I was thinking of making a small "awning" for my fridge exhaust and access doors using reflectix and pvc. Sort of a lean to/A frame. I know the reflectix would help with the sun. However, would it also trap the heat coming out of the exhaust vent if 3 sides were open?
Keeping direct sun off that area will indeed increase the efficiency of the fridge. BUT, I'd leave a gap of several inches from the side of the trailer or keep it a least a foot or more above the upper vent to make sure the heat had somewhere to rise unimpeeded.
What if it was a 3 sided affair with a chimney at the top? (just thinking outloud)
Quote from: austinado16What if it was a 3 sided affair with a chimney at the top? (just thinking outloud)
There are better ways to handle that.
You wouldn't want anything to possibly cause any build up of hot air. The hot air needs to rise as fast as possible (Uninhibited) so as to cause a drafting effect.
Some people put a small 12v fan (like a computer fan) in the upper part of the rear fridge compartment to exhaust the hot air from there.
I guess I'll have to try the fan. I'm not too sure about working with the wiring myself.
You'll find there's already 12v wiring there which runs the heating element for the fridge. So, you could tap into that if the fan doesn't have much current draw.
Might want to make sure you have the back of the fridge baffled off nicely so as to force all updraft air to go through the metal coils, rather than around them.
I do think shading your louvers is a good idea, and because all it has to be is shade, you could design something simple that actually sits some distance above and away from the louvers. Shade is shade, so you'd still accomplish what you set out to, without impeeding air flow.
Might be fun to just make something temporary out of cardboard and test some designs for free. You never know what cool idea you may come up with, and you may never have to install a 12v fan.