Refrigeration requirements

With a large vessel and multiple guests, food and drink refrigeration gets complicated. Ice is cumbersome. We have one small fridge that runs on propane and is very efficient. I'm wondering if the same type refrigerator is available that burns diesel fuel, which we have plenty of.

Ryland

 

Hi Ryland,

First be careful the propane burning refrigerator doesn't produce the deadly carbon monoxide (CO), and also have warning systems for this installed on your boat.

For diesel powered refrigeration see eg. the refrigeration van cooling units, max down to about 0°F (-18°C) from ambient 100°F (38°C), like the Carrier Neos-100s, or the Thermo King T-580R, etc...



Don't know though if they withstand the marine environment, check this first, or maybe find a marine unit for your application, and also note the noise.

Think the thread would better suit the All Things Boats & Boating forum, you could ask the Moderator to move the thread.

Good luck !

 

I have solved the refrigeration requirement in a very inexpensive way. We bought a household type chest freezer which runs on 115 VAC. Using glue, we laminated an additional 2" of foam insulation to the outside surfaces and sprayed the foam with a rubberized sealant. For ease of movement we added locking casters to the bottom. For use, we put two six gallon water jugs (campers use these) inside filled with fresh water. Also, we insert six gallon jugs of water, too. The freezer is turned on using shore power while in port. The water freezes down to 0 degrees F in a couple of days. When we cruise, the gallon jugs are removed and inserted into high performance coolers for beer, water, etc. cooling. The six gallon jugs remain in the freezer. Perishable provisions are placed in the freezer before leaving port. This gives us cool beverages in the coolers for 8 days and refrigerated perishables for at least 10 days if we don't run the AC generator. Running the generator prolongs that, depending on how long the generator runs. We have six banks of DC batteries onboard that we keep fresh with the generator every other day or so, anyway. The freezer draws 2.9 amps so it presents a negligible load. This arrangement suits our requirements on this river vessel perfectly. We rarely cruise more than a week at a time, but feel comfortable that two weeks out would not present a problem. I added a Siren Marine Wireless Temperature sensor to monitor freezing progress while away from the vessel. It's at -3 degrees as I write this. The freezer cost 300USD, the insulation and glue less than 100USD. Problem solved. We no longer purchase, haul and store ice in bags.

Ryland Fleet
Captian, "Sebastian Marie"

 

Store the warm cases under the coolers. If the coolers have a drain, let the melt water drip out over them from the jugs and coolers. But it sounds like you don't have to drain the meltwater. This is an old trick for augmenting coolers that use ice blocks. It just takes a bit more foam to make a base.