Freezer or No Freezer?

[UFO]

We currently have 2 x Fridges with Micro Freezers and a newly Non functioning Freezer.



We are a family of 4 (2 adults & 2 Kids, sometimes 3) who due to the Virus have yet to set sail and I am considering whether we will need a Freezer or not - Cost of repair is minor, but fiddling around with it I noticed that it is the perfect location for a Washing Machine which unlike other locations i've considered, it requires minimal work and no structural work to fit in.


So bearing in mind our family set up, Who thinks a Freezer is essential or who just thinks its extravagant?

[Cpt Pat]

Originally Posted by UFO

We currently have 2 x Fridges with Micro Freezers and a newly Non functioning Freezer.



We are a family of 4 (2 adults & 2 Kids, sometimes 3) who due to the Virus have yet to set sail and I am considering whether we will need a Freezer or not - Cost of repair is minor, but fiddling around with it I noticed that it is the perfect location for a Washing Machine which unlike other locations i've considered, it requires minimal work and no structural work to fit in.


So bearing in mind our family set up, Who thinks a Freezer is essential or who just thinks its extravagant?

I went many years without out one. But just two weeks ago, I installed a DIY Isotherm frig/freezer to convert my 1960s style icebox. I also added some rigid extruded polystyrene foam insulation to supplement the cork insulation in the original build. It draws 4 amps at 12 volts with only a 50% duty cycle running as a freezer. Much less as a frig. It has 1 cubic foot (30 liters) of internal volume after the added insulation.

Oh the joy! Ice cream. Frozen dinners (great COVID-lockdown-survival food), ice, COLD BEER!!! While underway even! How'd I ever live without one? No more surviving on only canned and non-perishable food.

With a freezer and a microwave (operated on an inverter underway), kids can make their own meals. If your kids are like mine, food matters more than clean clothes.

There's a coin-operated clothes washer and dryer in the harbor. That'll do. Underway, I just wash clothes in a bucket whenever it rains. Some people just drag clothes in a net in seawater - but they come out kind of crusty from salt that's not good for your skin.

[Pete7]

with a family of 4 or 5, that washing machine is going to be useful. Any chance you have room for both even if the freezer is one of the camping types?

WE installed a little 20L freezer over the winter and it has proved very useful for the two of us, even with its limited capacity. We are never going to be more than a couple of days away from shops so it suits us, even though it meant taking a wardrobe out of the stern cabin to make room. The only real issue was finding one that would fit through the door to the cabin which is 14.5" wide.

The result:

[ozsailer]

Gday UFO, for long term cruising, especially with kids a good size freezer is a must for us. You stated you have a 440 which we also own. I would think that we have identical Isotherm fridge and the isotherm freezer. We have a dometic fridge in the cockpit in the sink cupboard. We also have a large washing machine in cupboard in the one of the owners side cabinets.



Greg H
Lagoon 440

[UFO]

Originally Posted by ozsailer

Gday UFO, for long term cruising, especially with kids a good size freezer is a must for us. You stated you have a 440 which we also own. I would think that we have identical Isotherm fridge and the isotherm freezer. We have a dometic fridge in the cockpit in the sink cupboard. We also have a large washing machine in cupboard in the one of the owners side cabinets.



Greg H
Lagoon 440

Thanks for the input everyone - Keep the Freezer it is then.



Greg - Did you have to modify the cabinet for the washing machine? If you have a pic handy it would be good to see

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by UFO

Thanks for the input everyone - Keep the Freezer it is then.

I think so. A box of fish fingers and a bag of frozen french fries will feed a small army when their friends suddenly drop in at tea time.

Pete

[kmacdonald]

The problem is it's not just the freezer, it's the extra battery, more solar, bigger alternator. Snowball.

[S/V Illusion]

Would you live in your house without a freezer?

[Captn_Black]

Originally Posted by UFO

We are a family of 4 (2 adults & 2 Kids, sometimes 3) who due to the Virus have yet to set sail and I am considering whether we will need a Freezer or not - Cost of repair is minor, but fiddling around with it I noticed that it is the perfect location for a Washing Machine which unlike other locations i've considered, it requires minimal work and no structural work to fit in.

On the subject of a washing machine, I find a 56ltr rubber bucket and stomping on the washing as though you were pressing grapes a perfectly acceptable solution. And you already have the kids for free labour

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by kmacdonald

The problem is it's not just the freezer, it's the extra battery, more solar, bigger alternator. Snowball.

He has a Lagoon 440, could probably play table tennis on the saloon roof, so oodles of space for panels etc.

[robert sailor]

Originally Posted by S/V Illusion

Would you live in your house without a freezer?

Expand the choice how about washer/drier, bathtub,central air, dishwasher...all very nice to have but they can sure complicate a cruisers lifestyle. The more gear you have the more there is to go wrong, and it always goes wrong.
Solar won't keep up anymore so now you need a genset, more to go wrong.
Ok let's say your a cheque book sailor and spend most of your time between Florida and the Bahamas..I'd say you'd be good to go.
If you start sailing in out of the way places and you can't overhaul and repair all the systems on your boat you will probably not have wonderful experiences as all these wonderful conveniences become an albatross around your neck. My opinion..we try to go reasonably simple but my job jar never empties and we truly are fixing our boat in exotic ports.

[jdazey]

It's not hard to convert one of the fridges to a freezer with an Isotherm unit.



As a couple, we found we did not require a freezer, and on long passages often turned it off to save electricity, but it's nice to have. With a couple of kids aboard, "nice" might turn into "need".


Cheers




Ch

[Cheechako]

Often when I tried to have a freezer portion, it was marginally a freezer and partially a refrigerator due to trying to maintain the cold.
With a family of 4, You will want a freezer I think. keeping food stocked is hard enough on foot, taxi, bus etc. You need to freeze some meat, even if it's fish you caught. I'd have a small but very well insulated one.

[owly]

Ice is the perfect energy storage "device". It is a battery that never wears out. The ultimate system would be a freezer that runs when the sun shines. A "wall" of "blue ice" separating the freezer from a fridge compartment rather than the mindless cycling of a fridge, requiring batteries to sustain it. I'm in the process of building exactly this... for at home to operate on solar. A large side by side. The divider mostly removed, and a plastic tank(s) separating the two. The tanks will have euctectic fluid (blue ice). The freezer will run whenever the sun shines, rather than on a thermostat. The blue ice is a battery essentially. It "stores coldness" The thermal mass of the frozen meat, etc, is sufficient that it should last during the hours when the sun doesn't shine... If necessary it can operate on battery power from the house battery bank.

Pound for pound, ice stores the same amount of thermal energy as a deep cycle battery. It requires zero maintenance, and never has to be replaced........ Energy storage doesn't get any better than that! And I won't have to listen to a fridge cycling on and off mindlessly.


H.W.

[barnakiel]

If you are meat eaters, get a huge fridge. Otherwise skip it.


b.