Modify your old fridge and built your own eco fridge

If anybody plans to insulate his old or even new fridge cover to save some energy and money here are
some thoughts:

Condenser and evaporator of the fridge have to stay clear and not covered by insulation! One has to find
out where they are (see How a fridge is built). The condenser is giving away the heat so it has to be on
the fridge's outside, often its at the back of the fridge. But be careful: some fridges got it integrated into
the sidewalls, you would be able to feel fridge protector, cause while the compressor is running its getting
warm. The fridge's evaporator is inside. At older fridges they are often visible like in my fridge at the
upper right corner. Modern fridges can make it more difficult, because they often integrate it into an
inner wall. That is where the cold is coming from when the fridge is running. Don't insulate that part of
the fridge. To make it more complicated fridges with integrated freezers often have heating elements
inside the inner walls (sounds stupid but for technical reasons its necessary), they must not be insulated
neither. If you are unsure add insulation only to the exterior where you can easily identify the condenser.

Effort. My freeze cover insulation project took maybe 20 hours, which was a pleasure to me. If you don't
like to spend so much time you can save the biggest amount of energy by just insulating the large
outer walls and top of the fridge. All that was fast done and it maybe does not even need decorative
measurements because it's often not visible anyway.

Condense water. Theoretically condense water could accumulate under the polystyrene insulation
of the self-made eco fridge. But after 2 years running there are no signs of it. I believe that the
original fridge walls don't get cold enough for condense water to accumulate. To be sure i was
putting the glue on all the edges of the styrofoam so no air can get between them and the fridge itself. 

Hygiene. Fridge surfaces should be easy to clean. Styrofoam itself is often not easy to clean because
of its rugged surface. A solution could be to buy insulation material with a smooth surface that can be
washed or use that decorative foil i die use (see Insulating fridge). Or again, just stick to the outer
walls, which are less critical what matters to hygiene.

Alternative methods to fix the insulation. Because my eco fridge is made of an old fridge and there is
no warranty anymore I did glue the insulation polystyrene directly to the fridge's wall. If you want to
keep your fridge's warranty rights or for transport reasons it might be useful to be able to remove the
insulation from the fridge. I did hear about using magnets inside the polystyrene or building a frame
around the old fridge which keeps the insulation at place. What i don't know is whether in these cases
condensed water would develop between the fridge and insulation.

Ventilator. One Fridge Mats use a ventilator to get the heat away from the fridge condenser. It could
be running at the same time as the compressor. I got the feeling that this does not save much energy.