BrianSmith
Senior Member
- Joined
- Mar 20, 2014
- Messages
- 487
- Location
- USA
- Vessel Name
- Smartini
- Vessel Make
- 2002 Kristen 52' Flybridge Trawler
We had a Norcold (which must mean "sort of cold") marine fridge / freezer on the boat when we bought it 4 years ago. After the 400th time defrosting it, we decided to replace it. Luckily, O C Diver made this post right about the time we were ready to dive into the project: https://www.trawlerforum.com/forums/showpost.php?p=711500&postcount=1
We were hauled out at Cracker Boy Boat Works in Ft. Pierce, home to The Ship Shop, an excellent marine carpentry shop owned and run by Philip. Our Norcold was squeezed into a slot just the right size for it, and no more, so when we measured the Summit that OCD got, we knew it was going to be more than a little carpentry. Philip and Andrew were up to the task. When they were finished, the new fridge/freezer was in, alongside the new Force 10 3-burner propane stove and OVEN (replacing a Force 10 3-burner stove only). Although it was a more money than OCD's conversion, we're thrilled with the result.
We're still in the yard (long paint project), and the new Summit has been humming right along on solar only, for about three weeks now. Every morning when we come to the boat, the freezer is at -4 F and the fridge is about 28F. (Love that the Summit has individual controls for each compartment!) We didn't do a detailed power consumption comparison to the Norcold, but it certainly seems like the Summit is at least as efficient as the Norcold, and it's FROST FREE!!!! And it's 45% bigger inside!!!
I didn't take good "before" pictures, but there used to be a microwave above the stove, where the cabinet is now. We don't need the microwave now that we have an oven, so we ended up with about the same amount of storage as before.
I'm making this a new thread, because I wanted to highlight our appreciation to OC Diver for his excellent post. With so much detail, it was a no-brainer for us to get the same unit. I didn't want our appreciation to be buried on Page 5 of that original thread.
We were hauled out at Cracker Boy Boat Works in Ft. Pierce, home to The Ship Shop, an excellent marine carpentry shop owned and run by Philip. Our Norcold was squeezed into a slot just the right size for it, and no more, so when we measured the Summit that OCD got, we knew it was going to be more than a little carpentry. Philip and Andrew were up to the task. When they were finished, the new fridge/freezer was in, alongside the new Force 10 3-burner propane stove and OVEN (replacing a Force 10 3-burner stove only). Although it was a more money than OCD's conversion, we're thrilled with the result.
We're still in the yard (long paint project), and the new Summit has been humming right along on solar only, for about three weeks now. Every morning when we come to the boat, the freezer is at -4 F and the fridge is about 28F. (Love that the Summit has individual controls for each compartment!) We didn't do a detailed power consumption comparison to the Norcold, but it certainly seems like the Summit is at least as efficient as the Norcold, and it's FROST FREE!!!! And it's 45% bigger inside!!!
I didn't take good "before" pictures, but there used to be a microwave above the stove, where the cabinet is now. We don't need the microwave now that we have an oven, so we ended up with about the same amount of storage as before.
I'm making this a new thread, because I wanted to highlight our appreciation to OC Diver for his excellent post. With so much detail, it was a no-brainer for us to get the same unit. I didn't want our appreciation to be buried on Page 5 of that original thread.
