Refrigerator?

[Tori]

Nebees going to be living aboard fulltime....need a small refrigerator for our boat which is a 27 foot S2 will be living at a Marina to start so regular shore power is ok for now but later will have to use either solar or wind power.
Where can I get a teeny fridge? And longterm which is better to invest in solar or wind or both?
Tori and Joe

[rebel heart]

Check out the Engel line. Pricey, but very durable and very low power consumption.

The solar/wind thing depends upon your location but for the most part you get a lot more bang for your buck with solar.

[Bash]

As to the fridge, go with a 12 volt marine unit from the start. Anything else takes you down the wrong street, and you may never return from that street a sailor.

[Khagan1227]

Whatever you get, make sure it is well insulated, or can be well insulated. Using enough and the right insulation will put much less of a load on your batteries in the future.

[Dragon Lady]

Thumbs up for the Engel fridges

[onestepcsy37]

another vote for the engel. don't know where you are but if solar is an option it has much to recommend it. once installed it needs almost no care. the engel fridge is so efficient that even a small panel could probably run it for free.

[Tori]

We are in Florida so neither sun nor wind are in short supply

[mbianka]

Another for the Engel. Mines been working fine for years. Now use it in freezer mode and freeze bottles of water that I put into a regular cooler that acts as my refridgerator. Works really great check it out here:
THE BIANKA LOG BLOG: IS THIS A COOL WORLD OR WHAT!

[senormechanico]

Whatever you get, make sure the condenser (the coil which gets warm) can BREATHE new, not recycled heated air!
It makes a huge difference in power consumption.

[s/v 'Faith']

Another + for Engel (happy owner)

Originally Posted by Bash

As to the fridge, go with a 12 volt marine unit from the start. Anything else takes you down the wrong street, and you may never return from that street a sailor.

Well typed.

[osirissail]

If you are going to be living a marina, then consider a small "bar" refrigerator from a discount store like Home Depot and other discount stores. You just set it up on somewhere some part of the cabin near to the galley, or maybe not. But any why they are quite efficient and cheap. When you decide to actually go cruising the Engel or a built-in air cooled refrig (12DC) can be built into the boat as permanent system.

[cat man do]

Originally Posted by osirissail

If you are going to be living a marina, then consider a small "bar" refrigerator from a discount store like Home Depot and other discount stores.

+1
150 litres for about a 10th of the price of an engel

[sailorchic34]

I have a 3.3CF 120V $120ish fridge from home depot, I've been using for four years. Anchored out I have a cheap 700watt inverter ($45ish) to power it and a single 130w solar panel to recharge the batteries (440amp total). I've bolted the fridge down and in back and installed a latch on the door so it stays put when heeled over.

Best guess anchored out it plus lights (mostly LED) plus charging the netbook and cell I use about 45-50 amps a day and in the summer anyway the one panel JUST ( or mostly anyway) recharges the daily load. That is in the evening the battery voltage is restored to what it was the previous day.

One note the condenser on the smaller units or at least mine is embedded in the side walls, so care must be used when attaching brackets.

If I had the money the Engel's are very good, but I'm a cheap sailorchic, and get a fridge with a small icebox too. I did not know if it would work at first. but it's working rather well. Oh and I spend 10-15 days or more away from the dock nowadays too. Probably could use another solar panel for winter or locations further south then the SF Bay area.

Beni