Unsulating 220ltr water aging barrel from the cold

[Mattzilla]

Ok winter has hit and it's freezing in my garage. i would like to try to cut down on my energy consumption and cost by insulating my water aging barrel. It's a common 220ltr food grade plastic barrel. It does have a lid but i have a small area of about 5cm x 15cm cut out of the side of the lid for all the hoses and chords. Tha barrel sits on the concrete slab floor.

I would like to know how i could insulate the barrel to perhaps hold it's heat a bit better so that the heater does not have to run as much.

I only turn the heater on when i am planning to use the water, so saving some energy there.

I was wondering if wrapping it with insulation baffles (is that the word) like the ones used in roofing then taping it up with electrical tape would do the trick? or is that just stupid?

I have anough room in the space where i keep the barrel to add about 4" all the way round the barrel if need be.

So what's the best material and method to use? should i place a thick layer of foam under the barrel to get it off the cold concrete slab?

and if you have any other energy savings tips for your water aging/heating/airating barrel, please let me know.

thanks very much for the help!

Matt

[ILLUSN]

hey mate, i wraped mine in some thermal insulation foam from clark rubber, its dark gray with a silver/alluminium coating on one side, seems to work really well.

if your on a budget you gould always go down to vinnies and buy an old dooner to throw over it.

[revkev]

Get the barrel off the cement floor and put a thick sheet of wood under it.
Wrap the barrel with thick insulation and insulate the lid as well.

[Mattzilla]

ok what type, or brand of 'thick insulation' should i use please?

i'm looking for a bit more detail like thickness measurement, brands, techniques etc

thanks

[Mattzilla]

illusn, how much was the stuff from clark rubber?

[DIY]

I wrapped mine in a "blanket insulation" I got as an end of roll offcut from an insulation place in Melbourne.

It comes in a roll, I believe it's sold as roofing insulation and it is a layer of insulation, either polyester or fiberglass (mine was fiberglass) about 50mm thick glued to a silver sheet about 3 or 4mm thick. on the roll it's about about 1.2m wide. I also got some silver insulation tape that is like a cloth/foil type tape to tape it all up, works great and not too hard to do.

On the second page of the pdf I've linked you can see a picture of the sort of thing I mean.

http://www.bradfordinsulation.com.au/brochure/bradford/Residential%20Anticon%20Brochure.pdf

[ILLUSN]

will double check for you next week end when i go get some more, it was an inch thich and round $30/m

[TW]

Mattzilla, glad you asked this one.

Which would be the easiest to remove in summer - as then my issue is keeping the water cool. Or do they both also work in the opposite way as well, keeping the heat out in summer?

[Mattzilla]

oops forgot about thsi thread....

thanks DIYjunkie i'll look into that!

TW i would assume that the insulation would work both ways to an extent but i guess the most desired effect would be keeping out the cold in winter.

i still need to heat my water in summer anyway so it would come in handy there too.

thanks again
matt

[samir]

the back of that fridge is a pretty warm place .

[FNQ]

Run the water through cheap 19mm black poly irrigation pipe up onto your roof and back. Let the sun heat it for you.

I've seen this done for a 20,000 litre thaw tank and it worked a treat.

[chorrylan]

I have two 1000L waterchange tanks that sit behind my fishroom ('cos I don't have that much space in the room and 'cos it allowed me to raise them up).

I used some stuff I got from bunnings that is essentially bubblewrap sandwiched between two foil layers. It has an R rating around 2.5 which isn't that brilliant but you don't have to worry about wetting it and it prevents air flow. (I guess a double layer would make something close to R5 but it'd be expensive)
I made a stand up out of sleepers and used the bubblewrap stuff to create an air-void also for insulation.

[BigDaddyAdo]

Personally id grab a roofing insulation pink bat or similar and a roll of gaffa tape. Get a small pallet to keep it off the floor.


Ado

[norto]

G'Day Matt,
Mate you could go down to the nearest Harvey Norman or Good Guys and see if they have a spare Washing Machine or Fridge Box, Sit it over the top of your Barrell so it looks like the barrell actually came in the box and then either fill up the space with crumpled Newspaper or get some bradford bats and stick around the sides ...then in summer if need be you can pull it all apart and store in the box for next year. :)
Regards,
Norto.

[Mattzilla]

great idea norto!

thanks

[FNQ]

Turn the fridge 90 degrees and let the compressor blow the warm air from the back on your drum ??