uber fridge insulation?

[nailbunnySPU]

So I spent tonight applying my google-fu to looking for better insulation to polystyrene. From R-value (insulation) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia I went off looking for aerogel, found out a ten year old made his own http://adzoe.8m.com/Aerogelsa.htm

But the only useful-looking thing I found is some vacuum insulation called barrier ultra-r that seems to be marketed specifically for marine fridge fabrication. BARRIER Ultra-R Aerogel Vacuum Insulation Panels (VIPs)- Thermal Insulation.

The R values and prices quoted are both astronomical. I cannot find any external reviews of it to corroborate their claims.

The search goes on, I'm interested if anyone else has tried to beat polystyrene, or has out of the box solutions to reducing energy loss.

Isocyanurate has more R value than styro but it readily absorbs water. Phenolic foam is also higher but apparently is corrosive enough to provoke a class action lawsuit.

[wind_magic]

The only thing I remember about fridge insulation is that the more of it you have the better, can you just make what you have a lot thicker ? I seem to remember reading that before the age of refrigeration, there was a whole industry that revolved around stuffing large sailing vessels with straw and ice and shipping the ice to the Caribbean, I think their only secret was lots and lots of insulation.

[wind_magic]

Bunny, you got me interested in reading about those aerogels, here is a company called Aspen Aerogels that sells building insulation (how expensive can that be ?) that has an R-value of 10.3 per inch.

Source: Aspen Aerogels

[sailingdog]

Glacier Bay, IIRC, makes vacuum insulation panels. However, these panels are generally custom made and fairly expensive, and if damaged at all, will lose most of their insulation value as the vacuum seal on them will be broken.

[nailbunnySPU]

Yeah now just try to find a price for that stuff. I actually submitted a RFQ.

[nailbunnySPU]

Vacuum Insulation Panels (VIPs)

this place has similar vacuum insulated panels for $24/ft^2 vs glacier bay's $47/ft^2