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scooterism

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polystyrene sheets from?

I'm thinking of covering my fridge..

Unless there is something to better the insulation?
 
If you need to insulate your fridge more than it already is maybe relocate it????

BUT if you want to go about it, find a local furniture shop etc, foam sheets are commonly used to package furniture and could pick some up for nix
 
pokolbinguy said:
If you need to insulate your fridge more than it already is maybe relocate it????

BUT if you want to go about it, find a local furniture shop etc, foam sheets are commonly used to package furniture and could pick some up for nix
Thanks, but it's not a matter of relocation, but efficiency, would like to reduce running costs and wear on my fridges.
 
Bunnings/Masters have it. However it's 100mm thick as used in residential housing for rendering.
 
Try Knauf EPS insulation boards. Bunnings sell 30mm thick sheets for $12 each. They're a bit sturdier than ordinary polystyrene sheets and easy to cut with a knife. No mess. Foil board is also good. May need to order them.
 
Mate you should look at replacing your fridge seals before anything else.

Extra insulation is largely useless unless what is already there is airtight. The major cause of lost efficiency is humid air entering the fridge. The fridge then is forced to condense the water vapour before it can cool the air further. What I understand you are planning to do is stick on some extra foam to your fridge, but still open and close it the normal way. My professional opinion is that this will have very little effect, and in fact may be detrimental if you cover areas that need to radiate heat (some fridges place the condenser coil behind the exterior cladding).

I would strongly recommend against you doing this. Not because it won't theoretically work, but because the payback on your investment is going to be longer than the rest of your life, and it will make your fridge look a bit silly.

Otherwise I'd be going to Clark Rubber or the like if you want Styrofoam. Typically, insulation on refrige systems uses metal cladding mounted - in this case to the outside of your fridge - and then the void between is filled with expanding foam.
 
klangers said:
Mate you should look at replacing your fridge seals before anything else.

Extra insulation is largely useless unless what is already there is airtight. The major cause of lost efficiency is humid air entering the fridge. The fridge then is forced to condense the water vapour before it can cool the air further. What I understand you are planning to do is stick on some extra foam to your fridge, but still open and close it the normal way. My professional opinion is that this will have very little effect, and in fact may be detrimental if you cover areas that need to radiate heat (some fridges place the condenser coil behind the exterior cladding).

I would strongly recommend against you doing this. Not because it won't theoretically work, but because the payback on your investment is going to be longer than the rest of your life, and it will make your fridge look a bit silly.

Otherwise I'd be going to Clark Rubber or the like if you want Styrofoam. Typically, insulation on refrige systems uses metal cladding mounted - in this case to the outside of your fridge - and then the void between is filled with expanding foam.
My experiment with this found the opposite, $30 spent(free foam panels though) saved 50% on power bill for the fridge. See link. Does make the fridge look funky though!
 
fraser_john said:
My experiment with this found the opposite, $30 spent(free foam panels though) saved 50% on power bill for the fridge. See link. Does make the fridge look funky though!
Well, there you go. I spose I was giving too much credit to "Standard" fridge insulation! I shan't compare domestic fridges to industrial ones again :blush:
 
There was a comment on my experiment thread about swapping out to 12v fans, which I never did, but suspect the poster was correct, it would have improved the efficiency further, but, meh.... I never got to it. I have not done this with my newer keg fridge as I cannot source free styrofoam sheets at the moment, but I do want to get to it, maybe over Xmas.

Klangers is also correct about fridge seals, they can be bought cheap enough these days online and for an older fridge, is a must when converting to keg fridge.
 
How are fridge seals measured and also best configuration for computer fan on outside coils?
 
scooterism said:
How are fridge seals measured and also best configuration for computer fan on outside coils?
Usually they are just long strips of the rubber extrusion, so you just work out the total length you need and cut to suit.

Computer fans I think are being used inside the fridge to get better air circulation and therefore faster heat transfer into the keg/fermenter/bottles. Fans on the outside condensors won't make your fridge more efficient, instead they increase the refrigeration capacity (can get cooler/cool faster) by transferring heat out of the refrigerant post-compressor faster..
 

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