anybody try engel front loaders?

[thegreenflash]

I know front loaders are inefficient, but that is what my csy 44 walkthrough has,but the current system is an alder barbour cold machine system and it is very inefficient. The box needs to be rebuilt etc, etc. We have a portable engel on board that is very efficient and I was wondering about replacing the original front loaders with the engel front loaders. Any opinions on this?
Steve

[mitiempo]

Same as with any front loader, when the door is opened the cold spills out.

[tdw]

There is no getting away from the fact that a front loader is going to be less efficient than a top but its the price you pay for the convenience. The top and front loaders that appear on various boats are to my mind the perfect compromise but not all that common.

To directly answer you question though, provided you are prepared to meet the price of the Engel (they are after all pretty expensive wee beasties) then it seems a reasonable answer.

I keep hearing about these new fangled drawer type 12v units. I have no experience with them but need to find out more.

http://www.vitrifrigo.com/eng/catalo...&n=oceandrawer

They would seem to provide the convenience of a front opener without ht inefficiency. If you have any experience with the drawer type dish washers then you kow how much better is a drawer over a front loader. I'm guessing the same will apply to a marine fridge.

I know the Engel top loader portable are expensive so I guess the front opening are similarly priced but be warned these Vitrifrigo jobbies are not cheap.

http://www.vitrifrigo.com/eng/catalo...&n=oceandrawer

[mitiempo]

There are smaller versions of drawer types as well.

products - Dometic

[tdw]

Originally Posted by mitiempo

There are smaller versions of drawer types as well.

products - Dometic

Brian,
I've seen the spec sheets on those small ones but wonder if they are really of a practical size. Still and all I do like the concept.

[mitiempo]

Depends on boat size I guess. I'm going to get an Engels before I sail offshore. An MT-45 model I think.

[Faster]

I've often brought up the 'logical' inefficiencies of the now-common front load fridges on boats (convinced that's a manufacturing cost saving measure more than anything) to a man the brokers say "oh but these fridges are SOOOOO efficient the loss of cold is quickly made up"...

But when pressed they never seem to know just how much more efficient... when asked what the amp draw is I get.. "I suppose I should know that, shouldn't I?"... ya think?

The drawer idea is interesting, and would be just as easy to install, I suspect.

[Omatako]

I agree on the drawer coupled with a top loader.

My fridge and freezer are both top loaders. I have just installed a new 12v fridge unit in the fridge and it's super efficient. My problem is that my wife is too short to reach into the fridge from the top and besides, the need to load stuff on top of other stuff reduces the efficiency because one has to remove half of the cold stuff to get to the other half that's under it, if you get my drift.

The problem is I didn't want a door for the reasons expounded earlier in the thread so I decided a drawer is the answer.

So, being that I like to do my own stuff, I designed my own drawer and that is project No. 3 after my genset is finished and my watermaker has been built. If anyone wants to see my design (it's actually quite good), down load a copy of Solidworks Reader off the net and I'll try to send you the drawings and 3D models. PM me if you're interested and I'll explain the Reader bit as well.

EDIT: Sorry guys - I just went to check the drawings and can't find some of them - anyone wanting them will need to be patient while I go searching - I hope they haven't been accidentally erased.

EDIT: Whew, I found the drawings - if anyone wants to have a look PM me

[deniseO30]

Until you change things, you could just keep as large as possible frozen liquid in the evaporator. (water, iced tea, lemonade cooler ice packs even) When the door is opened the large mass of ice will work like a holding plate and cause the inside temp to stay closer to the setting thereby making the recovery period shorter for the little Danfoss. The down side is loss of frozen storage capacity of course.

[tdw]

Brian .. yes in regard to size of boat. I guess I was thinking in terms of adding a bit of serious extra space to existing small fridge. Its a serious problem is lack of cold space. Defintiely a deal breaker where many women are concerned.

Andrew .. PM on its way to you. btw we have the same issue. I'm just on six feet tall and even for me reaching to the bottom of top opening fridges can be difficult. For the Wombet, impossible.

Fast .. I have seen front openers set up with a board at the bottom to keep in the cold. Along with Andre's point that unloading a top loader to get out what you want could be almost as inefficient as a front loader it is true that more modern cold machines do make up a lot of the loss.

Denise .. solid blocks do work exceptionally well compared to e.g. bags of ice but my thinking is towards freedom from mains voltage.

Anywho .. depsite their relatively high cost I'd go Engel if only becasue the costs of installation are removed. Damn the budget, definitely a drawer I thknk. Really looking forward to seeing Andre's concept.