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What are some good options for refrigeration?

4K views 28 replies 17 participants last post by  eherlihy 
#1 ·
Hello,
I own a 27 foot sailboat and am looking to do some week only trips this summer. The boat doesnt have any refrigeration system and I was wondering what people recommend? I have read that a good cooler with an ice block will stay cool for 3-4 days . I dont want to add a lot of power to my boat by I have 2 12v batteries (house and starter) and own a 2000 watt inverter. Does anyone like those plug in coolers? Any other suggestions to keep my perishables cool? I am in B.C. Canada so its not deathly hot here in the summer.

Thanks
 
#2 · (Edited)
This is going to be tough for an entire week. We have an ice box and line the bottom with block ice and pack everything in with cubes. Even being conservative opening and closing we only manage to get three days out of it. The plug in coolers don't keep things that cool in my experience and will be a drain on your batteries.

If you don't have the option of stopping at a marina/store mid-way through the week, you might just have to plan more food that doesn't require refrigeration.

You started a thread asking about learning to sail on your own. I hope you learn BEFORE you take off on this week-long sail.
 
#3 ·
Very pleased with Frigoboat. Never had a keeled cooled one before. Uses next to no Ah compared to their ones I’ve had before. Did have trouble with it 2 years ago but ultimately seemed due to absence of device to remove all moisture and wrong pressure in the system. If you need to get a refrigeration guy to work on it while in the islands make sure he is really using the correct refrigerant. Ask to see the bottle and label. Also don’t allow it to be overcharged. Too much pressure is as bad as too little.
 
#4 ·
As long as you have a place or two along the way to stop in for ice, that is not issue. I have cruised the southern New England coast in the summer for years, only relying on picking up ice along the way. Always good to have some canned or packaged food (like pasta) that doesn't rely on refrigeration. You won't starve, but may have to drink some slightly warm beer.
 
#5 ·
I've been watching youtube reviews of coolers with some amusement. It seems the best coolers you can buy these days can keep ice around for 4 or 5 days. The good ones aren't cheap, though.

It seems like a full week is going to be more than anything unpowered can handle. You got me curious, and I found a company that was making solar powered coolers in 2014, but they're defunct now. That surprised me, I expected them to sell those things like crazy.

I mean, in theory, if you can get 4 days on ice alone, a small amount of solar power should be able to extend that quite a bit.

If you DIY any, all the parts you'd need to make something are readily available. I found this ridiculous HOWTO:
https://www.howcast.com/videos/470062-How-to-Make-a-Beer-Can-Cooler-that-Runs-on-Solar-Power/
But you'd want to beef up all the parts for your needs ... I mean that think is going to struggle to keep anything cold.
 
#6 ·
12VDC electric fridge. https://www.dometic.com/en-us/us/products/food-and-beverage/coolers/electric-coolers

Pick the model and size you want. Much less expensive (like 1/4 the cost) than a permanently installed ice-box conversion unit if you buy from Amazon. If you sell the boat, you can keep the unit.

The couple from RAN Sailing had their Dometic unit fail after 6 months. Unfortunately, they were mid passage from Costa Rica to Hawaii. Dometic made good on it though and sent them a new refrigerator.

I have had a CF-050 for two years now, and it has served me well.
 
#8 ·
That's impressive. The CF-28 draws 0.75 AH on 12 volts so you should be able to get up to 6 days using a 105 AH group 31 deep cycle battery even if the compressor rarely stops. Rated for operation at a 30 degree angle too. Holds 43 cans of soda so even the small CF-28 is still pretty good sized and capable of -7 F.
 
#7 ·
The answer of course depends... doesn't it always?

First if you are cruising in an area where you have access to ice.. block or cubes... you may not need to go down the refrigeration path. It is expensive and it does consumer power. But if you are off the grid and doing long passages... ice may not cut it.

You need to consider what you need to refrigerate, how much of that food you need to have on board and of course how large is your cooler or cool box or refrigerator. Small boats don't have much real estate for refrigerated items.

I installed an engine driver refer... uses no power except when cooling and engine is running. It is effective and can cool down to freezer temps if run a long time... as the eutectic is designed for those temps. So next to the plate is very cold.. and further away in the box is less so.

When we are out for the weekend we have to either run the engine to cool the refer.. or bring ice and then run it in the morning when we are getting under way and using the motor. But it takes about an hour to get the plate cold.

So now we often do the ice thing... and it's readily available at all fuel docks... and the cube ice can go in drinks too.

Another approach is to freeze things in advance you will eat or drink... and let THEM be the "ice"... as they thaw you consume them... meat or say milk or juice. These basically the only things we need to refrigerate aside from eggs and cheese.

So before you install refrigeration consider:
is the boat big enough for one?
are you sailing where you have access to ice?
How long will you be off the grid?
 
#11 ·
We picked up a used Engel fridge/freezer from another boat and I'm pretty impressed. These seem like the answer to the hassle of ice. They come in a lot of different sizes and this one (40 liters) seems to burn around one amp an hour, average.
 
#12 ·
It is likely the cost of adding any type of refrigeration to your Catalina 27 be very expensive in comparison to your boats worth. Extra batteries and or solar power to keep everything running could be a grand easily, then add the cost of those mini fridges.

I spent two weeks sailing BC, and sailed all the way up to Desolation Sound. Until you get past Desolation Sound there are places you can stop each day to get ice and groceries. Ice done right should get you at least 3 days between needing to visit a store to resupply.
 
#13 · (Edited)
12 volt Refrigeration does NOT kill batteries!
Stop saying it, it's just not true.
If you have an engine and it charges your batteries two batteries are usually all you need. BECAUSE it is very unlikely you will not run your engine to charge your batteries everyday or every other day.

12 volt Refrigeration does kill budgets because it is expensive $600-1000 for a 5-7 cubic foot box, ain't cheap!
 
#14 ·
#15 ·
I looked at all kinds of options about 4 years ago. Many will poke fun but I found Walmart to be my friend. With an inboard diesel all it took was a cheap 3 cubic feet fridge bought off season for like $87, a $100 inverter which you already have and I already had a house battery. I rarely go anywhere even for a week that doesn't require some daily motoring. An hour a day keeps my one house batt fully charged. So no solar yet. I just could not bring myself to spend $k on like a Norcold and have it fail after a year. This fridge I have is very cold. Freezer works great. I can go for as long as I want with some engine recharging. I could expand things with cheap solar or a second house batt if needed. Plus if the Walmart fridge dies it goes in the dumpster without any hesitation to be replaced by an exact duplicate. Not for everyone but it works for me...
 
#16 ·
That works for many people, but norcold and others, don't fail in a year. (Don't know where that perception came from) many of them run for many years. matter of fact, many that were installed during the 80s when 12 volt Refrigeration became viable, are still running!
 
#23 ·
I used to service them and yes working with 100% Pure Anhydrous Ammonia and cutting it to a 50% solution mixing it with Zinc Chromate is not for everyone. A small mistake could be your last one when its pure and 50% can still kill you quite easily. Thankfully in a small residential refrigerator or cooler there's usually only enough the make your eyes water and/or give you a sore throat plus the electric element only gives off about the same amount of heat as a small pilot light so they can be near to silent and highly efficient.

Haven't looked to see how things are going with the helium systems that could cool a box for days off of a transistor radio battery since they used less power than a small Walkman type radio.
 
#22 ·
Gad I love this stuff lol. I had put a very similar norcold in the icebox of my boat not too long before I sold it. It's probably the only regret I have about getting out of large boats.

12 volt Refrigeration is just flat-out amazing to someone that's been in the hvac trade their whole life
 
#29 ·
I looked at the Engel units, but chose a Dometic as they seemed to sell a comparable unit (Danfoss compressor) at a better price. Here are some current prices for 40-50 quart units for comparison:

Engel MR040F-U1 - $807.72
Engel MT45F-U1 - $800.45 (43 quart)
Dometic CFX50W - $790.65
Dometic CF-050AC - $991.03 - but when I bought it it was $613 (52 quart, 68 can, 1.7 cubic feet)
Norcold NRF45 - $603.50 (45 Liters, 64 can, 1.59 cubic feet - a standardized dimension would really help!)

There was some Chinese brand that I looked at too. (Whynter? Costway?? Edgestar??? Smeta???? Smad????? - I think it was Edgestar. ALL of these are real brands) My higher priority than price when making the purchasing decision was that the dimensions of the Dometic enabled it to PERFECTLY fit under my Nav station, and when under the Nav station I can easily see the control panel.
 
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