ap4098 wrote: >> Any advice on their worth / value for money / longevity, etc., or even >> just your thoughts about them (as I don't completely trust salespersons >> working on commissions), would be much appreciated :) > Beware - usual Ebay problem with no proper specifications. I have just looked > up a similar product in the Waeco catalogue and find it draws 4 amps at 12v > and there is probably no thermostat when in cooling mode. That means 96 Ah > per day where an electric fridge will will be just around half that. Hi Tony, The ebay link was just the first one I opened (I had been looking at several units) and copied, but I get your drift :)
None of the 12volt ones that I've seen so far had a thermostat (but none of the gas ones had them either). If I had a totally free choice then I suspect I'd probably go for a gas absorption fridge, but the boat safety people seem to be against them unless they are sealed units - which is not always easy if the fridge is below the waterline - and designed specifically as a sealed unit, ie, not a modified version of a commercial unit :( 'Wyrd', like Glen's 'Badger', is a well insulated nb - albeit with a steel rather than wooden topsides - and has good sprayfoam insulation; it was cool inside even when the roof was too hot to touch in the summer (so I'm hoping that the reverse is going to be true in the winter). Just as important though is the ability of thermoelectric units to cool foodstuffs down reasonably quickly and I'm not that convinced they can do this (and I' led to understand that a compressor unit is almost 4 times more efficient per watt/hour.) I think I'm going to play around, over the winter, with my original idea of utilising our old 3way absorption camping fridge (the 'works' look as if they can be removed in one piece quite easily). I'm not at all concerned about the 'food' side of it, this is already too cracked to be worth retaining, and I have some large sheets of thick expanded polystyrene sheeting in the garage which will allow for an easy 4" of insulation around the sides and base. We also have good local Freecycle/Freegle groups here so, with any luck, I might even manage to get hold of a small (working or non-working) chest freezer to use as a base (as I'm looking for a 'top loader' next time). Thanks for everybody's input - the best information is invariably obtained from experience :) Cheers, Trevor [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
