Ice box in 25D

[Jim Walsh]

https://www.aeromarineproducts.com/prod ... pour-foam/

Just use the search words “pour foam” with your search engine of choice. There are other products available.

[fritz3000g]

Just use the search words “pour foam” with your search engine of choice. There are other products available.

Awesome thanks!

[brooksey4018]

We too have looked at the same issue with our 25. After much consideration we decided it was easiest to simply buy a Yeti cool bag from West Marine that fits in the space. Job done and also gives us the option of taking it with us onto the beach with our picnic in.

[tvangilder]

If money is no object, there is no reason not to install vacuum panels inside the box. these are thin, they are expensive (but not too bad). a 1" thick panel adds R-40 insulation

https://www.rparts.com/index.php?rt=cor ... Path=95_32

[jen1722terry]

Question: is your icebox double-walled? I ask this because our CD 31 has the original, double=walled icebox.

Jim Walsh advised us on how to add insulation into the void between the walls: basically just drill holes about 10 inches apart and pump in the foam from cans from inside the ice box. This approach really worked well and cost less than $100. Did the whole job in a few hours.

Granted, our origianl icebox is an efficient top-loader which does not spill out much cold air like a front-loader does.

We cool the box with the smallest Nova Kool fridge unit. We run the compressor off our smallish, 130-watt solar panel during the day and our batteries at night or in fog. We always have a nice cool box with the thermostat set just above the lowest setting (1.5). We're full time live-aboards all summer in Maine, so this approach may not work quite as well for a southern boat.

Our compressor runs every few hours for about 15 minutes and draws little power. Our two AGM batteries handle it quite well.

So, I conclude that your ice would last significantly longer with the added insulation.

Could you fit a fridge unit in a CD 25? Hard to say. Our compressor unit is about 8 x12 x 8 iches high and fiis easily on top of the ice box in our starboard cockpit locker. You would need to see if the smallish freezer box fits inside your ice box. You would have to cut a hole in the forward locker bulkhead to ventilate the unit. You would need to mount a solar panel of at least 100W somewhere on the boat, maybe the stern rail. You would also need to buy a solar controller (Victron makes good ones). If you only have one battery, make it a good one. Carry one of those little battery boosters that will start your engine in case your main battery fails or is at a low state of charge (our little NOCO booster was about $125).

Cheers and enjoy the better-perfoming ice box.

[tvangilder]

In my 36, I added 4 inches of foam blueboard inside the icebox and then glasses it over.