Cheap refrigeration

[yukonbob]

You'd be terrified to know how many houses here store 250 gallons of diesel in their basements next to an oil burning furnace

[RobertB]

Propane leaking near an open flame is a big deal. Diesel as in a basement is really not since it has a high flashpoint (defined as combustible, not flammable. Propane has a low flash point and is flammable.

My oil tank is in the basement near the furnace - and completely per code.

[yukonbob]

Mine too. People generally seem to be terrified of propane. If done properly it is extremely safe.

Crazy you're still burning diesel down there. thought you'd have natural gas or something. 99% of the time when you mention home heating oil to someone further south they look very perplexed

[BOAT]

As Ris mentioned we bought an Edgestar some years back and have really used it a lot.



http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner ... de-22.html

I got the 63 quart from here...

These are true compressor type fridges that will either cool or freeze and use less power than the thermoelectic and like has been mentioned they only cool 40-50 degrees under ambient temps.

Hey Sumner, I'm confused and I don't understand this part - (I'm not smart about refrigerators) - Are the true compressor types good? or Bad? Is it the compressor ones that only cool under 40 degrees or is it the "thermo electrical whatever ones?

Which one is the better one again? ((sorry for not understanding )

THanks Sumner!

[mrron_tx]

I see several very small, or "personal" refrigeration units these days on Amazon.
These cooler sized things apparently use about 3-4 Amps and cost under 500.00 dollars. Some as little as 360.00
That's getting to the point where I might consider having one just to keep a few drinks cold.
These are different then the thermoelectric variety that will only cool to 40 below outside temps. In 90 degree Florida heat that's not saying much.
Currently most of the units I looked at have good ratings and are used by truckers and tradesmen. My question is has anyone here used any of these cooler type refrigerators and will they work well enough to be worth having.
My plan is to run it off solar during the day and turn it off at night. I have extra solar capacity after about 11am when my battery's are topped off from very light evening use.
I currently have a yeti cooler that rarely gets used except for a seat and storage. I just don't bother with ice in real life use. It's too much work. If I could replace the yeti with something that works and uses my excess solar power, I might do it.
Ix

I can tell You those thermoelectric "iceboxes" or "refrigerators" are some amp sucking machines. I would avoid those at all cost ,unless You plan to leave some sort of charging system running 24/7.I would hate for You to waste money . Ron.

[Russ]

Hey Sumner, I'm confused and I don't understand this part - (I'm not smart about refrigerators) - Are the true compressor types good? or Bad? Is it the compressor ones that only cool under 40 degrees or is it the "thermo electrical whatever ones?

Which one is the better one again? ((sorry for not understanding )

THanks Sumner!

Let me clear it up

Thermoelectric = bad (cheap is cheap)

Compressor = good (quality cost money)

[sailboatmike]

Thermoelectric can be made better by doing some simple things, precooling anything going in, put an ice pack in to help keep it cool and I have seen some mods on YouTube that can be done on them to increase efficiency such as using a water cooled computer CPU unit as the heat sink, I thought hooking the CPU cooler up to a solar unit to drive it.

Overall I wouldnt pay good money for a thermoelectric, I have a few laying around at home so I can play with them for nothing

[Russ]

We had a thermoelectric fridge in our media room. I had to always shut it off because the fan motor noise during quiet moments n a movie would drive me nuts. It ran 24/7 all the time.
These things are toys in my opinion. I want to chill stuff, not just keep chilled stuff cold. For the amp cost, ice works much better. /rant

The real compressor Edgestar has been great. It will freeze food. We shut it off at night (to save electrons and noise) and it keeps 'til morning. Can you tell I'm not a fan of thermoelectric?

--Russ

[Russ]

They offer just the guts of these things on eBay for cheap! Search for 12 volt fridge or cooler kit.

A quick ebay search turned up nothing. What are your searching for? Got a link?

--Russ

[yukonbob]

We had a thermoelectric fridge in our media room. I had to always shut it off because the fan motor noise during quiet moments n a movie would drive me nuts. It ran 24/7 all the time.
These things are toys in my opinion. I want to chill stuff, not just keep chilled stuff cold. For the amp cost, ice works much better. /rant

The real compressor Edgestar has been great. It will freeze food. We shut it off at night (to save electrons and noise) and it keeps 'til morning. Can you tell I'm not a fan of thermoelectric?

--Russ

I hear ya. We freeze jugs of water and when the ice thaws we have fresh water.

[Ixneigh]

http://m.ebay.com/itm/Refrigeration-Pla ... Swys5WVDeM

Here's that eBay thinghy

[frede]

http://m.ebay.com/itm/Refrigeration-Pla ... Swys5WVDeM

Here's that eBay thinghy

That's thermoelectric or as they call it "semiconductor cooler"

[Starscream]

This is a timely conversation for me...at the start of the season I would like to add something better than ice storage.

The budget is a big one. I ain't in the mood to shell out $800 for a real compressorized fridge right now, so I have to decide if a thermoelectric is worth $180 for a season or two.

If I buy the Koolatron I will want it to do the following:
1) When we go on a road trip, keep things cool on the way to a launch site, anywhere from 4 to 7 hours. Cooler will be in the truck with us and power will come from the truck 12V system. Food will be cold when we load it, and we'll dump a load of ice in before we leave.
2) Extend the life of our ice once we get to the destination. I don't expect it to take the place of ice.
3) Keep cold drinks waiting for me at the marina, where we are plugged in to shore power. The boat spends most of its life daysailing out of this marina, and amp draws are not an issue. I have a 100AH house battery and a 100AH starting battery.

Actually, #3 is a big one. I often head down to the boat on the spur of the moment for a quick sail, or use it as a meeting place with friends. I'd like to have a few cold beers waiting for me.

I kind of like the thermoelectric design for the absence of moving parts. Lousy efficiency, yes, but should be durable.

[Russ]

http://m.ebay.com/itm/Refrigeration-Pla ... Swys5WVDeM

Here's that eBay thinghy

That looks like one of those thermoelectric coolers for computer CPU overlclocking projects.

Sumner installed a 12v compressor kit on his big boat. That kind of system could be used to build a built in on the Mac.

--Russ

[RobertB]

Thermoelectric work as long as your motor is running. They will drain your battery faster than anything else. They also, as earlier pointed out, do not keep things cold, just cooler than the outside. I have one of each (someone long ago gave me the TM one) and I never use the TM. Now, if you want to keep something warm, they do work well for that.