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Alternative power Refrigeration
propane. it has been around since Kriste was a corporal in the infantry.
It is possible to have refrigeration on your boat without running the engine. Here is a basic design concept that will allow wind or solar power to support onboard refrigerator. 1. The refrigerated box needs to have at least four inches of encapsulated urethane insulation. The size of the box and the temperature to be maintained inside the box will determine the daily energy required. 2. The decision as to wind or solar for energy depends on anchoring and cruising locations. Large heavy boats that like to anchor out where there is more of a breeze might be better suited to wind power. In South Florida Solar Power seems to be the preferred alternative power. 3. There are only two small 12 volt compressors today that can be efficiently adapted to wind or solar power, the Danfoss BD35 and BD50. 4. To take full advantage of the new Danfoss variable speed efficiency with alternative energy, manual or automatic speed switching controls are required. 5. It is also possible to save 3 to 6 amp-hrs per day in some cruising areas with a keel cooler. Here is an example of a system in a three cubic ft. box with four inches of urethane insulation, with a planed cruising area of the Bahamas: The condensing unit would be a Danfoss BD35 compressor either a WAECO 85 or a Technautics Coolblue. If the Coolblue were selected which is a holding plate system a voltage startup switch would be added This switch would bypass the thermostat when a charge current was available from any source exceeding 12.8 volts the compressor would run. Seventy five watts of un-shaded, adjustable solar panels is the minimum requirement for this example. Two additional gulf cart six volt batteries are needed to produce 12 volts and would be wired to solar panels and refrigeration unit. Between the gulf cart bank and the house bank there is a Battery Combiner to link them together when a charge current is available. To complete the system a battery monitoring instrument is required. There are several wiring diagrams of these systems in my 12/24 Volt Refrigeration Manual From the author of four books on boat refrigeration http://www.kollmann-marine.com "Skip Gundlach" wrote in message ... Hi, and thanks for the response. "David&Joan" wrote in message news:9i4Fc.6732$151.2942@fed1read02... Skip: Theoretical considerations aside, my advice would be to insulate your box to the hilt and then install one of the many DC driven Danfoss compressor systems with a direct evaporator coil, ie no holding plate. Alder Barbour and others make them. David Ah - now we get back to the discussion of evaporators and cold plates. I've just got this thing for cold plates - and ours is an Adler Barbour system - but if evaporators worked well, and I felt comfortable about not having to worry about dinging them, I suppose I'd be ok with them. However, I'm still trying to come up with the most efficient overall electrical plan which doesn't use internal combustion any more than absolutely necessary. Stories of reefers running happily off the solar or wind make me happy, because most of the time they wouldn't need the battery during the day, which - at least in the high season - will be when we're gone most of the time. Depending on how much they cost, a belt-and-suspenders approach might be worthwhile to consider: We're going to redo the reefer. It's 19CF, with cold plates added some time along the way, with a single hatch (see URL pix in sig), as originally laid out as an icebox by Moorings, but divided so that a freezer section would be easy. When we redo the top to have two hatches, as it's so big, we'll add insulation and some fancy ceramic paint which adds some amazing R value for a coat of paint. It's plenty big to add some insulation material and leave the current cold plates (engine and AC on one of them, both 26* units), *and* add evaporator plates around the perimeters. I also intend micro fans (always on, in the bottoms) to move the air to even out the temps, and mega gaskets and way-insulated tops as well. (I recall reading that the only notable difference in the high-insulating coolers for the picnic/camper/RV-tailgater crowd is an insulated vs not insulated lid, and others in these fora and various mailing lists have cited the same in their boxes' efficiency.) Glenn was kind enough to give me a long dissertation on the merits of cold plates and evaporators long ago in this space, so we don't need a repetition, though others just joining the party might enjoy it/them. I'm still of mixed mind. In the end, I want it to stay cold in the most efficient manner. This will be our home, all year round, in the tropics, so doing it well is important. The specific means of achievement (cold plate, evaporator or mix)isn't really important. Part of my challenge is, I realize, a fetish about not running internal combustion motors if I can avoid it, complicated by our expected lifestyle of working ashore with the boat on a mooring for some months per year. I anticipate we'll have awnings and shades, but we won't run A/C, so it will be warm inside... Thanks again for the input... L8R Skip and Lydia -- Morgan 461 #2 SV Flying Pig http://tinyurl.com/384p2 "And then again, when you sit at the helm of your little ship on a clear night, and gaze at the countless stars overhead, and realize that you are quite alone on a great, wide sea, it is apt to occur to you that in the general scheme of things you are merely an insignificant speck on the surface of the ocean; and are not nearly so important or as self-sufficient as you thought you were. Which is an exceedingly wholesome thought, and one that may effect a permanent change in your deportment that will be greatly appreciated by your friends." - James S. Pitkin |
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