Fridges

[ChrisPy]

On the subject of fridges front the point of view of someone about to take the plunge and buy a sailaway starting from scratch. What would be the best option in terms of fridge and small freezer?

Are the multi ones worth buying so it can be run on gas,12v and mains ?

Or would buying domestic items be a road worth going down?

oh, sorry, I had forgotten that we were talking about fridges

[DHutch]

Yeah, as bottle says, the 'three-way' fridges are absorbtion fridges, which are naterally less effeicent that a compressor based fridge. More so when a electric heating element is used to replace the gas flame for the 12/240v operation.

- Also as mentioned, many of them are not really deisgned for constant 12v operation, and do not have thermostats for the 12v side.

 

Hence, unless you are going to run it on gas basicaly all the time, you would be far better of with a compressor fridge, such as a shoreline, or else even a domestic fridge run though an inverter.

 

Only other point worth mentioning, is that absorbtion fridges are very much quiter in there operation (silent, as far as most are conserned) so the only other reaosn for having one would be if it was in a place where noise was a major issue.

 

 

Daniel

[DHutch]

Have you ever tried fitting 100kg of Ni-Cads to your boat, Dan?

Cant say i have!

- If someone was willing to give me a set for testing perpourses i would be happy to report back.

- However for now nothing comes close to £45 for a 12v 110Ah wet lead acid really. lol.

 

 

Daniel

[sueb]

Yeah, as bottle says, the 'three-way' fridges are absorbtion fridges, which are naterally less effeicent that a compressor based fridge. More so when a electric heating element is used to replace the gas flame for the 12/240v operation.

- Also as mentioned, many of them are not really deisgned for constant 12v operation, and do not have thermostats for the 12v side.

 

Hence, unless you are going to run it on gas basicaly all the time, you would be far better of with a compressor fridge, such as a shoreline, or else even a domestic fridge run though an inverter.

 

Only other point worth mentioning, is that absorbtion fridges are very much quiter in there operation (silent, as far as most are conserned) so the only other reaosn for having one would be if it was in a place where noise was a major issue.

Daniel

Gas is silent and economical. no worries about running engines to top up batteries.

Sue

[Ray]

We've fitted a Shoreline 12v fridge/freezer and have just returned from a shortened and abortive trip to London which was to be a shake down cruise for a longer trip planned for next Spring.

 

We used the Shoreline for the first time when we got to the boat last Friday morning and had it running all weekend. We loaded the freezer compartment with items brought from home, kept in a cool bag with ice blocks for the short road journey. We put the ice blocks in the freezer as well to give it a fighting start. The fridge was stacked in the same way. neither was full.

 

SWMBO tells me that both fridge and freezer came up to expectation. It wasn't hot outside the boat but the stove was doing a roaring trade inside, so the fridge was probably trying to overcome that.

 

I did notice that the fridge seemed to be running quite a bit - the noise was noticeable if all went quiet, but our daughter slept within a few feet of it, so it can't have been that bad.

 

We had no problems with the electric supply as we were running off a bank of 5 x 110ah batteries (if that's the correct term).

 

Hope that helps.

 

Ray

[Theo]

Keith

 

I know you know, so please forgive me - but just for the less technical - it's not actually 1 amp/hour but 1 ampere-hour/hour, ie: 24AH per day. As Chris Polley said, there is no such measurement as 1 amp per hour.

 

Chris

 

Unless you have some reason for wanting to know the rate of change of current.

 

Nick

[ChrisPy]

Unless you have some reason for wanting to know the rate of change of current.

that's just being mischevious ...........

[Justyn]

Hi folks. I'm a newbie here and have just entered the world of NB ownership with a project mentioned in the 'New here?' section. The current fridge is reminiscent of the 3-way one I had in my VW camper. It's pretty small and being someone who likes cooking a lot I have come to depend on a decent sized fridge freezer. As we'll be living aboard I think I'll want to replace the current one, but as we (probably) won't have a shoreline I'm concerned about draining batteries too quickly if I use a 12V fridge. Currently there's a bank of 4 x 110AH batteries on the domestic cycle. We'll have a TV set up but probably little use. PC will be used a fair amount tho I'll have to curb by usage somewhat. There's a 12v car stereo type CD player which will be used pretty extensively. Otherwise water pump and lighting is likely to be only other electrics.

 

What I'm hoping for is people's preferences with reasons. Discussions about this have probably been covered elsewhere and I have tried searching, but seem to be reading so much on the forum I'm losing track... Soooo much to learn

[steelaway]

Hi folks. I'm a newbie here and have just entered the world of NB ownership with a project mentioned in the 'New here?' section. The current fridge is reminiscent of the 3-way one I had in my VW camper. It's pretty small and being someone who likes cooking a lot I have come to depend on a decent sized fridge freezer. As we'll be living aboard I think I'll want to replace the current one, but as we (probably) won't have a shoreline I'm concerned about draining batteries too quickly if I use a 12V fridge. Currently there's a bank of 4 x 110AH batteries on the domestic cycle. We'll have a TV set up but probably little use. PC will be used a fair amount tho I'll have to curb by usage somewhat. There's a 12v car stereo type CD player which will be used pretty extensively. Otherwise water pump and lighting is likely to be only other electrics.

 

What I'm hoping for is people's preferences with reasons. Discussions about this have probably been covered elsewhere and I have tried searching, but seem to be reading so much on the forum I'm losing track... Soooo much to learn

 

Hi There

If you do not have a charge controller I would seriously think about one, your battery's will need a lot of charge. If you have one you can buy a domestic fridge (some still have freezer compartments) as I do not think the consumption between 12v and 240v (only inverter losses) is that great but domestic fridges are generaly bigger volume.

Alex

[sueb]

Hi folks. I'm a newbie here and have just entered the world of NB ownership with a project mentioned in the 'New here?' section. The current fridge is reminiscent of the 3-way one I had in my VW camper. It's pretty small and being someone who likes cooking a lot I have come to depend on a decent sized fridge freezer. As we'll be living aboard I think I'll want to replace the current one, but as we (probably) won't have a shoreline I'm concerned about draining batteries too quickly if I use a 12V fridge. Currently there's a bank of 4 x 110AH batteries on the domestic cycle. We'll have a TV set up but probably little use. PC will be used a fair amount tho I'll have to curb by usage somewhat. There's a 12v car stereo type CD player which will be used pretty extensively. Otherwise water pump and lighting is likely to be only other electrics.

 

What I'm hoping for is people's preferences with reasons. Discussions about this have probably been covered elsewhere and I have tried searching, but seem to be reading so much on the forum I'm losing track... Soooo much to learn

 

We have been very happy with gas fridges. No problems with flat batteries and we can leave the boat for a few days.

Sue

[Justyn]

Thanks for responses. We bit the bullet and followed the idea of invertor and domestic fridge. Found a 108l fridge freezer at B&Q today that fits into the space we've allocated. It's only 456mm wide Also is energy efficiency rated A and at £80 seemed like a snip. I just hope the 'spare' 300W invertor will run it so we don't have to have the 1500W one on 24/7

[blackrose]

We have been very happy with gas fridges. No problems with flat batteries and we can leave the boat for a few days.

Sue

 

I like gas fridges too. I have a problem with anything that puts a constant load on the batteries over a long timescale and I've come across so many people both on the towpath and on the forum, who are having problems keeping up with their 12v fridge demands. If you're disciplined about charging I'm sure they're fine, but I prefer to use my batteries for intermittent rather than constant loads where possible.

 

The drawback with 3 way gas fridges is that they're tiny and from what i have heard the 12 & 240v functions are add-ons and don't work as well. Mine is on mains from shore power at the moment as I still haven't installed gas and it seems to work ok. I also heard that Dometic had stopped making gas fridges - is this true?

 

I don't think the fact that you have to switch the gas off is a problem on a 3 way fridge. You can just switch over to 12v while you move and then back to gas once you're moored up.

 

By the way, I have a tiny freezer box on mine which I never use. It doesn't have its own switch and I was just wondering if there's any way I can modify the fridge so it doesn't get cold as it'a a waste of energy.

[Scotty]

I have a tiny freezer box on mine which I never use. It doesn't have its own switch and I was just wondering if there's any way I can modify the fridge so it doesn't get cold as it'a a waste of energy.

Don't you freeze anything?

 

If you can't isolate the freezer box then the best way to save energy is to fill it up.

The theory being that when you open a freezer the cold air in the empty space will escape very quickly and the freezer will have to cool the new warm air.

If the empty space is replaced with 'something' then that 'something' will cool only fractionaly while the door is open.

[Justyn]

We'll start with it and if we have troubles keeping up with the charging we'll see if we can afford a gas fridge or revert to the teeny weeny one we have at the moment. It's all going to be a steep learning curve

[sueb]

I like gas fridges too. I have a problem with anything that puts a constant load on the batteries over a long timescale and I've come across so many people both on the towpath and on the forum, who are having problems keeping up with their 12v fridge demands. If you're disciplined about charging I'm sure they're fine, but I prefer to use my batteries for intermittent rather than constant loads where possible.

 

The drawback with 3 way gas fridges is that they're tiny and from what i have heard the 12 & 240v functions are add-ons and don't work as well. Mine is on mains from shore power at the moment as I still haven't installed gas and it seems to work ok. I also heard that Dometic had stopped making gas fridges - is this true?

 

I don't think the fact that you have to switch the gas off is a problem on a 3 way fridge. You can just switch over to 12v while you move and then back to gas once you're moored up.

 

By the way, I have a tiny freezer box on mine which I never use. It doesn't have its own switch and I was just wondering if there's any way I can modify the fridge so it doesn't get cold as it'a a waste of energy.

 

You can get larger gas fridges. Look for a second hand one and if you find two, let me know! Dometic still do gas fridges but had a recall on one model.

How long can you go away and expect an electric fridge to work?

Sue

[blackrose]

Don't you freeze anything?

 

If you can't isolate the freezer box then the best way to save energy is to fill it up.

The theory being that when you open a freezer the cold air in the empty space will escape very quickly and the freezer will have to cool the new warm air.

If the empty space is replaced with 'something' then that 'something' will cool only fractionaly while the door is open.

 

No I prefer my food fresh.

 

Thanks for the tip - I'll put a tupperware container or something of the same size in it.

[bottle]

Blackrose

 

Just a thought, fill the freezer compartment with those icepacks, the ones that people put in their cool boxes when they go to the super market or take beer with them for a picnic.

 

 

They could come in handy

 

I cannot guarantee this, but they may reduce the time the fridge has to work once they are frozen.

[blackrose]

Blackrose

 

Just a thought, fill the freezer compartment with those icepacks, the ones that people put in their cool boxes when they go to the super market or take beer with them for a picnic.

 

 

They could come in handy

 

I cannot guarantee this, but they may reduce the time the fridge has to work once they are frozen.

 

Even better, thanks.

[bjornunda]

A cautionary tale. Attempting to replace my fridge last year left me very red-faced. I measured the new space the larger unit would occupy, decided that a domestic table-top model would be ideal, searched the web and did price comparisons (as we do) and ordered one for pickup at my local John Lewis's. It had to be sent halfway across the country from one of their other stores. The pickup (rather than home delivery) made me see the light. I struggled to force the box into my (large) saloon car and during the 15 mile drive home something clicked in the brain department. Had I measured the hatches and doorways? I had not. The galley side doors weren't wide enough and although the stern entrance was just big enough the fridge couldn't be manoeuvred round the bends and through the doorways to the galley. There is no space even for a table-top size unit anywhere else inside my boat. John Lewis have a 7-day no-quibble returns policy!

[Keeping Up]

A good warning Bjornunda!

 

When we replaced our fridge the new one was 10mm wider than the old one (despite being 'nominally' the same size) and I had to dismantle and modify the hand-made kitchen unit beside it to make it narrower. Luckily that meant the kitchen was in pieces when I put the new fridge in. Phew I thought as I put it all back together, it will be many years before I have to do this lot again.

 

The next year I had to replace the cooker. No change in size this time, but the cooker was just too big to manoevre through the side soors, or round the corner towards the back doors. So once again I had to dismantle all the kitchen units to make a passage through to the lounge. Then by taking the front doors off both the boat and the cooker, it could just be persuaded to fit. If I'd listened to SWMBO's request for a biggeer cooker, she'd have had to prepare our meals on the towpath!

 

Allan

[Justyn]

You can get larger gas fridges. Look for a second hand one and if you find two, let me know! Dometic still do gas fridges but had a recall on one model.

How long can you go away and expect an electric fridge to work?

Sue

 

Not really looking at being away for long as we'll be liveaboard. If we plan on it then it'll be a matter of emptying fridge before going