Ice chest / box with dry ice

[kickit2]

Heres what I am thinking of building - a modified version of the old school iceboxes that everyone used to use in their houses prior to refrigurators. The only thing is - I want this thing to use dry ice.

Here is my reasoning. We have property WAY up north that we use almost exclusivly for hunting. We are completely off the grid and use solar / propane for power sources with a wood burning camp stove for heat. Propare refridgerators exists - I already know this, but they are big $$$ and for the ammount of use, I really dont think it would be worth it. We could also do electric, but the days are short which makes generating enough power for one difficult currently and expensive to upgrade the array. Dry ice needs no power of any kind (other than initially making it) and if insulted well can last for some time and can both freeze or refriderate things.

I would like it to be of a typical verticle style, with two zones - toward the top for refrigeration and toward the bottom for freezing.

Here are my questions: Has anyone ever done this or someting similar? If I wanted to make 50 lbs last a week (or even two weeks if possible) and be able to cool maybe 10 cubic feet with maybe another 2.5 cubic feet for freezing, how much insulation would be best? Lastly, I know that if the dry ice is not insulated and isolated correctly, it will evaporate too fast and freeze everything - Anyone have any ideas on how to isolate the dry ice in a manner so that it slows its evaporation and will allow proper refrigeration without freezing (except at the very bottom - I want things to freeze there)?

Thanks - Shawn

[Johnny Test]

Re: Ice chest / box with dry ice

how many days do you need refrigeration? An ice block will last 3 days at least. Bring four blocks.

[Johnny Test]

Re: Ice chest / box with dry ice

shawn, why don't you just purchase and fix up an old ice chest. just add new insulation. Then haul blocks of wet or dry ice in a cooler.

[Mike]

Re: Ice chest / box with dry ice

Sounds like a real pain in the asss trying to have a refrigerator all the time. Why not just plan meals that don't need refrigeration like they did in the old days. Eat dried and canned foods including canned meats. Buy fresh food when you are in town. Hunt and fish for fresh meats. Get used to warm beer or switch to bourbon and branch.

I heard about the WWII guys cooling their beer by putting the beer in a gunny sack, then dousing the bag with gasoline and swinging the bag around and around to evaporate the gas and thus chill the beer.

[Mike]

Re: Ice chest / box with dry ice

Yuck, that's no fun. I'll stick with my ribeye steaks and fresh hot steaming biscuits made with fresh cold milk and fresh butter and you can have the canned ravioli and hardtack. I'll also be dropping a couple of ice cubes into my glass of bourbon because my Engel can be half fridge and half freezer and I can make my own ice cubes. Actually I don't mind going without refrigeration from time to time but a lot of canned foods have way too much salt and I camp too much to eat that stuff year-round.

Adding an Engel to your rig is not that easy to setup but once the extra battery, solar panel and fridge are installed, it is maintenance free and if you camp enough, like I do, the savings from not having to buy ice will pay for the whole fridge setup in a couple of years.

Well alright then. You bring the refrigerator and I'll bring the bourbon