Aerogel - Spaceloft Insulation for Fridge / Freezer

[socaldmax]

Just off the top of your head, would you happen to know the R rating and price of Cryogel Z?

[senormechanico]

Re "Waterproofing poly insulation sheeting, good luck with that.
Even a small pinprick or the eventual corrosion pinholes will allow moisture intrusion.

I rebuilt my box about 12 years ago using that stuff.
It was great for a couple of years, and slowly got less and less efficient.
When I finally ripped it out to redo it with the Cryogel, the Poly insulation was wet inside in many places, especially near the bottom.
It wasn't from inside the box, just moisture accumulation from the outside.

[magentawave]

And you're absolutely positive it was Polyisocyanurate foam you used and not EPS?

Originally Posted by senormechanico

Re "Waterproofing poly insulation sheeting, good luck with that.
Even a small pinprick or the eventual corrosion pinholes will allow moisture intrusion.

I rebuilt my box about 12 years ago using that stuff.
It was great for a couple of years, and slowly got less and less efficient.
When I finally ripped it out to redo it with the Cryogel, the Poly insulation was wet inside in many places, especially near the bottom.
It wasn't from inside the box, just moisture accumulation from the outside.

[Coachbolt61]

It is available on eBay.

[senormechanico]

Originally Posted by magentawave

And you're absolutely positive it was Polyisocyanurate foam you used and not EPS?

I think so, it was rigid sheet 1"x4'x8' with foil on both sides.
It was yellowish though and through and labeled "Thermax".
I just now found this:

http://www.dow.com/products/product-...nd-insulation/

[magentawave]

Did you build your old box with a solid wall between the food storage and the polyiso foam? If so, what did you use back then?

Originally Posted by senormechanico

Re "Waterproofing poly insulation sheeting, good luck with that.
Even a small pinprick or the eventual corrosion pinholes will allow moisture intrusion.

I rebuilt my box about 12 years ago using that stuff.
It was great for a couple of years, and slowly got less and less efficient.
When I finally ripped it out to redo it with the Cryogel, the Poly insulation was wet inside in many places, especially near the bottom.
It wasn't from inside the box, just moisture accumulation from the outside.

[I36guy]

I spoke with Pacor in 2012 about the Aerogel v. Cryogel Z. They had similar R values (9.4/in.) and the prices at the time were identical. The attraction to me was that the Cryogel Z had the vapor barrier which I also thought would also be easier to work with (less mess when cut). Can anyone verify this theory?

Also, the Pacor site, now, would seem to indicate that they discourage cutting the Cryogel Z sheets as it might lead to delamination. But, I wouldn't think this would be a problem for our application.

[senormechanico]

Originally Posted by magentawave

Did you build your old box with a solid wall between the food storage and the polyiso foam? If so, what did you use back then?

Previous box was similar construction, but with clear acrylic sheet scavenged from old office desktop covers. I painted that box white on the insulation side before installing the thermax.

The Cryogel box is larger, and worlds better in performance.

I36guy,
Cryogel aluminum sheet is a fairly heavy gauge, cuts easily, and is just spray glued to the insulation. If it peels, just hit it with some 3M Super 77 spray glue.

[magentawave]

I priced out building a box with Aerogel verses Polyiso foam and gave up when I figured that it would cost me over $700 to get 3" of the Aerogel stuff.

I would be really interested in hearing from others how much they spent to insulate with Aerogel and how many cubic feet was the box they insulated it with?

[robert sailor]

Our box is 5.8 cu feet and it cost us between $7-800 for the insulation and we got a deal on it. We are very happy with the end result...lowest use of power we have ever experienced.

[senormechanico]

Constructing a well insulated fridge means fewer amps needed for the boat.
Fewer $$ spent for solar panels, mounting systems for them, simpler wiring.
Further, there's no need to have to listen to a wind generator or having to worry about pissing off others in an anchorage because of the wind generator....

Good insulation sounds like a good investment to me.

[magentawave]

Thanks for replying.

Originally Posted by robert sailor

Our box is 5.8 cu feet and it cost us between $7-800 for the insulation and we got a deal on it. We are very happy with the end result...lowest use of power we have ever experienced.

Very true and how much did you spend on Aerogel for your fridge box?

Originally Posted by senormechanico

Constructing a well insulated fridge means fewer amps needed for the boat.
Fewer $$ spent for solar panels, mounting systems for them, simpler wiring.
Further, there's no need to have to listen to a wind generator or having to worry about pissing off others in an anchorage because of the wind generator....

Good insulation sounds like a good investment to me.

[senormechanico]

We spent $500 for Cryogel, built the fridge/freezer and used the extra for the hot water tank (spiral wound with 5 layers).
We had a bit left over and used it to strip and reline one of those foldable (no more) ripstop nylon cold bags.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, I36guy.

[bartonman]

I am glad to see you all still talking about using Aerogel to insulate on your boats. I used it on my Roberts 58 to insulate my engine compartment for sound and temperature (The Class A fire rating is a bonus).

As a form of disclaimer, I am the person selling the Spaceloft on eBay and I just wanted to let everyone in the community know that there is very little difference between Cryogel Z and Spaceloft 100251. I have been selling this product for a couple of years and have nearly 500,000 square feet of it.

Cryogel Z has an integral vapor barrier made of mylar and Spaceloft does not.

Cryogel Z and Spaceloft both have the same thermal conductivity of 0.12 BTU-in/hr-ft2 degrees Fahrenheit.

Spaceloft's 100251 thermal range is from minus 460 degrees Fahrenheit to plus 390 degrees Fahrenheit, but Cryogel Z only goes to plus 257 degrees Fahrenheit.

As with any manufacturer, you don't want to have just one product. So the product derived from the NASA Spin-off project was an aerogel blanket that has amazing thermal conductive properties. So obviously Aspen Aerogels found ways to manipulate the reinforcing fibers used to comprise the blanket that would be compatible with the various temperatures they sought to create a product to serve.

Spaceloft 100251 will work perfectly for retrofitting your refrigeration systems aboard your vessels. The data sheet from Aspen Aerogels shows the compatibility of Spaceloft with the cryogenic temperatures.

Spaceloft is currently marketed for use in construction and will even take high temperatures than Cryogel will, which makes it more adaptable for other uses.

When I insulated my engine room and deck plates, I encapsulated the Aerogel Spaceloft with a sheet of mylar from a roll I purchased on eBay. I used 3M spray adhesive to attach the mylar to the Aerogel, which worked very well. Then I used aluminum foil tape to tape around the edges.

In my application, I added the Mylar for its reflective properties not as a vapor barrier. But, it can be done this same way as a vapor barrier for refrigeration applications.

As an experiment I used an acetylene torch on the Spaceloft and though it scorched the material, I was still able to keep my bare hand touching the other side of the material. The side the torch was hitting reflected the heat back to my leather glove holding the torch and made the glove start to smoke.

So, I also wrapped my 4045 John Deere's exhaust riser with the Spaceloft 100251 and aluminum tape to see if it will function under those circumstances. So, far it has. I do not recommend anyone else do this because it does fall out of the published thermal parameters of the product, but I am curious what I can use it for.

Laying multiple layers of Cryogel Z which has an integral vapor barrier all ready installed on one side is a bit unnecessary when you only need a vapor barrier on the final layer of Aerogel.

The thickness needed to attain a specific R-Value has been accurately described in previous posts.

I would also like to add that Aerogel does not support the growth of mold either.

Good luck to everyone and their projects. And have fun playing with Aerogel.