holding plate system sizing

[gauvins]

I am reducing the size of our current, ridiculously large, fridge. The new capacity with be around 60L (2 cubic feet).

I plan to install Isotherm 3201 or 3701 holding plate system. The 3701 comes with the BD50F compressor vs BD35F for the 3201, and a plate that appears to be close to 50% larger than the 3201.

The 3201 would be more than enough for our needs. But the 3701 is almost the same price here.

My intuition is that the 3701 would store more BTUs, faster than the 3201, which might be a good fit for our usage pattern (at anchor, running the engine a few hours every other day when we make water - we have solar panels and a 700Ah bank).

I am not expert. Will read opinions with interest.

[a64pilot]

These compressors are multi speed, and if they are set up to run at low speed they are considerably more efficient that they are at high speed.
I would want the bigger compressor, with the idea of keeping it at its lowest speed.
Also I have become recently aware that some controllers are AEO or adaptive energy optimization, meaning as I understand it that they are “smart” controllers and will automatically adjust the speed of the controller to the minimum necessary to keep the set temp.
Not sure how many systems spec the AEO controller though

[Richard Kollmann]

Originally Posted by gauvins

I am reducing the size of our current, ridiculously large, fridge. The new capacity with be around 60L (2 cubic feet).

I plan to install Isotherm 3201 or 3701 holding plate system. The 3701 comes with the BD50F compressor vs BD35F for the 3201, and a plate that appears to be close to 50% larger than the 3201.

The 3201 would be more than enough for our needs. But the 3701 is almost the same price here.

My intuition is that the 3701 would store more BTUs, faster than the 3201, which might be a good fit for our usage pattern (at anchor, running the engine a few hours every other day when we make water - we have solar panels and a 700Ah bank).

I am not expert. Will read opinions with interest.

The Isotherm 3201 is OK for a 2 cu ft box but the eutectic plate will consume 1/4 of the box's usable space. Another problem is the static air cooled condenser is not adequate for warm climates. The Norcold units solve the large plate problem but also have condenser cooling problems. If you decide you can live with the loss of usable box space I recommend the Isotherm 3701 because of its more efficient condenser system. My tests in my book of of 3701 and eutectic plate proves performance in your two cu ft would be exceptional.

[gauvins]

Originally Posted by Richard Kollmann

My tests in my book of of 3701 and eutectic plate proves performance in your two cu ft would be exceptional.

Is it possible to purchase an electronic version of your book? Came across it but being in France and about to get under way makes a paper version impractical.

I would think that we can get by with a fairly small refrigerated space. Worse comes to worse, we can always reclaim some of the original space.

(We currently have 2x10 CF fridges. One is decommissioned. This year I plan to do a better job at reducing the size of the other - fill the cavity with polystyrene granules, drop a plastic storage container and cool with a holding plate).