Gordon Wedman wrote:
"Denis Marier" wrote in message
...

I was looking at the new Beneteau 345 pamphlet for this year.
The new 2005 specification is showing a 1 X 12 V electric (4.5 cuft)
front
opening fridge.
I wonder what is the advantage to have a front opening fridge on a 34 foot
sailboat.
That gave me the idea that this boat was designed to be a live aboard
attached to a berth protected by a breakwater. Conversely, the power
boats
community have used front opening fridges for a long time. Maybe there
are
advantages that I can not see at this time??

Dangiser


Easier to clean and easier to get food out of. The top surface can be used
as a permanent counter/work surface. Two main problems are they let out all
the cold air every time you open and there is the possibility that
everything may end up on the cabin sole if you open while on the wrong tack.
Maybe not such an issue on powerboats as they usually try to stay level and
often have gensets (don't care about running time of the fridge).


My catamaran has a front opening fridge. (Again, level sailing has
advantages!) Its far easier to find things so you can open it, get your
stuff, and close it quickly. When we had a top loader, we would often
have to pull things out to find something that had fallen to the bottom.
My wife claims, based on nothing in particular, that the front loader
muse be more efficient. I've wondered how much cold is really lost, or
to be more precise, how much heat content is in the warm air that gets
in when the cold "falls" out.

My freezer, BTW, is a top loader with about 7 inches of foam all around.
We keep bundles of food in mesh bags, so we can pull out the "meat
bag" or the "veggie bag" quickly.