What's the best modern freezer unit?

[ErikFinn]

Originally Posted by crazyoldboatguy

That's a big freezer even without the insulation. You fish a lot, right?

This freezer was custom made by the previous owner. For the current daysailing, island hopping, marina liveaboard use it is, well unnecessary really. I still keep it aboard since it's there and in case I'll need it someday, for the big fish, hehe..

[Jolly Roger]

Just a quick update for all the people who responded with constructive advice to my initial inquiry.
I have been completely sidetracked this weekend with other work, and not able to examine the construction of my ice box.
I will get to it shortly, and post pictures.

[crazyoldboatguy]

Well, I don't know what your problem is, that never happens to me.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by Terra Nova

Tests are not needed in order to determine that, if you take the heat from your reefer box and dump it into the interior of your boat, your interior warms up.

OK, I did a test to see how much warmer it might get from running the fridge.

My compressor is mounted under the floor in an area about 30 cu ft. For reference, the main cabin is about 25 times that size. After 48 hours running the fridge the temp in the compressor area was 2 degrees F warmer than the main cabin. To make the test even more demanding I put a piece of carpet over the entire floor in the cabin to restrict airflow in the space and hold in the heat.

Making a very wild guess, I would think the temp difference in the main cabin would be much less than one degree from the waste heat produced by the fridge.

[Terra Nova]

Your test was invalidated by the simple exclusion of determining under-floor temperature before the test. It should be much cooler below the floor than in the cabin.

[nimblemotors]

The results don't mean much of anything unless you specify how the fridge was used. Stick some warm beer in it and wait until it gets cold, and then report the temp change in the cabin. Just keeping stuff already cold cold doesn't take much energy.

Originally Posted by skipmac

OK, I did a test to see how much warmer it might get from running the fridge.

My compressor is mounted under the floor in an area about 30 cu ft. For reference, the main cabin is about 25 times that size. After 48 hours running the fridge the temp in the compressor area was 2 degrees F warmer than the main cabin. To make the test even more demanding I put a piece of carpet over the entire floor in the cabin to restrict airflow in the space and hold in the heat.

Making a very wild guess, I would think the temp difference in the main cabin would be much less than one degree from the waste heat produced by the fridge.

[Neptune's Gear]

Also an issue is what is the hull made from, and what is the water temp? Likely the excess heat is being lost thru the hull, esp if steel, and cool water.
Personally I have seen several vessels turn off the freezer because of the heat and power issues in the tropics.
I know some don't agree, but I really do prefer fresh water cooled units. No thru hull, no anode, simple and efficient, without heating your boat. This is what I have in my boat. See my website if you are interested. Refrigerators and Freezers for Boats – Neptune's Gear Ltd

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by Terra Nova

Your test was invalidated by the simple exclusion of determining under-floor temperature before the test. It should be much cooler below the floor than in the cabin.

Oh but I did. Depending on where I shot the lazar ,temps under the floor were within a degree of in the main cabin at least at floor level. Temps at the ceiling in the main cabin 1-2 degrees higher than at the floor in the main cabin.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by Neptune's Gear

Also an issue is what is the hull made from, and what is the water temp? Likely the excess heat is being lost thru the hull, esp if steel, and cool water.
Personally I have seen several vessels turn off the freezer because of the heat and power issues in the tropics.
I know some don't agree, but I really do prefer fresh water cooled units. No thru hull, no anode, simple and efficient, without heating your boat. This is what I have in my boat. See my website if you are interested. Refrigerators and Freezers for Boats – Neptune's Gear Ltd

Fiberglass hull with balsa core and on the hard. So the bilge area is reasonable well insulated and not losing a huge amount of the heat. Plus the temp differential between the main cabin and outside would be almost the same as bilge to outside so similar heat gain/loss to the environment.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by nimblemotors

The results don't mean much of anything unless you specify how the fridge was used. Stick some warm beer in it and wait until it gets cold, and then report the temp change in the cabin. Just keeping stuff already cold cold doesn't take much energy.

I have compared power draw on a fridge when just closed up and static vs active use with stuff in and out and frequent opening. Difference in amp hours/day I recall increased from 10% to maybe a max 25% in a day. Not enough to be significant.

[skipmac]

For those who want to pick the nits let me be clear, this was not in any way a rigorous, exact, scientific test. I had no control for comparison, no previous baseline data, it was a single 48 hour test, I used a test sample of one boat one time so the results will be statistically invalid.

However based on this very casual test AND my subjective impressions from working on the boat with the fridge on and off, I see no significant heating of the cabin from a Danfos BD50m air cooled compressor.

Anyone that wants to do a more exact test to refute my impression feel free. I would be extremely interested in seeing the results and totally open to changing my opinion.

[a64pilot]

You know, add just a tiny bit of ventilation, and the heat gain in the cabin is nil, bet you would have to have it sealed up to get a measurable difference

[Terra Nova]

Originally Posted by skipmac

...I see no significant heating of the cabin...

This is precisely the result you set out to prove--and you proved it! To yourself.

[a64pilot]

My compressor and condensor are in my lazarette which is about the twice the size of a full size couch, I can tell there is some heating once it has been closed up for days, but it's not much.
Of course there is heat, you can't make cold, all you can do is move heat around, so of course the compressor moves the heat from inside of the box to the outside, it amounts to the amount of heat that you can get from 5 amps or so of DC current times the number of hours the compressor runs in a 24 hour period, the heat amount is roughly equalivent to 5 regular incandescent 12W lights being on inside of the cabin when the compressor is running.

[jkleins]

I don't think the heat from the fridge is a particular problem in homes, why would it be on the boat? It seems the relative volumes of room to box are probably about the same and the house probably doesn't have the airflow of your boat at anchor.

Jim