[Rhodes22-list] Refrigerator

[Bill Effros]

Rummy,

I've spent a substantial amount of money trying to figure out how to 
keep food cold, as a consequence of previous discussions on this topic.

I would love to discover that someone has developed some way to transfer 
huge amounts of heat at very low cost.  This would have ramifications 
all over the world.  But it would surprise me to learn that this 
discovery has been hidden inside tiny refrigerators designed for boats.

I've done bare boating in the Caribbean, where people keep the motors on 
their boats idling for hours to keep cold items they would not have 
onboard if they didn't have refrigerators -- and which they never 
consume.  One can make a case for it in the Caribbean because it can be 
difficult to get ice.

My boat is nowhere near a plug, so the "plug it in" option won't work 
for me.  I love my icebox.  Actually, I love the new space-age 
insulating materials, now available in cheap Chinese soft-sided imported 
coolers.  I always keep frozen a six pack of 1 pint bottles full of 
water in my freezer at home.  As part of my leaving the house routine, I 
grab between two and six frozen bottles, and place them into a sixpack 
soft sided cooler.  If I have cold canned drinks, I put them into the 
cooler also.  I have warm drinks on board, and I know that if I 
distribute three frozen bottles into 2 6-pack coolers, and put six cans 
of anything into the open spaces, all six cans will be frosty cold in 
about half an hour.

The pint sized containers are beverage quality, and can be drunk from.  
As the ice melts, I often drink the cold water which is refreshing and 
delicious.  Sadly, in this context, it doesn't melt fast enough.

24 hours after getting on board there will still be a ice inside the 
pint containers, and any food stored inside the cooler will remain as 
cool as it would be if it were in a refrigerator.

My interest in Will's icebox stems from my belief upon seeing pictures 
of the interior of your boat, that that icebox will accommodate a larger 
number of soft sided coolers than the later model installed in my boat.

Bill Effros

R22RumRunner at aol.com wrote:
> Ed,
> Contrary to popular belief, these refrigerators aren't that thirsty for  
> electricity. Most only draw 3 amps under load and don't necessarily run all the  
> time. 3 amps over a 10 hour sailing day is only 30 amp hours from your battery  
> bank. I currently have 160 amp hours available with two batteries. Now, this 
> is  all "in theory" and we all know that real life can be different.
>  
> Rummy
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