at catalina38.org] On Behalf Of Max Soto
Sent: Tuesday, July 21, 2009 1:14 PM
To: Catalina 38 Listserve
Subject: [C38] Insulation material for icebox
 
Hi everybody,
 
I think that we had this subject a while ago but I haven't been able to locate the file on the C38  webpage.
 
I remember someone mentioned that installed a new insulation material for the Ice box  that is supposed to be a lot better than polyurethane.
 
Do any of you remember this material's name or brand so I can check if there is a dealer here in Costa Rica???
 
I'm going to install a small Frigoboat system on the box at the left side of the sink, which has no insulation at all, but I was looking at other options before I buy some polyurethane spray cans at the hardware store!! 
 
Regards,
 

Max Soto
C38 #198 ESTANCIA
Puntarenas, Costa Rica
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