Freezer / Refrigerator Question . . .

[Yachts66]

By happenstance I discovered my 5 cu ft chest freezer only uses 1.3 amps (110v). Not much at all. That got me thinking, what if I added a few inches of blue board around it and installed it on the boat? I can get a brand new unit at Costco or Best Buy for about $200. They seem to be very energy efficient and certainly aren't drawing that many watts. So, why wouldn't this be a less cost alternative the the traditional marine refrigeration systems you see at the boat shows? Ok, yes it would draw power and since it's 110v you'd have to run it off the inverter, but so what? Not a huge number of amps. One could also install a fan blowing on the condenser for those hot days in the tropics. It might not be as efficient as the true marine unit, but it would also be a fraction of the cost. Do you think this would work? Ditto a small refrigerator.

Regards,

Thomas

[billyehh]

Convert your 1.3 amps at 110 volts AC to 12 volts DC you are now looking at about 13 amps. Then you have to throw in the 10 to 20 % ineffiecncy of an inverter. That will put it above 15 amps. I think I wll stick to my traditional Cold Machine that draws just over 4 amps.

[delmarrey]

My question would be: how much of a heeling angle would a residential reffer take?

And, that's almost 12 amps @ 12V, if your running off of an inverter it would be more. I would hope you would have very large batteries or a genset.

[anotherT34C]

If you have an existing ice-box, it's usually best to add as much insulation as you can reasonably fit, and install an ice-box conversion kit (~$600). If you're able to also add ice occaisionally, the current draw will be suprisingly low.

[SaucySailoress]

Now, I'm only a girl, so don't quote me on this, but....

We bought a little household fridge. Hubby ripped out the insides, stuck them in the galley and built a very big, well insulated and drained fridge with a small freezer next it. Both work very well, our dive boat captains use them to freeze water bottles and cool slabs of softies for the dive boats!!!

It works for us - we run it off mains at the marina, but it also runs from the solar generator whilst at sea. And if all that fails, we have room for huge ice blocks at the bottom, with more space left over and better insulation than the previous 'fridge' had.

Good luck - and let us know what you decide.

[anotherT34C]

Did your husband convert the hardware to run off of 12 volts? I'm guessing you guys aren't running the thing off of an inverter.

Maybe a small 12 volt rv-fridge would be good for a project like that?

[Yachts66]

I think this has turned out to be one of my late night great ideas that upon inspection in the morning, turned out to be not such a good idea after all. As I will spend little time at the dock, I have to rely upon the power my solar cells generate, my wind generator generates and when all else fails my gen set generates. I forgot about the additional math needed to go from 12V to 110V and added inefficiency of the inverter. So, when I add all that up I think I'm probably better off in the long run just building a proper box and using a Danfoss 80. It was a fun thought while it lasted though!

Regards,

Thomas

[billyehh]

Yeah: The same thing happens to me, Usually after some rum punch. Best of luck on your project.

[rwidman]

Originally Posted by billyehh

Convert your 1.3 amps at 110 volts AC to 12 volts DC you are now looking at about 13 amps. Then you have to throw in the 10 to 20 % ineffiecncy of an inverter. That will put it above 15 amps. I think I wll stick to my traditional Cold Machine that draws just over 4 amps.

That's it in a nutshell and that's why even the most inexpensive production boats use "marine" 12/120 volt refrigerator/freezers.

I'll just add to the above that the inverter will have to run 24/7, it will not shut down when the thermostat is not calling for cooling like the compressor does.

[rwidman]

Originally Posted by Yachts66

I think this has turned out to be one of my late night great ideas that upon inspection in the morning, turned out to be not such a good idea after all. As I will spend little time at the dock, I have to rely upon the power my solar cells generate, my wind generator generates and when all else fails my gen set generates. I forgot about the additional math needed to go from 12V to 110V and added inefficiency of the inverter. So, when I add all that up I think I'm probably better off in the long run just building a proper box and using a Danfoss 80. It was a fun thought while it lasted though!

Regards,

Thomas

Good choice.

[Yachts66]

Out of curiosity, now that R Parts has bitten the dust, who do folks use for their refer parts and such? Is there a central source like them now?

Thanks,

Thomas

[janice142]

HOWEVER, yes, your A/C reefer may take 13 amps to run, but unless it's one of those "nucool" or "thermoelectric" refrigerators that are being sold now, yours does not run anywhere near 24/7 - thus your power consumption will be much less.

The solution for me is a cheap small cube... it's plugged into an outlet 24/7 along with a small fan blowing on the coils. Upstream is an on/off switch. I shut off the unit at night -- without opening the door. My ice cubes do melt around the edges but do not liquify overnight. Yes, the area is insulated (3 layers of blue board) ... and no, it's not perfect, but at $600 plus for a small d/c one, versus less than $100 from Walmart, it's a-okay for me.

[Yachts66]

How thick is the blue board you are using?

Thanks,

Thomas

[janice142]

Yacht66... I used the 3/4" blue board (2 to 3 layers) marked R4 styrofoam. It's neat and easy to cut (score/snap). At the stripe on my hull I added an extra layer (outbound) that was "evened up" somewhat by the following layers. That blue part is/was significantly warmer so I've added the R4 (single layer) to the hull in my food storage areas.

The styrofoam made a huge difference. I'm dealing with south GA and in 90-plus degree ambient temperatures I was not able to keep icecream cold with the unit sitting out (pre install) -- now I am enjoying icecubes in my soda. I was surprised the difference the styrofoam made.

Good luck to you. Specifically, I bought the smallest Haier (1.7 cubic feet) but if I'd have more space I might have gone with the next size up.

[ConradG]

I'm sure I will get set straight here but I have always wondered about the "elecrolux" fridges that run on propane or diesel/kerosine. The ones that are commonly in R/Vs and off grid houses otr camps. I thought that perhaps heeling would upset the process but just the other day talked to a cruiser who used a propane version for twenty years without a hitch while mostly living aboard and cruising. He said it was used a 5lb bottle a month. Why aren't they more common in boats? They aren't cheap to buy but overall it sounds pretty good.