Refrigerator - on or off

[a64pilot]

The other thing to consider is the type of system, my cold plates have I'd guess 7 or 8 gls total of liquid, and that is an enormous amount of heat to have to remove to both get that liquid well below 0F and through a phase change, I'd guess it would take close to 24 hours? And if I understand the operating principle of my compressor, it would be running at high RPM until it did, getting hotter and running harder until it hits set temp?
But once at set temp and nobody is opening the box it only runs intermittently at low RPM holding temp?

I think Sailorboy1 has a very good point, if it's just the weekend and you want to save run time on your system, ice makes a lot of sense

[bytownboy]

When away from the boat for more than a day or so I turn of the refrigeration. My system is water cooled and therefore uses two seacocks. Don't like to leave any other than the cockpit drains open when away from boat.

Doug

[Sailor Doug]

Things age and time out frequently before they wear out. Before I retired I left the boat 4 days a week with everyone frig and separate freezer running. Both are air cool by choice.
It was great to arrive late on a Friday night with food and cool beer waiting. I have done this for 15 years with zero problems and consider it the price of fun. Any minor power out are covered by batteries and they all cut out at 11.2 volts. If I was leasing for a month I would shut it all down.
I have see boats that leave air condition running all week when they are away, I could never do that.


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[Stu Jackson]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

I think Sailorboy1 has a very good point, if it's just the weekend and you want to save run time on your system, ice makes a lot of sense

Originally Posted by Sailor Doug

It was great to arrive late on a Friday night with food and cool beer waiting. I have done this for 15 years with zero problems and consider it the price of fun.

I've had this discussion for over 17 years with our skippers.

It is always your boat, your choice, and this discussion has pointed out the advantages and disadvantages quite well.

Weekend? Stop at 7-11 and buy some cold beer.

Our old A/B cools down in half an hour. I sail once a week overnight anchoring, bring some ice cubes from home, throw 'em in the evaporator and they don't melt too much, which shows how quickly the evaporator cools down.

Even if I do go down just to work on the boat, if I choose to flip the fridge on, I get cold stuff very soon. It's the nice part of having an evaporator that's not just a flat plate against the wall, regardless of the type of cooling.

"Just" ice makes a mess to clean out the box. If you have a fridge, why not use it when you're there.

As always, just my experiences to share. No right or wrong.

[mark maulden]

Has anybody ever thrown a chunk of dry ice in the bottom? In a perforated plastic tub....

[Scrimshaw4]

I turn my DC fridge off and empty it when leaving for a week if I'm just doing weekend cruising. When I return I usually bring a bag of ice cubes to help the system get going plus have the advange of use for drinks later. Mine is a Seafrost and is water cooled. If there's a blockage or low battery power it has it's own breaker that it will trip to prevent damage to the unit.

[SURV69]

Hmmm

I've never understood weekend warriors leaving the fridge/freezer on to freeze things(or cool things), when, come the weekend, the first stop on the way to the boat is the grocery store for supplies.

Even if I had beer or something, I'd be inclined to have the fridge on a weekly timer and only set the fridge to be on from about an hour or two til I got to the boat ... and to turn off after a couple of hours ... in case I don't actually go to the boat.

I think it's inherently unfair to the marina, and to other boaters(who might end up paying higher fees because of the marina's bills) for weekend boaters to leave "everything", on all the time regardless.

[Richard Kollmann]

I ran tests of Danfoss BD systems on both my boats docked at home, each with eutectic holding plates. For eight years the boat's refrigerator we used frequently ran steady because holding plate systems take far more time to cool down a warm box than standard evaporators. Before cruising to Bahamas or the keys I would run the sailboat Danfoss compressor system 24 hours to freeze all holding plates in both boxes a total eutectic fluid of 8 gallons.

When leaving a boats refrigerator unattended for days or months with food that could spoil turn frozen ice trays upside down, when returning to boat and things look OK and ice trays are still full of ice you will know food is safe.

[4arch]

Originally Posted by SURV69

I think it's inherently unfair to the marina, and to other boaters(who might end up paying higher fees because of the marina's bills) for weekend boaters to leave "everything", on all the time regardless.

It depends on the marina. Around here it’s almost unheard of to have fully subsidized electricity. At my current marina the slip fee includes up to the first $25/month of electricity and the slipholder pays any overage. At my old marina the slipholder pays 100% of their own electricity. When I was paying the full freight, leaving the fridge on continuously only increased the electric charges 2-3 dollars in the heat of summer.

For me it’s less about keeping drinks cold as it is being able to keep condiments, dressings, jams, etc. It becomes a PITA to have to lug this stuff back and forth from home every weekend and it’s very hard to find these products in single-serve sizes that are better than fast food quality.

[SURV69]

Wow!

2-3 dollars is dirt cheap ... I wonder if that "cheapness", also applies to the air conditioners too(which are often left on continuously).

I guess one way to look at it, is if the cooler is well insulated, and obviously doesn't get opened(when you're not there), then the cost wouldn't be much.

[Robin3]

Originally Posted by 4arch

It depends on the marina. Around here it’s almost unheard of to have fully subsidized electricity. At my current marina the slip fee includes up to the first $25/month of electricity and the slipholder pays any overage. At my old marina the slipholder pays 100% of their own electricity. When I was paying the full freight, leaving the fridge on continuously only increased the electric charges 2-3 dollars in the heat of summer.

For me it’s less about keeping drinks cold as it is being able to keep condiments, dressings, jams, etc. It becomes a PITA to have to lug this stuff back and forth from home every weekend and it’s very hard to find these products in single-serve sizes that are better than fast food quality.

Many things that Americans consider have to be refrigerated are not so in Europe, things such as ketchup mustards and similar. 'Preserves' aka jelly are also not needed to be refrigerated, the clue is in the name, preserves, like what folk of old used to do before refigeration. Eggs are another, no need to refrigerate especially if they were bought from where they were not previously stored that way, but once chilled the game changes and they should stay that way. In old days long distance cruisers used to coat stored eggs with vaseline and turn them end for end every few days, they would keep weeks like that. Eggs are packaged superbly by the chicken.

We always turn our air cooled refrigerator off and leave the lid open if we are not staying on board, but adopted a habit years ago of freezing a couple of one litre tonic water bottles at home prior to a planned trip, these are used to keep foodstuff cool in the cold box on the way to the boat and thence help the refrigerator to cool faster once on board and when fully melted can be used as intended in a gin and tonic. By the same token we also took previously frozen ice cube bags (pre-formed bags you fill with water and freeze to make convenient ice cubes) wrapped for the trip to the boat in old newspapers The refrigerator on our then UK based boat was well insulated and the tonic bottles were often still 80% ice after a weekend away cruising.

[Sailor Doug]

OK! how many of you turn your home refrigerator of when you go to the boat? I don't do either too much stuff in both. Nice to have that frozen steak when I get to the boat.


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[senormechanico]

Originally Posted by Cdreamin

Forgive my ignorance but what is a "keel cooled frigoboat"

Let me google that for you

[Arthur Garfield]

Any comparison of turning off home ref/freezer and boat ref/freezer is apples and oranges ! False equivalency.

How often does power go out at your home ?
How easy or possible is boat power able to go out for whatever myriad of causes?

It's no brainer to shut off boat ref/freezer,if off board for more than 2 days,for all the typical reasons and more importantly for the reasons not imagined !

Why take a chance?

Then there is the element of system lifetime/function/hours loss/reduction by running 24/7 !




All the Best

[SV THIRD DAY]

Originally Posted by Arthur Garfield

Any comparison of turning off home ref/freezer and boat ref/freezer is apples and oranges ! False equivalency.

How often does power go out at your home ?
How easy or possible is boat power able to go out for whatever myriad of causes?

It's no brainer to shut off boat ref/freezer,if off board for more than 2 days,for all the typical reasons and more importantly for the reasons not imagined !

Why take a chance?

Then there is the element of system lifetime/function/hours loss/reduction by running 24/7 !

All the Best

Why take the Chance?

Easy....convenience...our lives and much of our "needed gear" is all about comfort and convenience. You are not going to get me to clean out my live aboard refrigerator just because I'm away for a week.