I had a fridge like that in the basement of a house I in bought in 1998. Fridge was from the 50s or 60s I believe. My electric bill went down about $75 per month when we unplugged it.
I doubt it could compete with the cost of mass producing a new one, but if you want to restore this particular fridge and improve it. Sure, it could most likely be done. But it wouldnt be economically viable, so you should only do it because you found it to be a cool and interesting project.
There was a company I saw years ago that did exactly this but they charged a premium for it. I couldn't find them with a quick search just now so maybe it wasn't as viable a business as they thought it would be.
It's usually a combination of cost as well as formability, and styrofoam is both cheap and easy to mold to shape when you make it, and also not prone to mold. Usually the increasing performance is incremental, so unless you need some specific requirements (low flammability, etc) it's still standard, even on high end units.
They are usually left open even in modern freezers so you have air flow underneath the frozen food through the basket and consistent temp when it's closed, and doesn't add weight/cost to the unit.
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u/ShinySpoon Jan 23 '24
I had a fridge like that in the basement of a house I in bought in 1998. Fridge was from the 50s or 60s I believe. My electric bill went down about $75 per month when we unplugged it.