Buenos Dias Franst8:
We are currently in Ensenada on our way down and around Baja. The
weather is warm and gorgeous!
While we were
on the hard in Astoria,
Oregon we installed two independent Frigoboat keel-cooled systems - one for the fridge (7 cubic feet), one for the freezer (5 cubic feet.) Yes, 12 cubic feet in total. Both of our Frigoboat systems are the same size and use the same components except for the thermostats, which are different. They are "plug and play" and didn't require any additional Freon
charging. The lines supplied were plenty long enough to reach from icebox to compressors. The compressors are really small and don't add hardly any heat to the lazarette.
I am amazed how well they keep
food cold/frozen and how little
power they use. Our boat has four 110 watt
Kyocera solar panels. We are able to be completely off the grid for days and still make 4 large trays of cocktail ice daily and keep the freezer full, which makes
provisioning meat, produce, and dairy less stressful between long legs of the journey.
We didn't add any insulation to the boxes, as our 1988 boat had about 4 inches around the boxes already. We also have a cavernous freezer. Reaching the bottom requires tongs - seriously. At one point someone made it smaller by adding addition insulation to fill up freezer space. Really glad we took out the (what turned out to be) moldy foam and returned the freezer to the original size. We need it. And use it.
The freezer evaporator plate is defrosted every 30 days. Frost builds up due to humidity because we open the freezer several times every day.
Since the install four months ago, I've had to replace each of the quarter-sized zincs on the
keel coolers once. (There are two zincs per
keel cooler.) They are the size of a 50 cent piece and don't wear at even rates. So, you'll need to be able to snorkel on your boat. We found a place to buy them online before leaving the states for around $1.50 each. (Some sites advertise $8.00 each. NOT!)
All around, we are both very happy with the system and thrilled with their energy
consumption and performance. Not a
single thing I would change, except the
price. But, you get what you pay for. And we like having cocktail ice. And meat. And produce.
Good luck!