Post on equipment performance

For those persons who did not read the complete thread this is about
onboard energy. How many DC amp-hours per day is too many? If you
want a wide range response to a question about cruising boats and any
components performance ask your question on this cruisers Forum. I try
to follow all web posts relating to information about boat
refrigeration and equipment needed to support refrigeration. Most of
the time I am looking for factual quantified answers to questions. If
you have read this thread closely discounting opinions and theories
there may be valuable information you can use in making your own
decision about boat refrigeration.

Refrigeration on boats is expensive and is a luxury and is not
required by every boater.

If a boat is equipped 12 Volt refrigeration it will be the largest
consumer of electrical energy on a cruising sailboat.

How large of a refrigerator/freezer can a boat's DC electrical system
support without an onboard gen-set? I Believe 100 amp-hrs per day is
too much others seem to manage much higher DC usage, as much as 200
amp-hrs per day. Boats cruising with 12 volt refrigeration above
Latitude 36N in this country may consume 50% less energy for
refrigeration than those cruising south of 36N.

When electrical energy is not available 24 hours a day then holdover
plates can be used to store energy.

If refrigerated boxes are too large to be supported from electrical
energy then engine driven compressor refrigeration or a gen-set power
would be the answer.

Info quotes from Forums:

I don't have any experience with the 2000, but have found the Honda
specs to be pretty accurate with the 1000. I run it a 45 amp charger
with it.

Anyway, I think we have a close enough ballbark on fuel consumption
and output for planning/comparison purposes.

15 hours on 1.1 gallons at 500 watts might be stretching reality a
bit, but
it's not far off. I own EU1000i and EU3000is. The 1000 is uncanny.

40A at 14.2V = 568 watts plus some charger in efficiency so that would
be
around 600 to 650 watts so Skip's observations are very close.
But we consume mass quantities of ice, about a 10# block of ice every
couple of days during a Chesapeake summer. Cubes go faster, but their
primary purpose is to cool my Admiral's drinks. Would love to have a
fridge, but
we can buy quite a few years' supply of ice for the upfront cost and
backside power requirements.

In my case, easy to say bigger alternator and larger battery bank but
we're
talking about a 20 hp engine and very limited space and weight
capacity for
additional batteries.

Refrigeration certainly is a desirable feature, but we're enjoying
the
simplicity of our systems. With less to break, we can enjoy the boat
more.
We've other reasons to go in for ice. The fresh water gets empty or
the
holding tank gets full at about the same time.

Most of the boats I see here use exactly that system. The more
up-market ones have a duel system with both engine driven and A.C.
powered compressors for use at sea and in the marina.

We are a family of four and are power hogs with kids DVD's and PC
use.
Our boat has a poorly insulated iceBox with a AB CU-200 system that
uses 5amps and typically runs maybe 10-15hrs/day.
Our 260W of solar and MPPT controler puts out about 60-70AH/day
Battery bank is 900AH
We use about 140-200AH/day
The engine alternator is a 105A unit and we are getting ready to
install a gen/water maker combo unit with an additional 105A
alternator that will burn about 1/6gal/hr of diesel.
My Honda 2000eu runs my Iota 75AMP battery charger, but I don't really
know fuel usage yet because we use it so infrequently. The honda stays
at load with the 75A charger.