Hellow All...... I am going to add foam to the voids around my icebox. I've read how to do it, but no mention of what the proper product to use is. Home Depot had a few DOW products but I was told by DOW that these products would not cure in an enclosed space. Has anybody done this? Thanks in advance.... PAUL "SEAESTA" #788 1988
Honestly Ron..... I wasn,t trying to steal your hull number. My hull number is 766 I guess it's time for me to get glasses. thanks for your help. By the way, why didn,t you foam the sides and the lid? Thanks again...... PAUL
Before our annual cruise last summer, I upgraded the insulation around our box. We don't have refrigeration yet, and I figured upgrading the insulation would be a good first step along the way. My strategy was to spray foam between the box and hull on the starboard side, and also between the box and oven. Then I would install polystyrene, as thick as possible, on the other two sides. I had previously cut a large access hatch on the settee side of the sink cabinet to more easily work on plumbing, etc., so I have pretty good access to the forward wall of the box.
For the spray-foam I used Great Stuff in the blue can, designed for door and window moldings. I chose that type because it claimed it would not bow or distort the window frames. From previous experience, with the power of 2-part foam expanding in an enclosed space, I thought this was a desireable feature. In retrospect, I'm pretty sure that the Great Stuff in the blue can is an open-cell foam and I may have trouble in the future with moisture condensing in the insulation. I installed it behind the box through holes I drilled in the counter top (in the storage bin), and from the side through holes I drilled in wall adjacent to the stove/oven. I had a little difficulty with the thought of drilling those holes, but it worked fine, and now we never notice them.
I ran out of time, before our departure, to install the polystyrene on the other two sides. As a last minute idea, I bought some fiberglass batt insulation, the kind that comes wrapped in plastic sheeting. After I cut the batts to length, I duct-taped the ends to keep the insulation sealed in it's "envelope". I was able to install them successfully on both sides, and stuff some more under the box.
I am not proud of this design, but I was amazed at how much longer we can keep ice. Previously, we were stopping for ice every 2 or 3 days, now it will last for 5 days easily. I have now fallen in love with this ice box, but we are going to install refrigeration this year, and I want to do a better job on the insulation.
I have ordered a vacuum insulation panel from rparts.com to install under the lid of the ice box. These panels are 1" thick and have an R value of 28 (equivalent to about 6" of polystyrene). They are kind of expensive (as insulation goes), but when you are spending $1000 here, and $1000 there for refrigeration systems and batteries and alternators, they don't add much. They are custom made to size, and cost $24.00/sf. One big benefit I am looking forward to is the increased height available inside the ice box. We will be able to stand a milk carton up on the top shelf now.
If this works well on the lid of the ice box, I will replace my $1.98 batt insulation with vacuum panels. My plan will be to put them on the outside of the box, but I understand they are also commonly installed inside.