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kaimusailing · 17-02-2012, 17:08

I've been thinking of adding one of those cube freezers to the pilothouse. That's the only place with enough room. Some friends are using one to freeze those blue ice things from Walmart, then they put them into the ice box. In the Caribbean they say their wind generator and solar keeps it all running off an inverter. It's not a marine freezer, something like a Hauer.

**Hudson Force** · 17-02-2012, 17:39

My wife and I spent our first twenty years aboard without refrigeration. We did use an ice box while at the dock and cruised the Bahamas and Florida Keys in the summers with occasional ice. There's really no comparison with the past days of disease without refrigeration because of all the packaging methods available today,- canned, dried, irradiated, powdered, etc. We were even able to find very good canned breads back in the 70's. We also shopped local produce markets and bakeries with success. I must admit that much of my success during these two decades was my nature to be blessed with a vulgar palette. I'm easily satisfied with a nutritious safe lump in my stomach and not impressed with any gourmet cooking. For our more recent twenty years we have had a very efficient coldplate refrigerator/freezer with the Danfloss compressor. Life is still good, but I can't say better. I know I'm not carrying as much ice. The refrigerator/freezer is convenient, but not essential.

barnakiel · 18-02-2012, 07:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

I recently read here on CF about a sail yacht being sold for $1,600.- was above budget for someone so how much may a fridge cost then?

ciao!
Nick.

Yep. And to buy a boat and then to get it ready / go cruising are two different things. Financially, mentally and in many other respects too.

Cheers,
b.

offgridcanuck · 19-02-2012, 05:20

First post!

Jihyun Ryou - a Korean artist about her storage solution for vegetables - YouTube

offgridcanuck · 19-02-2012, 05:29

Post number 2! I am building this to retrofit into our soon to be fridge. A little pedaling a day instead of gensets, solar, batteries etc.

Pedal-Powered (Vacuum) Zeolite Refrigerator - YouTube

**Hudson Force** · 19-02-2012, 07:31

Offgridcanuck, Thanks for these two innovative videos. The awareness of the effects of ethylene on fruit ripening is a very valid and well established understanding in botanical sciences. I am also pleased with any research, such as the "zeolite refrigerator", which has the potential to match a cruiser's need for exercise activity while on board with energy efficient technology.

idpnd · 19-02-2012, 07:53

Since Ive got a nice inverter, I use a small cheapo 220v household fridge. I bought it for EUR 130 in France. The equivalent marine product was advertised for EUR 850. Both products have the exact same kwh energy rating. Enjoy

SunDevil · 19-02-2012, 09:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by offgridcanuck

Post number 2! I am building this to retrofit into our soon to be fridge. A little pedaling a day instead of gensets, solar, batteries etc.

That does look like an interesting design. Can you use dry beach sand instead of the Zeolite? That is my only concern is that in wet and humid enviroments, getting the zeolite to dry out might be a challenge. (Is that how it works or am I incorrect?) Or if you need new Zeolite as a supply, that adds lots of costs and logistics trying to find it.

The concept is on the right track, but it needs a little more engineering.

A very well insulated fridge with two layers of vacuum panels, aerogel, foil backed insulation, and plastic wrapped. Plus an efficient cooler that will over cool during the sunny/windy days, and know to drift a few degrees warmer at night might work. You could hook up a bicycle to power the compressor manually as well.

zeehag · 19-02-2012, 09:11

i agree with gixerjen...isnt always the ones with too much dough who cruise--we(cruisers) began this with less money than the new era cruisers with waay more bux than needed to cruise. now marinas are so overpriced that they are insane.
anchoring out is the best way to do this, and making things last is important. affording extras other than boat and absolutely necessary items(sails, etc) is something that might or might not happen. i do not have a fridge, nor have i had one since 1990. i may not ever have one. i dont care. i AM cruising, and i AM happy.

offgridcanuck · 19-02-2012, 09:19

You could also use an old windvane to pump the compressor for you as well. I just liked the idea of being able to get a little exercise and cool when it needs it. Zeolite is pretty easy to get and its light

and easy to store airtight if you need. Properly constructed of SS and hardlined it should never need any maintenance.

Dustymc · 19-02-2012, 09:29

I've spent most of my life without refrigeration, one way or another, and I've stuffed a few tons of meat into jars over the years. My wife was born in a village in the tropics without refrigeration, and her folks never entirely figured the things out. We're about as strange as Americans can be when it comes to preserving food, so we bought a boat with a leaky icebox and were all set to sail off into the wild blue...until the damned icebox leaked on my varnish one too many times and I discovered the Engel drop-in model more or less simultaneously. I installed one inside an extra inch and a half of insulation, and for $1000 I've got, at the very least, efficient dry storage that doesn't squirt water all over my boat. The swing compressor pulls a theoretical max of 3A (I've never seen it go over 2), and it'll get to -25F drawing ca. 2A maybe 30% of the time (for 24h, after which time the experiment was aborted in favor of beer) in 55F water. It comes on a couple minutes every hour or so in fridge mode here in SF Bay - I think I could power it with one of those wind-up flashlights. It looks to be very efficient, but we don't really have the means to tell from here. We'll see what it's like in the tropics in a year or two, but so far it's a really nifty little (that is, 1.1SF - we're not sailing off with a side of beef!) thing, and we're thrilled to have it.

tl;dr: The drop-in Engel takes up very minimal space, has the most efficient compressor yet invented, installs easily, is well-insulated and (relatively) affordable, but it's small.

Nick: We'll pretend to be your friends for ice, and we'll even bring the whiskey.

Engel MB40V-D (Remote Compressor) NEW! [2007] - $995.00 : Seafaring Ship's Store, Latitudes & Attitudes

JanetGroene · 19-02-2012, 12:17

No-fridge rules of thumb: (1) if the supermarket doesn't refrigerate it, you don't have to, at least for the short term. Many cheeses, sausages, some margarines. (2) Pickles, jelly, jams and many other foods were invented before refrigeration. (3) Items listed in #2 keep longer sans fridge if kept in coolest place possible, out of direct sun. Buy in small quantities you can finish in a week or so. Use a clean utensil when dipping into them. No point in introducing new organisms. (4) Read labels. I was surprised to find that my vital wheat gluten package says to refrigerate after opening. Never did before, never noticed any spoilage but now am curious about why this instruction?