Life without fridge

[kentobin]

I don't know about the current technology but those vacuum panels were notorious for leaking especially in a boat environment with all the flexing that occurs. They still have some r-value even when the vacuum disappears but not nearly as effective especially when you factor in the cost.

You pays your money, and you takes your choice.

[Panope]

I think that having the ability to use ice or mechanical refrigeration is a valuable thing. Sometimes one might be low on power (cloudy) but close to an ice source. Other times the opposite may be true. I wonder, do folks sometimes use their top-loading refrigerators as an icebox when ice is readily available?

I set up Panope with both a well insulated ice box and a small Engel fridge to supplement the ice-box or to make ice when power is abundent. An unforeseen advantage of having the 12V fridge (mostly day-sailing currently) is that I get cold beer (or daughter gets cold milk) within an hour or two of flipping a switch as it is not worth the hassle of getting ice for a short day-sail. It never occurred to me that refrigeration would be better than ice for short term (couple hours aboard) use.

Steve

[phipseml]

Hi all,

Thanks for all your quick replies, even though it got a bit out of hand at times. This is neither a lifestyle thread, nor a philosophy discussion. Just a simple suggestion to share experiences about living without fridge in for me exotic places.

Seems like having no fridge works for most of you, but that a fridge is a convenient help. I think cold beers is a quite bad argument for wasting all that energy and space. It became obvious that a more vegetarian to vegan diet is the result of fridge free, and there's nothing wrong with that. More frequent trips to the shop are alright, that's what we always did even before moving into Kiwi, however, could potentially suck when long term cruising and away from shops for weeks. Also, having to potentially waste fish would suck, too (so you apparently get fish too large to be eaten at once by two persons? I'm impressed!). My greatest concern is still the energy consumption, and I'm not really willing to hassle around with various devices just for that - therefore I don't believe we would use a fridge much during long term cruising. Yes, we are show-off simplicity lovers.

As many suggested, we will see how it develops. I'm positive we won't regret it while here. Removed the fridge yesterday and stored it at a friends house. Already a great relieve to have that extra space, and in fact we have so few items that need refridgeration, we don't know what to do with all that space, yet! Maybe a guitar amp? It's especially good to see what's going on behind it where we have all kinds of hoses for fresh, raw and waste water. We might stick it back in when the time comes to go south and see if it still works to use during the short motoring sections or when on land power.

Thanks for your thoughts, I appreciate it!

Phil

[Hudson Force]

Originally Posted by Panope

..................................
............... It never occurred to me that refrigeration would be better than ice for short term (couple hours aboard) use.

Steve

This is an important consideration. I have to admit that I'm guilty of some "tunnel vision". I need reminding that there are so many different uses of boats besides what I'm accustomed. Just like the refrigerator in someone's home, my boat refrigerator runs continually without a break in service. Maybe once a year we will travel away from our boat for a length of time and turn off & empty the refrig/freezer.

We're not all in the same boat!

[KISS]

I found this very helpful:

http://www.bethandevans.com/pdf/livi...rigeration.pdf

[oldragbaggers]

Good article, KISS, thanks for posting the link.

[zeehag]

until the ambiant temp of th e water under my boat waas 100 f, i didnt have a fridge., i sailed south to where the butter separates, and lived for a few years still without one.
i bought a dorm fridge for use in summers when at dock. ok now i am spoiled and i want a fridge in my boat, dont NEED it , but WANT it...
as i have no mechanism for fridge, i have many more options than when i left the stuff in the boat taking up space.
the old ice box is essentially wet inside fso is bad for dry goods as well as allows canned foods to explode prematurely. gag.... so...
\i will rebuild under my old huge ice box and use the HUGE space for one or 2 engel type units.. brand name irrelevant at present....
the plan is to rebuild substructure and place one fridge unit, then save for a nice ice maker or freezer to also fit into same well ventilated space.. gawds know i has enough room there for 3 or 4 of em, but i am only wishing for one at present...as i develop this plan, i may even install one in the cockpit fridge i have --- so watchman can grab a cold something to drink or food while at helm without having to go below....

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by kentobin

I don't know about the current technology but those vacuum panels were notorious for leaking especially in a boat environment with all the flexing that occurs. They still have some r-value even when the vacuum disappears but not nearly as effective especially when you factor in the cost.

You pays your money, and you takes your choice.

Yeah, my 47 footer had two fridges. One was just a small box in the middle of the big salon table... maybe 1.5-2 cu ft. I spent the time and money to put the rigid Vacuum panels in that little box... it was a PITA to do. We used that fridge mostly and used the big fridge for dry storage. We could not tell the difference in charge time with the vacuum panels compared to before.

[phipseml]

Thanks Kiss, too. It's a good article and encourages me to keep the fridge out. It's a classical case where you can compensate gear with skill. Cheers, Phil