Dont throw your old fridge! Insulate it!!

Just wanted to share a successfull experiment i did some months ago: I did insulate my old fridge instead of buying a new one and doing it i did cut down the energy consumption down to 50%, which means it comes close to a new A++ energy saving fridge. Instead of losing money on a new fridge and polluting the environment with throwing away my old fridge it is running smoothly and without any problems and does look like a normal fridge (NOT bulky with a polysterene surface lol) For detailed information and pics have a look here:

http://coolfridge.blogspot.com

I attach a pic of the self made eco fridge here.

Greetings! Allen

Great improvements can also be made to walk in fridge/freezers by attaching another layer of foam to the outside. If space is not an issue, straw bales covered with a coat of stucco would add about R 30. The dew point must not be reached within the straw.

some freezers have coils in the sides, so insulating them would make them less efficient.

no, interior insulation would make them more efficient. But, for ones that have the coils on the sides, sometimes even attached to the metal exterior, adding outside insulation would reduce their efficiency. Those coils need to be able to cool off.

This is not all old freezers, but some. Just make sure you know what you go before adding insulation to it.

Thanks Abe, sorry to be a dumb-^&^ I will do a basic study of refrigeration someday. You are saying that the heat exhanger with the cooling fins thing is actually incorporated in the side of some fridges instead of tacked on to the back... At least I hope i've got it now...

yeah, some of the manufacturers made them without the cooling fins and attached them to the case, to save money (the case acts as the cooling fins).

Another good point to remember is:

Never do anything to impede the proper airflow to the mechanical section.

A friend of mine put both of his daughters through a fine university by being an ice maker repairman. He said those machines would last a lifetime if people would quit obstructing the proper ventilation with trash cans, beer cases, etc.

Abe, you are right: one should identify the cooling coils or cooling side outside AND in addition to that the evaporator inside. I do describe how to do that here: http://coolfridge.blogspot.de/2011/12/pimp-your-fridge.html?m=1

Allen

One year after insulating my fridge i did perform a thourough check-up. Important points to check were: 1. Does the fridge keep the very low power consumption over time? 2. Does condense water accumulate? 3. Did any other problem occur?
The short answer is that the self-insulated fridge is running still flawlessly on very lower power consumption. More details about the check-up and insulation instructions you find here: http://coolfridge.blogspot.de/2011/12/follow-up-after-3-months.html

Allen

2 years are gone and my self-insulated fridge is running without issues. The extra layer of insulation still reduces power consumption down to 50% which makes that old fridge label A+! For details have a look here:

Insulate your fridge

Feel free to comment.

Allen