Cut out Icebox, Install a Fridge? or??

Jan 28, 2017
44
Hunter 34 Halifax
Hey guys, I know we were just talking about freezer boxes on H34's but I want your thoughts on
options. I have to spend some time doing some research but wonder if you guys have any ideas I haven't thought of.

Option A: Modify existing ice box to have refrigeration, and extra insulation.
keeping the stock aesthetic. Forum suggest it's roughly 8 cubic feet of storage. I find it hard to believe it's that big... when a 25"x 61"x 27" sears fridge is 10 cubic feet.

Option B: Cut the ice box out and install a small fridge, I found a pic here in the forums (attached it) ... It looks like the doors would be hard to open while in the galley area. Looks swanky, but the with the loss of counter space I'm not sure....

Option C: Cut out the ice box and build a shelf to keep an Engle fridge freezer, making it level with the existing counter (basically an ice box replacement) But they are seemingly small... at 43 quarts, maybe install 2. Maybe could install 2 and they would be removable for beach trips or grocery runs.... maybe



Thoughts? Any other idea?
 

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Jan 18, 2016
782
Catalina 387 Dana Point
All will work fine. Your option B will likely suck down more electrons than A or C. Front openers lose a lot of cold when opened. Option C will be expensive. Option A is affordable(ish) if you shop around for the parts.

OTOH, there's folks that do it successfully - I have a 10cuf home fridge in my motorhome that'll run... well... pretty much forever on the 500W of solar on the roof - that's quite a few electrons. My boat has a converted icebox and much less solar.
 
Feb 26, 2004
22,759
Catalina 34 224 Maple Bay, BC, Canada
How do you use your boat?

Really.

If you are planning long trips not tied to shorepower is going to be a different answer than if you are a marina hopper.

All input says a fridge on a boat works much better with a properly insulated box.

Sure it does. But if your energy budget is not breaking the electron bank, a simple Adler Barbour Waeco Dometic Cold Machine for a boat like yours would do just fine. Without any additional insulation. Depending on how you use your boat.

How do I know this? 19 years of experience. No insulation on our box. Combination of daysails, two or three nights marina hopping, two week cruises and a trip from SF to Vancouver Island (marina hopping). Still works just fine. Sure, insulation would be better, but it is NOT required for recreational boating. It would be required for real cruising.

Your Hunter 34 has volumes of room for the required batteries. I've got a 400ah house bank, good for one or two nights on the hook without charging. Most boats our size have a 100 ah daily load, 60 ah of that is the fridge.

I caution you to carefully consider chopping up your boat's galley. Unless you plan to keep your boat forever, sometimes major surgery is frowned upon by prospective future buyers.

But: Your boat, your choice. :)

Good luck.
 
Nov 6, 2006
9,884
Hunter 34 Mandeville Louisiana
The standard 34 icebox is pretty well insulated.. When I bought my boat (1991), it had a SeaFrost conversion that worked well.. until an ice tray wore a hole in the evaporator.. I made several attempts to repair the thing then removed it when wife looked into the box and said "You know, you can look at ice and tell if it is working." I mostly do coastal messing about and haven't had a problem once I started using block ice in the bottom and some crushed around stuff.. That is good for over a week. The blocks I get from local snow cone folks .. it is about size and shape of a half gallon milk carton. These fit nicely into the box.. cover the bottom and add one to the side shelf.
 
Nov 26, 2012
1,653
Hunter 34 Berkeley
The ice box is actually pretty well insulated. I recommend the conversion kit. It works great and does not seem to draw much power. The ice box is roughly 2ft x 2ft x 2ft which is 8ft^3. 25" x 61" x 27" is 23.8 ft^3
 
Jan 28, 2017
44
Hunter 34 Halifax
Next season we plan to spend the entire 3 month season on the boat. Mostly cruising on anchor or moorings. I don't want to deal with shore power. So I'm prepared to add a couple more batteries and more solar panels. It would be nice to have a reliable source of refrigeration.

It's true.. You're wife is right... you can tell when the Ice block is working ;), We haven't found a source for blocks of ice here. maybe we should look harder. We've only had crushed ice so far, it really doesn't last long. If a block works for a week I guess that's only 12 blocks ish for a 3 month sailing season. Not terrible I guess and much cheaper than the cooling system. But more hassle to find on the go. Water is also going to be a weekly chore as well I suppose. Something to consider.

You're right guys. I will work with the current Ice box!
 
Jan 18, 2016
782
Catalina 387 Dana Point
If you can get enough solar on your boat, having a fridge is a great addition. I really like mine.

Just guessin that your solar insolation in Halifax annually is about 2/3s what mine is in socal, but summer should be pretty dang good. I get by with 160w of solar and 240ah of batteries on my boat. I also watch the batteries very closely. I _could_ get by one cloudy day, can't do two. I turn the fridge off at night (it keeps fine overnight). 2nd cloudy day sees me buying ice - but it doesn't happen much around here.
 
Jan 28, 2017
44
Hunter 34 Halifax
If you can get enough solar on your boat, having a fridge is a great addition. I really like mine.

Just guessin that your solar insolation in Halifax annually is about 2/3s what mine is in socal, but summer should be pretty dang good. I get by with 160w of solar and 240ah of batteries on my boat. I also watch the batteries very closely. I _could_ get by one cloudy day, can't do two. I turn the fridge off at night (it keeps fine overnight). 2nd cloudy day sees me buying ice - but it doesn't happen much around here.
Good to know. I think I'll be looking at 2 100 watt solar panels.. and probably adding 2 more 95ah batteries to the system. So roughly 285ah with 200watts of solar. as long as it can keep the fridge cold and charge up our laptop and gopro's we'll be golden. it is usually very sunny here in the summers. except when it's foggy :(

I think I'm going to install a dedicated automotive battery for the engine, so I don't have to wonder if it will start.
 
Dec 22, 2013
14
Hunter 34 Oak Harbor
We have a Hunter 34 as well. We used block ice for the first four years we had the boat, then last spring my wife decided she was tired of hauling ice and having the melted water Darin into the bilge. So she bought an Adler Barbour and then expected me to install it, well I did and it was fairly straight forward but as all boat projects go not with out some cussing and a few trips to the hardware store. Long of the short of it I got it all installed and it works great. I thought that it would take up too much room but really it occupies about as much space as I couple of blocks of ice, and since we mounted it on the side wall it actually gave us more room. The only disadvantage is it does draw more power but we just added another battery and seems to work fine. The Hunter has more than enough insulation so the compressor doesn't run that often once it gets cold. Bottom line, at first I thought it expensive and it took too much room, but now I wouldn't do without it, it's nice to not have to lug ice blocks around and always having a cold beer is wonderful!
 
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Jan 28, 2017
44
Hunter 34 Halifax
We have a Hunter 34 as well. We used block ice for the first four years we had the boat, then last spring my wife decided she was tired of hauling ice and having the melted water Darin into the bilge. So she bought an Adler Barbour and then expected me to install it, well I did and it was fairly straight forward but as all boat projects go not with out some cussing and a few trips to the hardware store. Long of the short of it I got it all installed and it works great. I thought that it would take up too much room but really it occupies about as much space as I couple of blocks of ice, and since we mounted it on the side wall it actually gave us more room. The only disadvantage is it does draw more power but we just added another battery and seems to work fine. The Hunter has more than enough insulation so the compressor doesn't run that often once it gets cold. Bottom line, at first I thought it expensive and it took too much room, but now I wouldn't do without it, it's nice to not have to lug ice blocks around and always having a cold beer is wonderful!
Was this the unit you got? I think it looks great... small and even has a little ice zone.... up to 15cubic feet for under $600
Not bad. There's a smaller version too... do you know what model you have? Thanks!
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...00-20&linkId=d511401176720516e487ca338fb134c1
 
Dec 22, 2013
14
Hunter 34 Oak Harbor
That's the same unit we bought, however that is only half of it you need to get the compressor as well. I mounted the unit on the upper outboard side of our icebox, that way we weee able to keep the shelf. The copper lines we ran outboard from just behind the unit and made the turn aft just behind the trash can as low in that compartment as possible. They then ran across the upper outboard side of the "dungeon" and I mounted the compressor on the self under the port aft cockpit seats as far outboard as I could put it and put and still get to it if it ever needs servicing. I built a divider wall ( ok more of a painted board) to keep anything stored under the cockpit seats from sliding into the compressor. I know it seems like a lot but it wasn't to difficult and it works great! One other thing, I installed a little LED light in the back top of the ice chest that shares the same circuit as the compressor so I can tell if it looses power and makes it easier to see inside the icebox! Hope all this helps!
 
Jan 28, 2017
44
Hunter 34 Halifax
That's the same unit we bought, however that is only half of it you need to get the compressor as well. I mounted the unit on the upper outboard side of our icebox, that way we weee able to keep the shelf. The copper lines we ran outboard from just behind the unit and made the turn aft just behind the trash can as low in that compartment as possible. They then ran across the upper outboard side of the "dungeon" and I mounted the compressor on the self under the port aft cockpit seats as far outboard as I could put it and put and still get to it if it ever needs servicing. I built a divider wall ( ok more of a painted board) to keep anything stored under the cockpit seats from sliding into the compressor. I know it seems like a lot but it wasn't to difficult and it works great! One other thing, I installed a little LED light in the back top of the ice chest that shares the same circuit as the compressor so I can tell if it looses power and makes it easier to see inside the icebox! Hope all this helps!
Very helpful! good to know that it also needs a compressor!
 

splax

.
Nov 12, 2012
692
Hunter 34 Portsmouth
There are many H34 sailors here who have weighed in on this issue and complained about the poor insulation of the icebox. I know that I had a 10 lb block of ice last almost three days of motoring in May 2013 on the Chesapeake Bay, and I intend to add some sheet foam glued to the sides. I doubt the 8cuft is a reasonable approximation. The difference between 2 ft cubed and 1.5 cubed is 8 vs 3 3/8.
I plan to convert the icebox by taking apart a 12v refrigerator and mounting the compressor and condensing coil in the trash bin space with the refrigeration lines running through the separating bulkhead to the evaporating coil if possible. I would prefer to cut the counter and bulkhead and slide in a complete unit, but the swinging doors would need latches and I am a little concerned the modification might have unforeseen longterm effects besides the money invested in a non-working solution.
 
Jan 28, 2017
44
Hunter 34 Halifax
I'm starting to consider looking in junk yards for an old camper with a fridge so I can take it apart, and add it too the ice box..
 
Nov 26, 2012
1,653
Hunter 34 Berkeley
I went with the Isotherm. Compressor and evaporator was about $900.00. Easy install. No more soggy groceries. One of the best upgrades that I have done. Also, I actually measured the ice box. It is, in fact, about 8FT^3.
 
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Nov 6, 2006
9,884
Hunter 34 Mandeville Louisiana
Mark, do you have pictures? My old (since removed) Frost conversion had a vertical evap mounted on wall shared with engine box.. Vibration of that wall allowed ice tray to erode a hole through the evap.. What evap and how mounted?
 
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Jan 18, 2016
782
Catalina 387 Dana Point
I'm starting to consider looking in junk yards for an old camper with a fridge so I can take it apart, and add it too the ice box..
Almost all camper fridges are absorption (ammonia) units. They are barely suitable for campers, and completely unsuitable for boats. They only work off-grid using propane to make the heat to drive the absorption cycle. There are rare ones that use 12v, but that's just a 12v heater that sucks down the amps.

I do not like absorption fridges. They take forever to get cold, rarely get cold enough, and the internet is littered with pictures that show why a propane flame is not all that smart to run your fridge:


The isotherm conversion is the way to go. If that's too pricey, use a 110v dorm unit on an inverter. The edgestar 3.1 cuf draws about 80w while it's running, likely a 30-40% duty cycle for most folks. $230 + an inverter. Has all the drawbacks of a front-opening unit, but it's cheap and reasonably efficient (Not as efficient as the isotherm)