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Old 02-10-2012, 03:07   #91
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Re: Can a Household Refrigerator Work on a Sailboat ?

When I bought my Swedish Peterbilt ( semi, as in Volvo) the factory fridge had died. I called Volvo, and a replacement was over 15ooUSD.
NOT!!
I internetted truckfridge dot com, and bought an Indel B fridge that fit the small space perfectly, and actually had a HUGE freezer. It is the 'Cruise 50 model, I believe. It's a 12v unit, made in Italy. Double door, freezer on top.
I can stack ( for example....not that I would eat this stuff) 6-8 frozen entree packages and still have some room for some frozen veggies and other vices, like a couple of ice cream sandwiches. It will freeze ice cubes, and even the dreaded hot dogs and sausages stay frozen. It's not a huge fridge, but it provisions me for at least a week at a time, depending on what I get and how fast I use it. Indel makes a good fridge for a 12 volt unit.
I paid $700 for the Cruise 50, but I don't think they don't sell them in the US any longer. But they have other units, like the 90.

Indel Webasto Marine - Fridges & Freezers Overview
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Old 28-10-2014, 04:07   #92
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Re: Can a Household Refrigerator Work on a Sailboat ?

I have installed a household LG fridge+bottom freezer in my FP Salina - here are the pics
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Old 28-10-2014, 15:20   #93
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Re: Can a Household Refrigerator Work on a Sailboat ?

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I have installed a household LG fridge+bottom freezer in my FP Salina - here are the pics
Most household fridges Ive checked with a meter draw radically more power than similar sized 12V systems. What is actual (not whats on the often incorrect label) power draw of this unit?
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Old 28-10-2014, 15:37   #94
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Re: Can a Household Refrigerator Work on a Sailboat ?

Sailor Chic on this forum uses a small home fridge. Seems to not draw that much in her case.
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Old 28-10-2014, 16:18   #95
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Can a Household Refrigerator Work on a Sailboat ?

I think SC has a dorm fridge, I believe she knows it's less efficient, but it's the savings in money that is attractive to her, which if I understand correctly more than offsets the energy cost.
I believe I remember her saying it was way more cost effective to increase solar output to make up the difference, plus I believe she could easily replace hers a couple of times for the repair cost of a "real" boat fridge and of course she would then have a new unit as opposed to a repair.
But I think a full size house fridge as attractive as they may, are a real energy hog compared to a boat fridge, if you have the excess power, why not? Every
now and again I read here about people having so much excess solar they dump it into the water heater, they could afford a house fridge energy wise, the rest of us maybe not


Sorry SC I hadn't noticed you had posted in this thread, sorry I missed that
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Old 28-10-2014, 18:35   #96
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Re: Can a Household Refrigerator Work on a Sailboat ?

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Most household fridges Ive checked with a meter draw radically more power than similar sized 12V systems. What is actual (not whats on the often incorrect label) power draw of this unit?

That's good that you say that as we do not want to put marine fridge manufacturers out of business too soon.

Let's also keep the myth that a modern household fridge can't work with the movement on a boat.

I've asked some of the magazines to do a test on an energy star A+++ fridge compared to a 12v marine unit but they don't seem to want to do it..., maybe after reading the specs on how little amps are needed....

It is truly amazing and would make a very interesting test comparison.

But just quietly apart from the minuscule amps..... How long does a modern energy star A+++ fridge keep stuff frozen when unplugged at 25 degrees.....half a day, 1 day, 2 days, 3 days.....better stop there I think before anyone gets too shocked.

And let's also not mention how thin the walls are.





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Old 28-10-2014, 19:56   #97
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Re: Can a Household Refrigerator Work on a Sailboat ?

The label says 145W average, the unit is AAA+. The real world consumption will be checked.
I am putting 700W solar on the roof - so I do not think the slightly higher consumption will kill me.
But the convenience is day and night (we still have our standard FP piano fridge for vegetables and drinks).
And the cost for 300l fridge & 100l freezer was only $400

This is my model: http://m.lg.com/ae/refrigerators/lg-...bottom-freezer
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Old 28-10-2014, 20:21   #98
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Re: Can a Household Refrigerator Work on a Sailboat ?

There are two things that you need to be concerned with with any fridge AC or DC. That is operating amp draw and cycle time. While my little dorm fridge,3.5CF, uses 15amps DC (including inverter loss) the hourly load is only 2.5 amps. 24 hour load is less then 55 amps, which the typical 12V system will also use give or take box insulation.

My fridge cycles on for about 2.5 minutes every 14 minutes. A bit more above 95 degrees and less below 60 degrees. The 2.5 minute run time was measured in summer with 90+ degree California delta cabin heat.

A larger fridge actually does not use that many more amps then a small dorm fridge. Though excessive door opening will greatly effect run times as will auto defrost which probably should be disabled for boat life, unless at dock.

The thing to remember is for a given box size the work/btu heat transfer is the same so the over all load per hour will be similar. The 12V units have a smaller compressor, so run longer. But for a given box size a 12V and a 120V compressor will have very similar hourly loads.
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Old 28-10-2014, 20:26   #99
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Re: Can a Household Refrigerator Work on a Sailboat ?

Also, there is a single compressor for the fridge & freezer. In the marine devices i had to buy two units with two compressors. And you know the costs of the large ones
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Old 28-10-2014, 21:46   #100
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Re: Can a Household Refrigerator Work on a Sailboat ?

Our 65 litre LG home fridge was retrofitted with a Danfoss compressor and it actually seems very efficient from my limited observations. Just not much fun to open on a port tack as it dumps everything in the companionway. If it does prove to be as efficient as it appears I am considering tipping it on its back and using it that way.

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Old 28-10-2014, 23:15   #101
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Re: Can a Household Refrigerator Work on a Sailboat ?

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Just not much fun to open on a port tack as it dumps everything in the companionway.

Nice to be on a catamaran
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Old 29-10-2014, 04:25   #102
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Re: Can a Household Refrigerator Work on a Sailboat ?

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Nice to be on a catamaran
Ha ha! Do you know, as I wrote that a little voice said... "wait for it... there's gonna be a multihull response." Still, fair point, I don't think a cat would have the same problem.
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Old 29-10-2014, 04:42   #103
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Re: Can a Household Refrigerator Work on a Sailboat ?

Be sure to re-orient the compressor if you tip it on it's back
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Old 29-10-2014, 04:46   #104
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Re: Can a Household Refrigerator Work on a Sailboat ?

A home fridge would be very easy to determine it's energy consumption. Measure the current draw and stick an hour meter on it, I doubt they are variable speed compressors are they?
Lots of people on boats use home fridges, its just usually the power boat crowd that seldom leave the marina and when they do, they crank the 7.5 KW generator, what's a couple hundred watts more or less to a 7.5 KW generator?
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Old 29-10-2014, 04:53   #105
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Re: Can a Household Refrigerator Work on a Sailboat ?

Quote:
Originally Posted by SVI View Post
The label says 145W average, the unit is AAA+. The real world consumption will be checked.
I am putting 700W solar on the roof - so I do not think the slightly higher consumption will kill me.
But the convenience is day and night (we still have our standard FP piano fridge for vegetables and drinks).
And the cost for 300l fridge & 100l freezer was only $400

This is my model: LG bottom-freezer GRB429BLQ | LG AE
145W average at 120V is I believe a little more than 12 amps at 12V (still 145 watts of course), or a little more than double the average Danfoss draw I believe. But if you rarely open it, you may get by with just a little more than twice the energy draw of a typical marine unit. I think that is the answer really, if your OK with using twice the energy, a home unit will be fine.
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