When it comes to cooling capacities it's all about volume. Is your icebox bigger or smaller than the Dometic?
Supplemental Cooling
- Thread starter FourPoints
- Start date
- Status
If ice cubes do not last the several days you are out, then make bigger cubes until you find a size that will last until you get back to your slip. Smaller ice will keep things colder because it makes more contact with the item. The larger the ice, the longer it will last, but not keep things as cold. This was proven in a (P.S. ?) test in the desert a few decades ago.
My grocery stores sell muffins in a plastic 4-pack. The plastic bottoms have ruffles, which increases the exposed surface of the ice, and I use them to make ice "pucks". When I am home from one weekend sail, I start filling the pucks and freezing as many as I can before the next sail. These pucks are about the size of 4 or 5 of my ice cubes.
I also use some instrument rear covers (like on the back of the bulkhead) to make 6-inch round ice pucks, about 2 inches thick. I also have a double cover, about 6 x 9, that makes blocks of ice. The nice thing is they are tough plastic, and tapered so the ice just pops out. I only take regular ice cubes in a 16-quart cooler to put into glasses for drinks on the hook- on the rocks.
My grocery stores sell muffins in a plastic 4-pack. The plastic bottoms have ruffles, which increases the exposed surface of the ice, and I use them to make ice "pucks". When I am home from one weekend sail, I start filling the pucks and freezing as many as I can before the next sail. These pucks are about the size of 4 or 5 of my ice cubes.
I also use some instrument rear covers (like on the back of the bulkhead) to make 6-inch round ice pucks, about 2 inches thick. I also have a double cover, about 6 x 9, that makes blocks of ice. The nice thing is they are tough plastic, and tapered so the ice just pops out. I only take regular ice cubes in a 16-quart cooler to put into glasses for drinks on the hook- on the rocks.
So, if you use the Dometic cooling component to pre cool your ice box what exactly do you mean? The air in the ice box, the plastic or fiberglass skin and the insulation? None of those have the capacity to store energy. As an experiment, fill your Dometic with room temperature beer cans or what ever and record how many hours it takes to cool them down to a acceptable temperature.
I give you credit for thinking out of the box but these devices are not energy efficient.
We live in a hot climate and have learned over the years how to maximize our icebox. We freeze plastic bottles with drinkable water and keep the perishables like eggs, seafood and meat in a small cooler that fits in the icebox. We drink alot of beer, water and soda and keep a moving supply in a seperate cooler to reduce to the number of times we open the icebox. Three days in 100 degrees is managable for us.
Plugging the drain in the icebox will help keep coldness. We added an electric pump between the icebox drain and the bilge with a spout to the galley sink. This keeps the water in the icebox and not in the bilge and we can use the water for pre rinsing dishes.
I give you credit for thinking out of the box but these devices are not energy efficient.
We live in a hot climate and have learned over the years how to maximize our icebox. We freeze plastic bottles with drinkable water and keep the perishables like eggs, seafood and meat in a small cooler that fits in the icebox. We drink alot of beer, water and soda and keep a moving supply in a seperate cooler to reduce to the number of times we open the icebox. Three days in 100 degrees is managable for us.
Plugging the drain in the icebox will help keep coldness. We added an electric pump between the icebox drain and the bilge with a spout to the galley sink. This keeps the water in the icebox and not in the bilge and we can use the water for pre rinsing dishes.
Except when you get to the boat, it's 100deg below decks, and inside the ice chest as well. All the components that make up the ice chest do transfer / "store" thermal energy, but what makes them good insulators is that they don't do it well. It still takes quite a bit of energy to cool the air, fiberglass, and insulation around the ice chest down to a useful temperature. Once cold it does a pretty good job staying cold because it's made out of things that are poor thermal conductors, so it takes the heat a while to work back in. When it has had a week of baking under the sun to heat up, it takes a while to remove that heat energy, and to do so can melt most of the way through 5lbs of ice. I do now understand that the drain plug is allowing lots of cooling power to drain into the bilge and get wasted, so I'm going to address that before I try anything else.
- Status