Protective/Insulative fridge bags

Hi,

I am sure they do make a fair difference. The only thing that has me stumped is why the waeco one has a black top... seems to defeat the purpose as it gets really hot in the sun.

Cheers

I'm not si sure that it's such an easy thing to properly quantify unless you test under controlled conditions - such as in a room with stable temperature and an infra-red lamp trained on the unit for a fixed amount of time both with and without the bag on.

I do know this about them however - it keeps the resale value of the fridge up as I've just proven with my 5 year old Engle. Absolutely mark-free, I sold it to a person who thought it looked new. I traded up to a newie for nicks.

If you look at them like the following it's a better concept:

1. Slight improvement in cooling efficiencies
2. Protection of the fridge from bumps and cratches
3. Extra little built in pocket for carrying the cables etc

I'm sure they make a difference, just don't ask me how much.

I think Terrafirma has got it in one.

I cant really answer your question because I have had the cover on mine since new.

It certainly protects the surface of the fridge.
As to the insulating properties, I would have to have a guess and say, yes it provides additional insulation from the effects of the sun, but how much, could only be determined by controlled testing.

When ours is in the vehicle I have never noticed an overly hot lid surface because the padded cover stops direct sunlight. When taken out, it is placed in the annex, or tent section proper and again gets no direct sunlight.

My feelings are, when you pay around the $1000+ mark for the fridge, an extra $150 is a good investment to protect it. If it provides additional insulation, that is a further bonus.

I have a ccf45 waeco and did something a little different. I went out and bought a cf50 bag which is about an inch too big all round and filled the gap with that heatshield you buy at Clark Rubber. Its heavy foam insulation in either inch or half inch thickness (I got inch thick obviously) with silver heatshield on one side.

Made a massive difference to the compressor run time! I keep it on inside as a beer fridge so I'm pretty familiar with how often it runs and its about a third less now! A quarter minimum! That's comparing no bag to my new bag with extra insulation.

Cost of the heat shield was about $80 which was 2m and lined the entire bag all round. Seems like good economics considering what we pay for the extra power from our aux. batteries

There was some interesting discussion on this a while back. Do a search for broccoli to find the thread. Discussion was about using styrofoam broccoli boxes to make fridge covers and measuring the power gains.

Hi GreenAnt,
I have not made a study of it but anecdotal evidence suggests that the fridge does not have to work quite so hard, particularly if it is in direct sunlight like in the back of a car. The cover would mainly affect radient heat like sunlight or other hot surface nearby. The cover and the outside of the fridge would tend to be at the environmental temperature anyway. As mentioned it realy protects the outside of the fridge as well and gives you a spot for cords etc. It would be like putting a towel over an esky to keep the sun off. I don't think it makes a massive difference but just helps a bit when bits count.

Steve

Gday Greenant,

My next door neighbour is the authorised repairer of a number of portable fridges including Waeco, Engel and Autofridge here in Cairns. He recommends the use of the bags and says that they do make a difference. He does however recommend that the fridge is first covered in clear contact before the bag goes on. This prevents the bag rubbing paint off the fridge when packed tight in with other gear. He has shown me a couple of fridges with the paint scuffed on one side from this very problem. Whenever you want to remove the contact, use a heat gun and the fridge then looks brand new again.
Cheers

Dave

Yea But!,

If you leave the bag on, who going to know, or care, if the paint has rubbed off:-)))