Refrigeration for food and beverages is the biggest chunk of the daily energy drain on a smaller pleasure yacht, assuming we’re cooking with LPG. Our Seawind 1160, built in Australia in 2008, is equipped with an ICEER 2-compartment top loading freezer designed and manufactured by Mal Betts. We were fortunate enough to have Mal aboard as our guest during a multi-hull rally in 2013 at Catalina Island off the coast of Southern California. As a small businessman, Mal was keenly aware that the quality, reliability and energy efficiency of his freezer systems was paramount to the success of his business. That ICEER freezer has never once given us a lick of trouble, and early on Seawind made a big deal of how the freezer could run off the poxy solar array they installed back then. The freezer is a well insulated eutectic design, meaning coolant compartments around the freezer cavity are brought down to a low temperature and held there by the compressor system. If it’s been shut off it takes about 36 hours to get down to operating temperature, but once there it stays there and uses little energy. For some reason Seawind stopped using Mal as a supplier, and we’re a bit suspicious that their newer installations are on par with the ICEER equipment.
The factory installed 130-liter Isotherm front loading refrigerator offers convenience but it is an energy pig. Every time the door is opened the cold air spills out, a problem with older RV or small yacht sized conventional front loading fridges. There is a solution that offers about the same level of convenience, but we haven’t seen the design in a small unit (yet). The superyachts we’ve crewed recently have been equipped with standard European household appliances that are run on 230 VAC 50 Hz inverter power. What’s interesting to consider is that those appliances have to meet strict energy efficiency requirements, so their overall food storage design, insulation and door seals function very well. A front loading fridge has a bunch of drawers, top to bottom, each sealed so that only the one you need to dig into is exposed to the ambient cabin air, and the drawer doesn’t spill the cold air out when open. Their freezers are identical in design. Because these appliances are manufactured in very large numbers and operate on conventional power they’re relatively cheap to purchase, and they seem to survive the marine environment just fine. We’ve friends on a Switch 51 catamaran that use this type appliance, and even with the electrical efficiency losses through the inverter Jef, the electrical engineer husband of the couple is convinced that it’s overall a more energy efficient solution. I think it bears further investigation, especially to determine what form factor units are available.
We spent time in many anchorages (up to 8 weeks) in French Polynesia where there was no access to any fresh vegetables or fruit. If you want to eat it, you better bring it. Most of that stuff lasts a lot longer in refrigeration, months if properly wrapped and packed. Eggs, cheese, butter, BACON, all that stuff needs somewhere to live if you want to be eating it 6 weeks later.
Fresh food, great meals – that’s what keeps crew morale high, and energizes us to enjoy our day. Let’s go kite boarding!
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