Do you leave your fridge on?

[Dino]

Hi,
I live a few miles from my boat and use it most weekends and often call out an evening or two each week. I’ve even started working from the boat the odd day.
I have a Waeco 85 litre 12v fridge. It is set up on a 220v AC adaptor so that when the shorepower is plugged in, it runs off the 220v AC.
Is it okay to leave this fridge running continuously, for a few months? Or should I turn it off during the week when I’m not onboard?

 

[[2068]]

If it's anything like mine, the ice box will end up getting clogged up with ice.
Also you'll be using a fair amount of electricity.

A few weeks is probably ok.
Not sure about a few months ... you'll end up recreating Narnia before the thaw.

I turn mine off in between weekends.

 

[Bouba]

The problem is that inconsiderate people unplug the shore power when you’re away. If the fridge is on it will kill your batteries

 

[NickG]

We have never left our fridge running when we are away from the boat because we dont want food going off in the event of a power failure of any kind. The wife once left a packet of prawns in the freezer compartment by mistake and the stench when we returned to the boat some weeks later was horrible. In your case, I presume the fridge would revert to 12V in the event of a shorepower failure so I guess that would discharge your batteries in a few days which is something I guess you'd want to avoid

 

[PlanB]

Before I became a liveaboard, I kept the fridge on between weekends and off if absence was going to be longer. It was just a pain carting half empty packets of butter etc back and forth.

I lived aboard in the Med and had the fridge on shorepower all the time. The fridge bit self defrosted, but I had to do the freezer once a month in summer, less often when cooler.

 

[vas]

come March, fridge(s) are on, till Oct. No odd effects, as mentioned in previous post, need to do the freezer occasionally. Catch is I have 600W solar, no shore power.
If relying in shorepower I'd be a bit more careful unless you have some way to monitor service bat voltage and can quickly address issues before damaging batteries

 

[Hurricane]

To protect the batteries in the event of shore supply loss, you could switch off the DC at the isolator.
A solution if you only have drinks in the fridge!!
Thats what I do if I'm only going to be away for a few weeks - otherwise, we defrost properly and leave the fridge doors open to let the air circulate in the fridge.

 

[Hurricane]

come March, fridge(s) are on, till Oct. No odd effects, as mentioned in previous post, need to do the freezer occasionally. Catch is I have 600W solar, no shore power.
If relying in shorepower I'd be a bit more careful unless you have some way to monitor service bat voltage and can quickly address issues before damaging batteries

Yes, the solar has been a comfort since we installed ours.
Means that the batteries are on charge all the time even if the shore power is lost.
That said, I still isolate the DC when I leave.

 

[Momac]

Our fridge can work off shore power or battery . Its possible to switch the battery option off so a power cut has no influence on batteries.
Otherwise any fridge is designed to be on full time .

We have switched the fridge off over the last year when the boat is unused which only saves a small amount of electricity. But every little helps.

 

[Portofino]

Hang on guys can we back up a bit because modern switching ( 220v to24 or what ever ? ) the D.C. bit had a voltage regulator which protects the domestic DC supply by shutting down the appliance if the voltage drops below a certain level .
So they ( if functioning correctly) do not kill / drain / knacker the house batts .


Well my two do .

I find it useful @ anchor in the Med with air temp 35 + long days as when the fridge(s) turn off I know it’s geny time .
Lots of peeps on board fridge doors constantly being opened etc .......

11.7 iirc volts .

 

[Portofino]

Answering the Ops Q , we close the boat down fully if we know we are not returning .
Fridges off defrosted wiped down with Milton s ( dilute bleach ) door left air = ventilation.

Only things on are shore power with the chargers + bilge pumps and Passerelle.

Guardian sends me pics

 

[Dino]

Great advice folks. Thanks.
I am usually at the boat on or two evenings per week doing some jobs. My dad keeps his boat on the same jetty so I’ll know if the power is off.
There’s nothings like a cold beer when you get to the boat on a Friday evening

 

[RupertW]

When away from the boat for a couple of days then yes but otherwise no.

Because we are a flight away from the boat we rarely go for less than a week and rarely stay on shore for more than a couple of days so when it’s time to pack up we empty and clean the fridge then leave it with power off and propped open.

The fridge takes hours to cool things down from warm when we arrive but we do have an icemaker that starts producing after 15 minutes so our first drinks are more likely to be spirits and mixers.

 

[[2068]]

The problem is that inconsiderate people unplug the shore power when you’re away. If the fridge is on it will kill your batteries

On mine, there are separate 12v breakers for each fridge.
Even so, probably not the best idea to keep frozen octopus in there.

 

[Dino]

An icemaker sounds like a great bit of kit for the boat. Is it possible to get a 12v one?

 

[Mark26]

Mine is 12v only and stays on all season even if I’m not visiting the boat for a couple of weeks.

I don’t leave food in it, only drinks, and the reason I do is because if you turn it off it takes most of the first day to chill down.

Arriving at the boat, it’s good to know I have a cold fridge to put food into, and cold drinks on hand.

I always leave the boat plugged into the shore supply, the battery charger ensures the batteries are always 100% and runs the fridge. My fridge is wired into the boats 24hr supply so I can isolate everything else, and to reduce and voltage drop on the fridge supply through switches.

If the shore supply goes down, the battery will run the fridge for 5 days before the fridges internal voltage regulator turns it off to protect the battery. The shore supply is unlikely to be down for so long, we might get the occasional day without shore supply due to works being carried out, but it’s very rare.

Nor do I turn my fridge off at home every time I spend a week on the boat.

 

[Hurricane]

An icemaker sounds like a great bit of kit for the boat. Is it possible to get a 12v one?

The ones that are supplied in new boats like Princess, Sunseeker and Fairline are made/supplied from Dometic so are eyewateringly expensive.
A cheap solution would be to buy the cheaper household icemakers for around £100 and power it from an inverter or shore power.
Our icemaker that was supplied with the boat takes ages (about 10 hours) to make a bucket of ice but I wouldn't be without it.
Just imagine - Gin and Tonic without ice!!!
We also have a reasonable sized freezer on board so we make space and store ice (made from the icemaker) in the freezer.
Our slow icemaker might need some replacement parts - I think it was quicker when it was new.

However, if you like running your boat off batteries when away from the marina and not using a generator etc, don't use the icemaker.
It is probably OK with the cheap household icemakers but the dedicated marine ones really burn electricity.

 

[Alicatt]

Hang on guys can we back up a bit because modern switching ( 220v to24 or what ever ? ) the D.C. bit had a voltage regulator which protects the domestic DC supply by shutting down the appliance if the voltage drops below a certain level .
So they ( if functioning correctly) do not kill / drain / knacker the house batts .


Well my two do .

I find it useful @ anchor in the Med with air temp 35 + long days as when the fridge(s) turn off I know it’s geny time .
Lots of peeps on board fridge doors constantly being opened etc .......

11.7 iirc volts .

The factory fitted coolbox/fridge in my car switches off when the voltage drops off towards 12V if you leave it switched on, makes sure I can at least start the car when I get back to it.