chest freezer conversion, collar R value

I'm considering chest freezer conversion designs. One thing I have been wondering about is the R value of the typical wood collar. I'm not sure if my math is right, but that would be around 2.25 which is very low. I wonder if it even matters since the cold air falls. What is the general consensus regarding collar insulation? I don't see many people talking about it so I'm guessing it isn't a big issue to address.

Cheers,
Scott

I have about a 6 inch wood collar and it is not an issue at all. I used two inch thick wood, works great.

Teufelhunden said:

I have about a 6 inch wood collar and it is not an issue at all. I used two inch thick wood, works great.

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If you happen to have one of those laser type thermometers, could you measure the surface temp of the collar, and the surface temp of the side of the chest freezer? If not, can you feel a temperature difference on the wood versus the side of the chest freezer?

I suspect it isn't a big issue since I haven't seen any discussion on it in the past. I haven't built the collar yet, so I want to do a little homework first.

Scott

I built a collar using 1x4" (nominal). I insulated the sides and back of the collar with 3 layers of 1/2" foam insulation for an total of 1.5 inches total on each side. I have found that the front (uninsulated) is definitely colder than the insulated portions. Whether it was worth the time and effort, I don't know but in the end it keeps my beer cold.

Mine has 1.5" of wood (2x6) and 1.5" foam. I'm fairly confident that the R value of the collar with this setup is greater than that of the freezer compartment itself.

Not really a concern, cold air drops.

nebben said:

Mine has 1.5" of wood (2x6) and 1.5" foam. I'm fairly confident that the R value of the collar with this setup is greater than that of the freezer compartment itself.

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Thanks for the pic! Nice setup. I think I'll try for something like that.

Scott

wildwest450 said:

Not really a concern, cold air drops.

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True, but even the top portion of the keezer is going to be ~35 degrees cooler than ambient temp. Heat is going to flow through the wood. How much, i don't really know. I'll leave it to that energy engineering guy to tell us.