Gas fridge .... 13kg bottle lasted....

[niloc]

I have a gas fridge ,cooker and paloma water heater. Replaced bottle yesterday. The old bottle supplied all my needs for 46 days. I live aboard. I have also fitted 2 x 65w solar panels. Havent run my engine for a month. Electric fridges ... not for me.

[PhilR]

I have a gas fridge ,cooker and paloma water heater. Replaced bottle yesterday. The old bottle supplied all my needs for 46 days. I live aboard. I have also fitted 2 x 65w solar panels. Havent run my engine for a month. Electric fridges ... not for me.

 

A man after my own heart :-) .......... low tech boating is more fun and much cheaper ;-) ........... and you don't annoy neighbours by constantly running engines/generators :-)

 

That pilot light on your Poloma probably consumes more gas than your fridge does on the max setting. Have you tried turning off the pilot light when it isn't in use? - I reckon you might get over 50 days out of a gas bottle if you did. My Morco water heater has a really fierce pilot light.

[niloc]

A man after my own heart :-) .......... low tech boating is more fun and much cheaper ;-) ........... and you don't annoy neighbours by constantly running engines/generators :-)

 

That pilot light on your Poloma probably consumes more gas than your fridge does on the max setting. Have you tried turning off the pilot light when it isn't in use? - I reckon you might get over 50 days out of a gas bottle if you did. My Morco water heater has a really fierce pilot light.

I generally turn the pilot light off after use. But im sure 50 days is possible with careful use of gas equipment.

[mrsmelly]

I have a gas fridge ,cooker and paloma water heater. Replaced bottle yesterday. The old bottle supplied all my needs for 46 days. I live aboard. I have also fitted 2 x 65w solar panels. Havent run my engine for a month. Electric fridges ... not for me.

 

Absolutely right, gas fridges are the best but I am now stuck wiv lectric............

[Smelly]

Absolutely right, gas fridges are the best but I am now stuck wiv lectric............

 

Ditto...

[Daftmare]

Ditto...

 

Can I ask why you are "stuck"?? What is the reason you cannot change to gas? Is it something to do with venting the fridge? We have a 12V Batts Marine fridge fitted under a worktop in a standard "U" shaped kitchen layout.

 

Would it be possible, when this fridge finally stops working, to replace with a gas fridge?

 

Jo.

[nb Innisfree]

I have a gas fridge ,cooker and paloma water heater. Replaced bottle yesterday. The old bottle supplied all my needs for 46 days. I live aboard. I have also fitted 2 x 65w solar panels. Havent run my engine for a month. Electric fridges ... not for me.

 

Do you connect to any shorepower?

[yallapilko]

Sounds great! but how much do they cost?

[alan_fincher]

Can I ask why you are "stuck"?? What is the reason you cannot change to gas? Is it something to do with venting the fridge? We have a 12V Batts Marine fridge fitted under a worktop in a standard "U" shaped kitchen layout.

 

Would it be possible, when this fridge finally stops working, to replace with a gas fridge?

 

Jo.

From a purely BSS perspective, it is permissable to put a gas fridge in a boat that doesn't currently have one.

 

However because the manufacturers, (probably only Dometic - formerly Electrolux these days), do not say they are suitable for boat use, the BSS people "discourage" their fitting.

 

You were for a while able to buy "balanced flue" / "room sealed" ones that the BSS were happy with, but production I understand, has now ceased.

 

Personally I'd be very unhappy not to have our gas fridge. Must halve our electric power demands, so no flat battedry worries aboard Chalice, and certainly no generators.

 

I have repeatedly challenged the BSS posters on this forum to provide any stats that show non balanced flue fridges, properly installed, to be a danger. So far they never have.

[Daftmare]

From a purely BSS perspective, it is permissable to put a gas fridge in a boat that doesn't currently have one.

 

However because the manufacturers, (probably only Dometic - formerly Electrolux these days), do not say they are suitable for boat use, the BSS people "discourage" their fitting.

 

You were for a while able to buy "balanced flue" / "room sealed" ones that the BSS were happy with, but production I understand, has now ceased.

 

Personally I'd be very unhappy not to have our gas fridge. Must halve our electric power demands, so no flat battedry worries aboard Chalice, and certainly no generators.

 

I have repeatedly challenged the BSS posters on this forum to provide any stats that show non balanced flue fridges, properly installed, to be a danger. So far they never have.

 

 

Thanks Alan,

 

We have our BSSC coming up next month - I might discuss it with the examiner.

 

Jo.

[Speedwheel]

Which fridge have you got?

[Morphyous]

I have a gas fridge ,cooker and paloma water heater. Replaced bottle yesterday. The old bottle supplied all my needs for 46 days. I live aboard. I have also fitted 2 x 65w solar panels. Havent run my engine for a month. Electric fridges ... not for me.

I've got a similar set-up but only get 4 weeks at most! gonna start turning off the Rinnai water heater pilot light in future!

by the way the cheapest gas I've found for 13 kg bottle is £20.50 in loughborough at calor Gas on the canal, just after

the chain bridge heading south.

[County4x4]

Just out of interest, can I ask why gas fridges are frowned upon in boats and not in caravans? I'm guessing that caravans can have a drop out to atmosphere below the fridge whereas a boat probably can't - but it's only a guess.

 

Andy

[nb Innisfree]

Just out of interest, can I ask why gas fridges are frowned upon in boats and not in caravans? I'm guessing that caravans can have a drop out to atmosphere below the fridge whereas a boat probably can't - but it's only a guess.

 

Andy

 

Correct

[County4x4]

Cheers - now I know

 

Andy

[PhilR]

Has anyone heard of a boat fire/accident involving a gas fridge? - excluding boats with petrol outboards/generators of course.

 

I reckon they are probably safer than 12v or 240v fridges. Everyone used to use the small Electrolux fridge on narrowboats even though Electrolux didn't recommend them for boats. I assume the manufacturers were thinking in terms of boats at sea heeling over at alarming angles which affected the refrigerant?

 

The burner flame is smaller than many pilot lights and the flame failure devices are reliable too ............

[dor]

The former owner of my previous boat died on board of CO poisoning.

Extensive tests were carried out, and the source of the CO was put down to the fridge.

 

It is possible that whilst moored up, towpath vegetation had partially blocked the vent on the side of the hull.

[NB Alnwick]

From a purely BSS perspective, it is permissable to put a gas fridge in a boat that doesn't currently have one.

 

However because the manufacturers, (probably only Dometic - formerly Electrolux these days), do not say they are suitable for boat use, the BSS people "discourage" their fitting.

 

You were for a while able to buy "balanced flue" / "room sealed" ones that the BSS were happy with, but production I understand, has now ceased.

 

Personally I'd be very unhappy not to have our gas fridge. Must halve our electric power demands, so no flat battedry worries aboard Chalice, and certainly no generators.

 

I have repeatedly challenged the BSS posters on this forum to provide any stats that show non balanced flue fridges, properly installed, to be a danger. So far they never have.

 

 

Alan,

 

I am not sure if this is the case - certainly the issue is rather vague but when I enquired with Dometic as to the availability of the balanced flue components for my Electrolux branded refrigerator, I was advised that they are available. Further enquiries led me to believe that they are still made but. for some bizarre reason, not marketed as part of new refrigerator packages in the UK. Could it be that their understanding of the marine market is significantly influenced by the requirements of sea-going yachts and launches that are moving away from reliance on LPG as a result of developments in solar and hydro electrical generation. They have been supplying them for installation in motor homes but, even here, cheap and efficient 12v units are dominating the market

 

The former owner of my previous boat died on board of CO poisoning.

Extensive tests were carried out, and the source of the CO was put down to the fridge.

 

It is possible that whilst moored up, towpath vegetation had partially blocked the vent on the side of the hull.

 

CO poisoning is an ever present danger with any equipment that produces an exhaust from burning - especially on a boat. Adequate ventilation and a CO monitor/alarm can reduce the risk. Nevertheless, a well maintained and vented LPG refrigerator is will be at least as safe as any other on board equipment.

 

The process of charging and discharging batteries produces highly explosive hydrogen gas and the CO produced by internal combustion engines used for generating electricity is just as dangerous as the exhaust from LPG.

[alan_fincher]

The former owner of my previous boat died on board of CO poisoning.

Extensive tests were carried out, and the source of the CO was put down to the fridge.

 

It is possible that whilst moored up, towpath vegetation had partially blocked the vent on the side of the hull.

 

This is the type of information that should be in the public domain, to allow people to make an informed choice about their use of appliances.

 

However in the past extensive use of Google or explicitly looking at the BSS or MAIB sites usually fails to turn up much information, (are any details of that incident published on the net ?).

 

What would be additionally interesting in the case you cite is to know if it was believed to be correctly installed and maintained and burning with a blue flame at the time of the unfortunate owners death.

 

These things used to be regularly used on boats with the flame just venting into the cabin, with no attempt at fluing externally, so obviously rather more was going on in this case.

 

To bring balance to the debate, I would say we have seen certainly 20 to 30 examples of generators being run in rear hatchways or side hatchways, or under covers during our 3 week journey out. Presumably many of these are being run to satisfy the thirst of electric fridges and freezers. It's very hard to see how this behaviour will not in some cases result in fatalities tooo.........

 

Until firm evidence against them is found, (or the BSS instigate an outright ban), my view at the moment is that my (non room sealed) LPG fridge does not represent a serious risk to my family's well-being.

[dor]

This is the type of information that should be in the public domain, to allow people to make an informed choice about their use of appliances.

When Rob at BSS used to post on this site, I emailed and pm'd him to ask for more details but didn't get a response. I too have been unable to find any details about the specific case. When I bought the boat it had been impounded by (I was told) the DTI and only released for sale just before I bought it, after six months. It had the gas fridge replaced by a new 12V one and also the regulator had been renewed "as a precaution".

 

A gas engineer I talked to said you would have to try very hard to get a lethal dose of CO from a gas fridge. There are some unanswered questions about the case which may be why it is difficult to get specific information. Nevertheless I fitted a CO monitor immediately.

 

I agree with you about generators being run inside pram hoods etc. I've even seen them being run inside the rear hatch on a trad stern. Some people you just can't help!

[alan_fincher]

Thanks for the additional information.

 

It seems a shame to me that it is so hard to find the detail of specific cases, and I don't understand why it can't be made more freely available.

 

I wouldn't just make that remark in the context of onboard equipment, but boating incidents generally. We have, for example, seen dramatic pictures of boats hung by the bows in locks, with huge amounts of speculation or obvious misinformation. But months or even years after the event try finding out what actually happened, (or where the blame actually lay), and in my experience it is near impossible.