DCDC
Senior Member
We cruised for 5 years on a steel ketch with very basic systems. It had a small refrigerator, maybe 3 cf, with a homemade rig - evaporator plate and belt driven piston compressor. The condenser was stainless tubing coiled in the fresh water tank which was around 80 gallons and integrated into the hull. The heat of condensation was transferred to fresh water and eventually through the hull to the sea. Very simple - no salt water pump, no through-hulls, no fans.
I’ll probably have to replace my Grunert compressor in the next few years. Much bigger refrigerator and freezer with holding plates. Capacity is around 5,000 BTU/hr and we run it about 2 hrs a day. We also have a large 750 gal water tank, also part of the hull. At 60% level around 5,000 lb of water, so it would heat up around 2 degrees a day. The hull is fiberglass so heat transfer to the sea would be slow but would eventually equalize at some intermediate temperature. I’ll have to dig out my old heat transfer books when we get back to our home port.
Has anyone seen or heard of such a system?
I’ll probably have to replace my Grunert compressor in the next few years. Much bigger refrigerator and freezer with holding plates. Capacity is around 5,000 BTU/hr and we run it about 2 hrs a day. We also have a large 750 gal water tank, also part of the hull. At 60% level around 5,000 lb of water, so it would heat up around 2 degrees a day. The hull is fiberglass so heat transfer to the sea would be slow but would eventually equalize at some intermediate temperature. I’ll have to dig out my old heat transfer books when we get back to our home port.
Has anyone seen or heard of such a system?