Living · 6 pages · 12 min
How a cooler keeps ice
The walls slow the heat leak, and melting ice absorbs what gets through.
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From the opening
A cooler keeps ice by slowing the heat that flows in from the warmer outside, not by making cold. The ice stays ice until that incoming heat has been spent melting it, which is why a thick insulated wall buys time. The opening covers insulation slows the incoming heat, melting ice is the heat sink, and why an open lid wastes the cold air.
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Inside
- Insulation slows the incoming heat
- Melting ice is the heat sink
- Why an open lid wastes the cold air
- How a vacuum flask is stricter
- Where the idea stops applying
- A distinction worth keeping
Sources
- Conductive insulation and the latent heat of melting ice
- The passive icebox that predates vapor-compression cooling