To leave air, or not to?

I am building a cabinet enclosed keezer and am losing sleep over this question.

On the one hand, I hear people say that putting a skin on the actual freezer will cause it to work too hard and overheat.

On the other hand, I hear people say that leaving an inch or two of air between (even with open vents at top and bottom) creates more insulation.


What is the best answer? Does it matter?

I've seen Jester's. I've seen Hop-Head's. two completely different philosophies.

Has anyone have any problems with either design?

If I were to leave space between the skin and the freezer wall, do I have to run a fan? I am not electric saavy at all. If I don't run a fan is it better to attach a thin veneer to the actual freezer wall?

This stuff is keeping me up at nights, haha.

Really depends on your freezer and where the heat dispersion coils are located. See if you can find a diagram of how it is put together and you may be able to then decide if you need a space for air movement all around or on just one side or perhaps none at all. Again it really depends on how your model of freezer is designed.

If you don't have a diagram crank it up full blast, then feel the outer walls. It will get pretty hot in some areas. That'll give you a good idea of where you need to be careful.

Ok, good idea.

But is 2 inches of air between the panel and freezer better at dissipating heat or is a thin veneer right next to the freezer wall better?

Air is a great insulator. An air gap alone will not help the heat dissipate. You will need a computer fan or something of that nature to move the air out of the gap.

I'd love to hear an answer on this as well.

Also, Gigemags - can you shoot me a link to the thread discussing veneers? if any?