RST Renovation: Project 2

It's great having a 12-volt refrigerator, even though it's the single largest drain on battery power. Following the lead of others, I added insulation to it. I taped some pieces of 1-inch foil-backed foamboard into a crude box and lid. That helped keep things cooler and reduced power usage a wee bit. It got me through the mild desert winter.

If a little insulation is good, then more is better, especially as winter turned rapidly into summer in Slab City. So I wrapped a couple of layers of Reflectix around the foamboard box. Good. But I knew I could make something better if I had access to a table saw and mitre saw. My brother-in-law in Oakley, Utah, has those.

After too many runs to Ace Hardware in Kamas and Home Depot in Park City, behold that better thing.

Two-inch foil-backed foamboard contained in a wood box (for durability), with a little Reflectix on the outside to reflect sunlight and make it look all techie. (Why, yes, that is a flux capacitor in my van.) I can add more Reflectix if I need to.

The odd notch in the back of the box is to allow air circulation to the compressor.

It's not quite done. I'm going to mount a fuse block on the side to centralize all my wiring. Notice the two 12-volt sockets? (Front and side.) One is to plug in the fridge and the other is for whatever else might need power.

The fridge used to live between the driver seat and the cabinet that was where the passenger seat used to be. Now the fridge will be going where the cabinet used to be, and the cabinet is going to the county dump. The things that were in the cabinet will be redistributed, and some things will be discarded/donated to allow the redistribution.

Next up: cleaning up the wiring.