Im looking to build a super insulated cooler....or ice chest. Im hoping once its cooled off, it will keep ice for several days. I have a 100qt cooler, and am planning on building a wooden box, 6" bigger than the cooler in every direction.....and backfilling that. Im not sure if 6" of insulation is enough or overkill. Im not sure if spray foam insulation would better than say, blown in.... Open to ideas and material ideas.... Best, Sca
Polyurethane foam is what you'll want to use based on what the best coolers use. You can buy a 2 part liquid and use that. They use it for boat floatation too. How much will you need? You're need to determine that, depending on how thick of insulation you'll use. I'm guessing you'll do 2-3" around the entire cooler walls. It's not cheap though. $40 for 1.25 cubic feet worth in a smaller amount, but you can buy a gallon or bigger size too. That's one reason why those rotomolded coolers are expensive, regardless of what name is on the outside. The rotomolding exterior isn't expensive, it's one of the least expensive ways to make things like this, but the foam has been expensive for decades at least.
I just recently saw where a guy bought a large rubbermaid type container that would allow him to put 4-5" of spray foam between them. I don't own any of the fancy coolers but a friend with one tells me that you must 'pre-chill' them to get the most ice life meaning you will sacrifice a couple of bags of ice to initially cool down the cooler. Dump the water and add more ice and food/drinks after. I usually only ever need a day cooler, so I have abandoned ice all together and use the blue ice things now.
Vacuum insulated coffee thermos is the most efficient way to keep something warm or cold. You can’t have a thermal bridge that way. It’s always been you need to prechill / warm any storage system to have them be remotely effective. otherwise any heat energies in your food is used to chill or warm the cooler. And honestly, that’s where I think most folks never go. we made one gal containers and tossed them in the deep freezer just for that task.
I'd never considered it until my friend mentioned it. He learned from experience while being a MotoDad for his son all up and down the east coast a couple years ago. I'm waiting like a vulture for the power tool makers to make an economical battery powered cooler. They have some already but still pretty spendy.
Our friends have a 20 or so qt yeti rotomolded cooler. Compared to our old inexpensive soft-ish welded rubber plastic cooler, right next to each other, the yeti definitely held the ice better with much less melting. The rotomolded and PU foam gasketed coolers are really worth it, although yeti are even more overpriced than they need to be. I'm looking at a couple non yeti rotomolded coolers and will probably get one shortly for my boat.
Yes,saw that vid a couple days ago. Im looking to take my fridge out of service (too big for my needs, and not particularly efficient) for a while. The number in my head as far as insulation,was 6" all the way around. But thats just a number I randomly picked.
People lost food in a power outtage because they didnt pre chill their cooler......food was nice n warm sitting in a bank of snow all night! Ill cool this thing down for a couple days ahead. I picked up some bluetooth thermometers...on in the chest freezer (so I can track the temp when using the genset to cool it, one for the freezer/fridge, and one for the ice cooler when its up and running. Chest freezer at -20°F, fridgr freezer 15°F.
The blue ice things might well be a good idea. I was thinking of 1/2G water jugs. Smaller are what I had in mind, over larger jugs. Which I haven't any problem with. Either way, Ill put a nice rack on the bottom of the chest, so condensate can pool(run towards the drain) at the bottom, rather than egg cartons soaking up water... I always appreciated a nice rack. Especially the heavier ones.
The blue ice is me being lazy mostly and found it to be a better 'daypack' system. On hot days I will freeze a couple of the bottles of water I will take with to supplement. Cooler bag has to stay cold as I usually have a 20oz chocolate milk in there (sugar/protein boost for after breakfast wears off) and 7-8 waters. This thread has me thinking that I need to start on my planned root cellar.....sometime lol. Already have enough scavenged 8" block for it..I think.
Man, go for that cellar. I'm stoked about the prospect of living without a fridge. Thermometers working well. First chore is to see how lont the freezer will go running the genset daily or less. Then how often to ice jugs need to be changed out in the ice chest, to keep it cool enough.
That stuff is a little hard to find. Most outfits seem comercial. That might be a thing, to find a buncha that before a big storm (political, weather or otherwise) hits.
one thought is to use the packs they sell for setting fence posts, 2 part foam probably be cheaper than buying "special" foam for coolers. Is the cooler you plan to use hollow? if so start by drilling a couple of holes and filling the air space already there. By the time you build a box and add foam would it be cheaper to buy an RTIC or the Wal Mart brand was rated very high. I can't remember the name
If it's up your alley, there are videos of people using aluminum trash cans buried in the ground or a hill for root cellars.
Back in the day we would load two coolers for a week long Jeep trip. One cooler would be for the first three days, the second for the rest of the week. The second cooler we would put ice in it, let it cool down inside then dump the water. All the food going in this cooler would be frozen and we would layer food and ice. It would be filled as completely as possible, minimizing voids. All of the seams would be taped and a wad of foam taped around the drain spout. It worked okay. Today there are a lot of options.
One of the many items on my ever lengthening to do list. Location selection has been a hold up for sure. The areas I have been considering may have rock hiding in them. I gotta get a major drainage project done before I can finalize a location as they are in the same neighborhood. Oh, I also need to learn how to properly lay those blocks. Masonary is not an art that I have ever had a teacher of.
$24 48 qt igloo cooler $150-$200 48 qt comparable yeti cooler Super cooler $24 48qt igloo cooler $32 Expandable foam 4 cans $5-$9 can $75 Large tote $137 so far plus sealant for foam after cutting Sandpaper, sawz all for trimming up the foam, drill &bit, plus cleanup ( expandable foam gets everywhere ) What is your labor worth ? Monstrous footprint & 2 lid setup doesn’t seem to work well as a travel cooler. By my estimations you are money ahead by buying a highly rated yeti comparable cooler for travel use. Now for refrigerator replacement this my be a viable option.
