I know that this topic has been beat to death but I was unable to find what a good thickness of insulation should be. I have 1.5 inches on me ice box and was wondering if this should be enough to convert my ice box to a frig?
converting ice box to frig
- Thread starter jotruk
- Start date
It depends on what that 1.5" is made of, since there are different materials in addition to different thicknesses.
Try poking around this website:
http://www.kollmann-marine.com/
Try poking around this website:
http://www.kollmann-marine.com/
I once installed a refrigerator on an h27 and it worked well for us for a number of years. I removed the cushion in the stern quarter berth and installed a 1.7 CF dorm refrigerator, 120V, in there. I powered it with shorepower and a 1500 watts inverter when underway. The fridge box was well insulated as it would keep adequate temperature for 5 to 6 hours after disconnecting. Running on the inverter it would consume around 3.5 a/h which was somewhat comparable to 12V conversion units at the time. The cooler was actually turned into a dry storage locker. We would take an ice cooler with ice for drinks and basically kept it in the cockpit. My point is that those iceboxes are difficult to insulate well resulting in inefficiency and high power draws while dorm refrigerators already come with a well insulated box. Don't really know what your needs are so just giving ideas and relating what we did.
Mines got about 3" of pour in foam all around and it's not enough. On a hot day the unit runs way too much. It's on my list to add more. There's no such thing as too much insulation until the box gets so small you can't fit a six pack in.
Easiest cheapest way is to line the box with the pink or blue house foam from Home Depot or others. Not the most efficient but easy. Glue it on with spray foam which will fill any gaps or voids. The bottom should be the thickest, and be sure to plug the drain to prevent the cold air flowing into the bilge.
Easiest cheapest way is to line the box with the pink or blue house foam from Home Depot or others. Not the most efficient but easy. Glue it on with spray foam which will fill any gaps or voids. The bottom should be the thickest, and be sure to plug the drain to prevent the cold air flowing into the bilge.
Re: converting ice box to frigde
Texas gets hot, so more and better insulation is always helpful. That said, I've owned our boat for 17 years and haven't added any insulation to our fridge box (not frig!!!). While I'm usually in 57F water here year round, we do go up to The Delta in the summer. Once loaded with stuff and cold (I plug in the night before we leave), the "rotten non-insulated" box works OK. We use 60 ah per day for the fridge - I've seen it on our Link 2000 battery monitor.
Of the 1,801 Catalina 34s produced, the 700 in our C34 International Association and the 200 or so active on our forum on a regular basis, I would venture to estimate that maybe a dozen or less have done any additional insulation.
If you have a decent electrical system with an adequate house bank of 400 ah, you should be good for two nights without recharging. If you have solar, so much the better.
The Kollmann website has a VERY good discussion of the insulation choices available and describes the best material and methods. Don't reinvent the wheel.
Your boat, your choice.
Good luck.
Texas gets hot, so more and better insulation is always helpful. That said, I've owned our boat for 17 years and haven't added any insulation to our fridge box (not frig!!!). While I'm usually in 57F water here year round, we do go up to The Delta in the summer. Once loaded with stuff and cold (I plug in the night before we leave), the "rotten non-insulated" box works OK. We use 60 ah per day for the fridge - I've seen it on our Link 2000 battery monitor.
Of the 1,801 Catalina 34s produced, the 700 in our C34 International Association and the 200 or so active on our forum on a regular basis, I would venture to estimate that maybe a dozen or less have done any additional insulation.
If you have a decent electrical system with an adequate house bank of 400 ah, you should be good for two nights without recharging. If you have solar, so much the better.
The Kollmann website has a VERY good discussion of the insulation choices available and describes the best material and methods. Don't reinvent the wheel.
Your boat, your choice.
Good luck.
Thanks for the replys everyone. After looking at what was posted and going to the Kollmann site I think it will be best to just put a dorm type refig on board. It also will be a lot cheeper in the long run, again thank you for the inputs
I looked at doing the conversion and just got an Engel instead. I use the old icebox for dry storage.
Do-it-yourself refrigerator
I'm looking forward to converting my current cooler space to a 'fridge. It'll require building a 3-piece mold for the necessary plastic/fiberglass parts. I was hoping to find some clue here about optimal insulation also.
I like Capt JGW's idea about the pink foam. I have done this in the past and typically used 2-3" of it (2-3 layers) glued with either hot glue or spray adhesive. The adhesion isn't important-- actually air voids are better than not (air space being the very best insulator). Also, the void being insulated shouldn't have any air gaps along the bottom, like where mine will go into odd corners and, in one place, to the hull. Air gaps are okay along the top (under a counter), as cold falls.
I learned this the hard way when I installed a drain plug in my cooler and now it doesn't hold ice like it used to. Oh well.
Another important thing is to install the icebox/'fridge as low as possible in the boat. Seawater under the boat holds cool temperatures better than does hot cabin space nearer the deck and coachroof. It also insulates against direct sun. This is why the 'dorm 'fridge' standing on a bunk or cabin floor is less good. The worst place is in the lazarette, where engine heat and less-insulated hull skin (no hull-liner back there) and constant opening of hatches work against you.
The best places are under berths, at the bottom of hanging lockers, and especially under the sole. In all my time at Cherubini Boat I never prevailed with my idea to provide 'cool traps' under the galley sole, where, with only nominal insulation, a 12-pack could be kept pretty cool (if not cold) as well as all kinds of stuff, even meats and cheeses, properly wrapped of course. You can cycle these into the main 'fridge as needed. If I had the bilge space I would definitely consider using it for refrigerated food storage. As it is I keep canned goods (including beer) under the quarter berth and in the corresponding place under the galley, the other side. For weight and for keeping it cold, these are the best places.
Isotherm or Dometic or someone made an icebox conversion kit that included a 12VDC evaporator unit about 14" x 10" by 2" that mounted in a box that you make and insulate. Isotherm also made panels you can glue in and seal (rather like a bathtub shower enclosure) to form the box itself; you just pour or stuff foam in behind it when done. I had these links in like February and they look dead now. If anyone can guide me/us, do help!
That said, the nicest plug-and-play system I ever found was the Frigoboat one, with a condensor unit the size of a small toolbox and a circulating plate that mounted outside the hull like a Dynaplate. You could run it with a smallish evaporator (with fan that never shuts up) or holding plates (best of all). It was simple, easy and remarkably cheap. I don't know if it's still marketed under that name.
I'm looking forward to converting my current cooler space to a 'fridge. It'll require building a 3-piece mold for the necessary plastic/fiberglass parts. I was hoping to find some clue here about optimal insulation also.
I like Capt JGW's idea about the pink foam. I have done this in the past and typically used 2-3" of it (2-3 layers) glued with either hot glue or spray adhesive. The adhesion isn't important-- actually air voids are better than not (air space being the very best insulator). Also, the void being insulated shouldn't have any air gaps along the bottom, like where mine will go into odd corners and, in one place, to the hull. Air gaps are okay along the top (under a counter), as cold falls.
I learned this the hard way when I installed a drain plug in my cooler and now it doesn't hold ice like it used to. Oh well.
Another important thing is to install the icebox/'fridge as low as possible in the boat. Seawater under the boat holds cool temperatures better than does hot cabin space nearer the deck and coachroof. It also insulates against direct sun. This is why the 'dorm 'fridge' standing on a bunk or cabin floor is less good. The worst place is in the lazarette, where engine heat and less-insulated hull skin (no hull-liner back there) and constant opening of hatches work against you.
The best places are under berths, at the bottom of hanging lockers, and especially under the sole. In all my time at Cherubini Boat I never prevailed with my idea to provide 'cool traps' under the galley sole, where, with only nominal insulation, a 12-pack could be kept pretty cool (if not cold) as well as all kinds of stuff, even meats and cheeses, properly wrapped of course. You can cycle these into the main 'fridge as needed. If I had the bilge space I would definitely consider using it for refrigerated food storage. As it is I keep canned goods (including beer) under the quarter berth and in the corresponding place under the galley, the other side. For weight and for keeping it cold, these are the best places.
Isotherm or Dometic or someone made an icebox conversion kit that included a 12VDC evaporator unit about 14" x 10" by 2" that mounted in a box that you make and insulate. Isotherm also made panels you can glue in and seal (rather like a bathtub shower enclosure) to form the box itself; you just pour or stuff foam in behind it when done. I had these links in like February and they look dead now. If anyone can guide me/us, do help!
That said, the nicest plug-and-play system I ever found was the Frigoboat one, with a condensor unit the size of a small toolbox and a circulating plate that mounted outside the hull like a Dynaplate. You could run it with a smallish evaporator (with fan that never shuts up) or holding plates (best of all). It was simple, easy and remarkably cheap. I don't know if it's still marketed under that name.
the stock insulation on my 33 was terrible, they had poured in foam but nowhere near enough, it only expanded a third of the way up the sides. the stock ice box was ripped out with the rest of the galley and is being rebuilt now. Nigel Calder has a great book (linked below) that will help design and build a better box.
http://www.amazon.com/Refrigeration...&qid=1440424742&sr=8-10&keywords=nigel+calder
http://www.rparts.com/index.php?osCsid=psdmaq3octmh9hpdo1es6rknj5
heres a source for components to design and build your own system
http://www.amazon.com/Refrigeration...&qid=1440424742&sr=8-10&keywords=nigel+calder
http://www.rparts.com/index.php?osCsid=psdmaq3octmh9hpdo1es6rknj5
heres a source for components to design and build your own system