On Wed, 02 Jul 2014 14:52:02 -0400, "Sir Gregory Hall, Esq."
wrote:

On Wed, 02 Jul 2014 11:42:24 -0400, Wayne.B
wrote:



We've been through several iterations of freezers on our trawler,
starting with a water cooled holding plate system, progressing to a
pair of Engel dual voltage air cooled units, and most recently an
Igloo home style 110 volt air cooled unit that we got from Home Depot.
The Igloo home style freezer easily maintains zero degrees with fairly
reasonable current draw from the inverter. It has a large capacity
of about 7 cubic feet and only cost about $300 brand new, actually
free since I got it with Amex reward points. The big problem on a
sailboat would be placement since it is counter top high, 2 feet deep
and about 3 feet long. We installed ours on the flybridge with a
custom canvas cover that blends in fairly well with the rest of the
decor.

Have you ever considered the inefficiencies involved with
inverting 12VCD to 120VAC? You tend to throw away 5-10%
depending upon various variables.

If I had your money and huge motor vessel I would install
a propane freezer as they tend to be far more efficient

-and reliable-

than their electrical brethren which electricity is usually
derived from burning the more expensive gasoline or diesel
fuel in generators.

===

The inefficiencies of converting 12 volts to 110 are more than
compensated by the quietness of not running the generator
continuously. The lifespan of the generator is also greatly
increased and we are not tied to a dock with shorepower like most
motor yachts in our size range. The diesel fuel that the generator
does use for battery charging is a drop in the bucket compared to the
main engines, and when we are underway the engine alternators keep the
inverter batts charged at almost no cost at all. For boats that
already have propane for cooking there may be some advantages to also
using it for refrigeration but I prefer to have no propane on the boat
for safety reasons. I also like the convenience of having a single
fuel boat. Down in the Caribbean people from the US are always
juggling propane adapters to use the European butane fittings that are
commonly available.