Using Larger bubble wrap as insulation during winter months

I would say no, unless those bubbles were filled with wool. Seriously though, I'm guessing the insulating factor of bubble wrap in general is almost nil regardless if it is the smaller or larger bubbles. Paging the resident physicist for a definitive answer.... In my experience I just wait until the projected low temps are above freezing or so before shipping & of course always ship on a Monday to avoid packages sitting in a freezing truck or whatever on a weekend. Here is the running cold weather thread for more details -> http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/cold-weather-trading-winter-shipping-thread.136681/

 

without getting into thermodynamics and rules of heat (cold) transfer.. No.. Styrofoam yes tho.. pieces cut to fit all 6 sides of your box as close as possible to make your own "cooler".. plus will help with damage control.. not a resident physicist, they're still in school..

 

I've had trading partners wrap their bottles in Saran Wrap. Kinda like a cocoon type thing. That may or may not affect the outcome

 

agree on the styrofoam (like a styro wine shipper) - bubble wrap will protect against a box drop, but not freezing.

 

News print is a good insulator, foam is a good insulator, use a slightly bigger box , less beer more foam wrap.

 

Newspaper - Homeless people use it as an "insulator" in their clothes during the winter time in Baltimore. It's got to keep beer from freezing right?

 

^ not sure if joking, but that works because the body's metabolism and any moving muscles create heat. Beer exposed to cold weather is only going to equilibrate with surrounding temperature unless warmed by an external force.

 

Filling bubble wrap bubbles with wool would actually make it a worse insulator. In general air is the insulator and you're just using the styrofoam, wool, etc. to house that air. The problem with bubble wrap is the parts between the bubbles where it's just a thin piece of plastic. Heat could take the difficult path through the air bubble or it can just go through the thin plastic parts and it likes the path of least resistance. It's better than nothing but if you really wanted to slow it down you'd want multiple layers or something else to try and eliminate the easy bridging. Styrofoam would be better because it's solid but the seams where the various pieces of styro meet would still be bridges of a sort.

 

in this house, we obey the laws of thermodynamics!

 

@TheVicster , you should run a quick test. Strip down to your underwear, wrap yourself in layers of large bubble wraps and stand outside for 1/2 hour. Post video here, we will judge how effective it is based on the severity of your body shaking