Refrigeration Question for You Oldtimers

[motion30]

In the days before we all had air cond in out homes did the refrigerators struggle to cool in the hot summer ? I wonder cause seems many boat units work very hard in the summer .

[skipmac]

First, who are you calling an old timer?

I will try to overcome my resentment to the name calling to confirm that yes, a refrigerator unit will work harder in a hot room than a cool room. A regrigerator takes heat from the inside of the box and transfers it by coils (like your cars radiator) to the area outside the box. If the area outside, either a kitchen or inside of a boasta is hotter then the transfer of heat from the coils is less efficient so the unit works harder.

[motion30]

Skipmac
I guess my question would be better put, Are home type fridge that much better then marime units? I would guess your home unit works much less now then in 1960 Did the home units in non air con home have trouble getting to 38* in the summer?

[skipmac]

I don't think you can just make the general statement that home units are better than marine units. The production volume of home refers makes them much cheaper than marine units. Also well made home regfrigerators are designed so the compressor and cooling capacity match the size and insulation of the box. Marine units don't generally have that luxury since most are more or less custom built and installed. Also many boats have poorly insulated boxes which makes a good compressor work a lot harder.

I'm not sure what you mean exactly by home units work less than in the 60s. They are generaly more efficient and better insulated so use less energy than older models. But the same applies for new 12 V boat refers.

[Juniper]

I think it also has something to do with the fact that electric power on land is plentiful so a larger cooling system is installed, if you had the power to run a large system it would handle a hotter climate without any problems, but if you are counting watts instead of kiliwatts it makes a difference.

[Mark Johnson]

Using an air cooled 12V unit... If you have a perfectly sealed, REALLY well insulated box, (= vacuum panels or 7" of foam)... of reasonably small volume, (like 2 cu ft), your Ah/day consumption might vary from 15 to 25 Ah in cooler months, to 30 or 40 Ah/day in the heat of a tropical summer. (100+ F)

The folks who have huge power consumption in the summer, usually have too large and too poorly insulated a box, with a poor fitting lid. (unsealed OLD foam looses its insulation value). They may also have the compressor in a tight space with no muffin fans for ventilation, or locate it in the hottest part of the hull.

The time and money invested in making your refrigeration efficient, is money well spent, and will pay for itself in short order. It is the lions share of your anchored out energy demand!

M.

[motion30]

Originally Posted by skipmac

I don't think you can just make the general statement that home units are better than marine units. The production volume of home refers makes them much cheaper than marine units. Also well made home regfrigerators are designed so the compressor and cooling capacity match the size and insulation of the box. Marine units don't generally have that luxury since most are more or less custom built and installed. Also many boats have poorly insulated boxes which makes a good compressor work a lot harder.

I'm not sure what you mean exactly by home units work less than in the 60s. They are generaly more efficient and better insulated so use less energy than older models. But the same applies for new 12 V boat refers.

In the 1960 most homes were not air conditioned hence the fridge had to work harder in the summer

[witzgall]

Your outhouse is air conditioned? Wow, very posh. I betcha is one of those fancy two-holers too!

Chris

Originally Posted by motion30

In the days before we all had air cond in out homes did the refrigerators struggle to cool in the hot summer ? I wonder cause seems many boat units work very hard in the summer .

[motion30]

You should see the pool room

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by motion30

In the 1960 most homes were not air conditioned hence the fridge had to work harder in the summer

Well of course they weren't. The point I was making is, AC or no AC, refrigerators today are more energy efficient than refrigerators in the 60s.

So take a refrigerator from the 60s in perfect condiition and set it next to a modern refrigerator in the same house, the modern refrigerator would use less power than the 60s model to achieve the same level of cooling, AC or no AC in the house.