Has anyone tried to put a small fridge on their yacht to supplement or replace the ice box? If you have, then have you used a 12 volt battery to power it? I have a hunter 240 and thinking of using an engel or waeco fridge/freezer of about 30 to 40 litres instead of (or to supplement) the ice box. I need the battery to last at least 5 days as I will be away from anywhere that sells ice. So my question is: has anyone done this successfully? If you have then what size battery and what size fridge? I have a small 40 watt solar unit that I can use to top up the normal "house" battery but I am not sure that will provide enough to be able to charge up a fridge battery as well. All the manufacturers say that their units use low power, but I think that the real proof is in the doing. E.g. It seems that the only fridges worth thinking about use a compressor.....the other technologies don't seem to work very well, and therefore use more battery power for the same amount of cooling. Thanks everyone
Thanks everyone.
I have done a lot more research since receiving all of your comments.
A battery/solar dealer here advised me that he has a 36 litre compressor fridge for me that needs as little as 17 AH per day @ 30 Centigrade
5 days = 85 AH , but we have temps of 35 to 40 C at this time of year, so let's work on 110 AH.
For the batteries (bank) to remain in good condition, they would need to be at least 220 AH.
I have had this capacity before in a 36 foot Adams sloop and it is no joke....space and weight.
So, I have adopted "crazy dave's" and others advice.......I have bought a Coleman 36 litre extreme 5 day cooler.
I have tested it and it certainly keeps ice for 4 days in summer temps. I think you are right, guys. Keep it simple, chilled food for 4 to 5 days then dry food and restock when you can.
It has been a fantastic discussion and I hope that everyone has got something out of it.
I will put it in practice next week and let you know how it goes.
Cheers.