Quote:
Originally Posted by strider3700
what I did was unscrew the coils and slide some of that foil covered bubble wrap radiant barrier between the coils and the box then I made a small hood for the compressor to "direct" the hot air out to the back not under the fridge. I then used some plastic to make 1/2" stand off's at the bottom and 1" standoff's at the top to move the coil out of vertical.
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This is exactly what I did yesterday, but didn't get a chance to post pictures.
This is the original set-up. As I noticed a few posts back, my fridge's coils were already slightly sloped (2cm/0.8in from the rear wall at the bottom, 4cm/1.6in at the top).
I increased the distance of the coils to 3cm/1.2in (bottom) and 7cm/2.75in (top). Then covered the rear wall with 3mm stryrofoam with foil on one side (often used behind central heating radiators to reflect more heat to the room instead of to the wall).
I also squeezed a piece of wood between the coils and rear wall to keep the radiator from bending inwards:
Since the freezer is at the bottom, with the compressor under it, this makes a very large temperature differential across the rear wall and floor: When running, the coils are around 30°C/86°F, while the compressor is at 45°C/113°F (side) and 50°C/122°F (top). The freezer's temp is -22°C/-8°F, and its evaporator is around -28°C/-18°F, so that's a difference of almost 80°C/140°F across only a few cm of insulation. This part also got a layer of styrofoam with foil. Before:
After:
The last picture is before I replaced the plastic 'cap' on the compressor. It collects (via a tube in the back) the water which condenses inside the fridge, which quickly evaporates because of the compressor's temperature.
The next step may be a small (5-6mm) computer fan at the top of the coils to suck air upwards whenever the compressor is running. It will probably be run at a lower speed to reduce noise, so the power draw shouldn't be more than 2-3W, which hopefully will pay for itself by reducing the compressor's on-time.