Building an ice box

[Sven]

We finally decided that we didn't want to hassle with batteries and charging for refrigeration in La Petite. In a 23' boat it just gets too complicated.

So, time to start thinking ahead to an ice box. There are how-to articles out there for everying else, so I assume there must be some for ice box design and fabrication ? I suppose we could just build in a largish ice chest that would accomodate even block ice, but I suspect that ice chests have less insulation that one would want for 3-4 day cruises away from stores ?

Any leads would be appreciated.

Thanks,



-Sven

 

[rob m]

http://www.boats.com/boat-articles/Galley+Gear-120/Thinking+Inside+the+Box/2847.html (html)

http://www.bwsailing.com/PDFs/Reefer_bws1099.pdf (pdf)

is a good place to start. there are additional references at the end of the article. in the past, i have used the spa creek book and it was great. perfect chance to use the public library, as this is almost certainly a one-off project.

for the liner, you can now get 4' X 8' fibreglas panels designed for commercial kitchens and the like at reasonable prices, and they are great when cut up and glassed together to make the interior (stitch and glue method).

there are a couple of cool calculators on http://www.glacierbay.com/Heatload_calculator/boxcalc_main.htm that help you figure out the insulation/ usable space tradeoffs before construction.

basically making a good icebox is the same as making a good reefer box or freezer box, you just 'forget' to add the cooling unit. Using the freezer specs results in longer ice life, smaller interior space, using reefer specs the reverse.

have fun!

 

[Sven]

Excellent !

Hi Rob,

Thanks for the excellent references. That was exactly what I was looking for.

The aerogel is pretty amazing stuff, but expensive. Urethane sheets is probably what I'll go with. (The aerogel that I'm familiar with is very strong and light, but quite brittle. I wonder how they get around that ?)




-Sven