Has anyone had any experience with 12 Volt thermoelectric refrigeration units for retro fitting an existing ice box ? The one I am looking at is made by Tropicool in New Zealand. Thanks Richard ( UFO 34 " Not Negotiable " )
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J
JOE P
Draws alot of juice
I have had experience with thermo electric refrigeration units and let me tell you they eat up the juice from your batteries. I switched to a twelve volt refrigeration unit on My Catalina 27. I hooked up two 6 volt golf cart batteries in series to give me the twelve volts and also a huge amount of amp hours. Since I only use my boat on weekends and a couple of times during the week. The refrig runs all weekend on the batteries with no problem. Even lonnger if you throw some frozen stuff in the freezer compartment. I also have a solor charger to keep the batteries charged (charging Up) while I am gone. As long as I get at least three days of sunshine between intervals of use the batteries hold on all summer. I use two deep cycle marine batteries for the house batteries and the golf cart batteries just for the fridge which will run the fridge for three days before the batteries are drained. I am going to remove the deep cycles and install four more golf cart batteries and another solar charger in the fall or spring. I have a huge storage area in the stern where the inboard motor should go. I have an out board model catalina. Stay away from the thermo electric unit I wasn't happy with mine and hooked it up in my dog house to keep the dogs water chilled. Ha Ha
I have had experience with thermo electric refrigeration units and let me tell you they eat up the juice from your batteries. I switched to a twelve volt refrigeration unit on My Catalina 27. I hooked up two 6 volt golf cart batteries in series to give me the twelve volts and also a huge amount of amp hours. Since I only use my boat on weekends and a couple of times during the week. The refrig runs all weekend on the batteries with no problem. Even lonnger if you throw some frozen stuff in the freezer compartment. I also have a solor charger to keep the batteries charged (charging Up) while I am gone. As long as I get at least three days of sunshine between intervals of use the batteries hold on all summer. I use two deep cycle marine batteries for the house batteries and the golf cart batteries just for the fridge which will run the fridge for three days before the batteries are drained. I am going to remove the deep cycles and install four more golf cart batteries and another solar charger in the fall or spring. I have a huge storage area in the stern where the inboard motor should go. I have an out board model catalina. Stay away from the thermo electric unit I wasn't happy with mine and hooked it up in my dog house to keep the dogs water chilled. Ha Ha
B
Bob Camarena
Check this Out
First, there have been several relatively recent postings on the pros and cons of thermoelectric coolers on this website. Check the archives. Second, check out this link for an article on using the cooling unit from a thermoelectric cooler on a Catalina 25 icebox.
First, there have been several relatively recent postings on the pros and cons of thermoelectric coolers on this website. Check the archives. Second, check out this link for an article on using the cooling unit from a thermoelectric cooler on a Catalina 25 icebox.
another Check this out.
http://www.askelandinc.com/ Have heard some good things about these units.
http://www.askelandinc.com/ Have heard some good things about these units.
A
axolotl
Reality check
Thermoelectric cooling sucks. The Peltier (sp?) effect, essentially running a thermocouple in reverse, was discovered over a century ago, and it's not taken the refigeration world by storm because: It's very inefficient. It takes a *lot* of electricity to run a Peltier effect module and unless the laws of physics change, it always will. A typical evaporative cycle reefer is much more efficient. You'll burn up the money you save keeping you're batteries charged in short order. It has limited capabilities. The lowest temperature the cooling module can achieve is a direct function of the heat sink module temperature, again because of the laws of physics. The best achievable differential is 40 degrees, which means a 55 degree box temperature in 95 degree weather. So, it works better the colder the environment, exactly backwards! Therefore you have to be in a 70 degree or colder environment if you actually want to freeze things! And the unit will be working very hard to do so. Isn't ice one of the great blessings of onboard refrigeration? On to the manufacturer's spiel. They're blowing smoke up the buyer's a** bigtime! Towit: Their unit is efficient? Compared to what, a rock and a stick? Thermoelectric is remarkably *inefficient* compared to evaporative systems. Their amp consumption numbers are stacked by assuming a *very well insulated* box (4+ inches)and intermittant operation. Rest assured in your moderately insulated box (2-3")the bugger will be running full time, consuming great gobs of juice. Their unit is simple? Well, if you go with air cooling I suppose so, but as you increase in size you gotta blow one heck of a lotta air over an aircooled sink, so the solution is water cooling? Talk about complexity, the maintenance on a seawater cooled system (keeping the crap out of it) will drive you up the wall. And adding water cooling ups the price to where evaporative systems compete handily. Note most units include a low voltage cutoff feature, undoubtedly because of owner's screams about overnight dead batteries. And they DON'T talk about the fact these units can't freeze a thing unless you live in Alaska. Contemplate this, a summer Sea of Cortez day pushes 100 degrees with water temps pushing the 90s. With your "thermocool" unit your goodies will be heading south at 50 or 60 degrees temperature fast! BTW, I owned a thermoelectric cooled refer for a coupla years long ago. It ran continuously in summer for about a 70 amp per day drain, and only worked well in the dead of winter, when a cardboard box in the cockpit would have done just as well. Spend your money on a compressor based unit and you'll be a much happier camper. Can you say ice cream?
Thermoelectric cooling sucks. The Peltier (sp?) effect, essentially running a thermocouple in reverse, was discovered over a century ago, and it's not taken the refigeration world by storm because: It's very inefficient. It takes a *lot* of electricity to run a Peltier effect module and unless the laws of physics change, it always will. A typical evaporative cycle reefer is much more efficient. You'll burn up the money you save keeping you're batteries charged in short order. It has limited capabilities. The lowest temperature the cooling module can achieve is a direct function of the heat sink module temperature, again because of the laws of physics. The best achievable differential is 40 degrees, which means a 55 degree box temperature in 95 degree weather. So, it works better the colder the environment, exactly backwards! Therefore you have to be in a 70 degree or colder environment if you actually want to freeze things! And the unit will be working very hard to do so. Isn't ice one of the great blessings of onboard refrigeration? On to the manufacturer's spiel. They're blowing smoke up the buyer's a** bigtime! Towit: Their unit is efficient? Compared to what, a rock and a stick? Thermoelectric is remarkably *inefficient* compared to evaporative systems. Their amp consumption numbers are stacked by assuming a *very well insulated* box (4+ inches)and intermittant operation. Rest assured in your moderately insulated box (2-3")the bugger will be running full time, consuming great gobs of juice. Their unit is simple? Well, if you go with air cooling I suppose so, but as you increase in size you gotta blow one heck of a lotta air over an aircooled sink, so the solution is water cooling? Talk about complexity, the maintenance on a seawater cooled system (keeping the crap out of it) will drive you up the wall. And adding water cooling ups the price to where evaporative systems compete handily. Note most units include a low voltage cutoff feature, undoubtedly because of owner's screams about overnight dead batteries. And they DON'T talk about the fact these units can't freeze a thing unless you live in Alaska. Contemplate this, a summer Sea of Cortez day pushes 100 degrees with water temps pushing the 90s. With your "thermocool" unit your goodies will be heading south at 50 or 60 degrees temperature fast! BTW, I owned a thermoelectric cooled refer for a coupla years long ago. It ran continuously in summer for about a 70 amp per day drain, and only worked well in the dead of winter, when a cardboard box in the cockpit would have done just as well. Spend your money on a compressor based unit and you'll be a much happier camper. Can you say ice cream?
V
Victor Robert
I agree
We tried a Tropicool portable ice chest for a while. One of the smaller ones, about the volume of two six packs. It was a great feature in the car, where surplus 12V power on the road was not a concern, and cool drinks and snacks were a treat. Unfortunately, it had very limited usefulness on the boat for the reasons already stated in this thread. It ran constantly, drawing 6 amps. The ability to drop the inside temperature a maximum of 40 degrees below ambient is definitely a limitation when its 90+ degrees on the boat. It was a cooler, but certainly not a refrigerator. My assumption here is that the active component of our portable ice chest is the same technology as the Tropicool system you are considering.
We tried a Tropicool portable ice chest for a while. One of the smaller ones, about the volume of two six packs. It was a great feature in the car, where surplus 12V power on the road was not a concern, and cool drinks and snacks were a treat. Unfortunately, it had very limited usefulness on the boat for the reasons already stated in this thread. It ran constantly, drawing 6 amps. The ability to drop the inside temperature a maximum of 40 degrees below ambient is definitely a limitation when its 90+ degrees on the boat. It was a cooler, but certainly not a refrigerator. My assumption here is that the active component of our portable ice chest is the same technology as the Tropicool system you are considering.
D
David
cooling
Last year I met a 35.5 owner that had installed a Coolerator by Askeland. He said it was one of the worst investments he had made on the boat.
Last year I met a 35.5 owner that had installed a Coolerator by Askeland. He said it was one of the worst investments he had made on the boat.
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