Fidge - How to decide which unit to fit?

[pwc51]

Having just been to SBS looking at fridge units to convert our inbuilt Cool Box to a fridge there seemed to be many choices with everyone saying their's was the best! There seemed to be little to choose between them in terms of power consumption or physically.

From experience does anyone have any recommendations as to make / model etc / after sales service etc.

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[MedMan]

I have always dealt with Penguin Engineering. They know what they are talking about and they will advise you. You can trust them.

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[ccscott49]

If you are thinking of going to the meddy or carribean, fit a water cooled one, much, much better.

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[roger]

I fitted a Waeco Basic model last winter. It has worked perfectly except it is difficult to set so as not to be too cold. (small fridge enclosure)
Connecting the two parts together is hair raising as you only get one chance. The seals holding the gas in will break as you tighten the nuts holding the bits together. Plan very carefully for the pipe runs particularly where they join onto the compressor. Although the compressor is very quiet, the fan is noticeable. I tend to turn the fridge off at night as my boat is small.
Make sure your insulation is good. The fridge is much less power hungry with thick insulation. You can buy good polyurethane board with aluminium foil facing from a builders merchant.

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[tillergirl]

I fitted a Waeco a couple of years ago and am very pleased with it. I wish I had got the holding plate rather than the evaporator but it was very expensive at that time. I wish also I'd met my builder who added some insulation here at home. He used a very high spec stuff called Seletex (phonetic spelling) which performs better than ordinary poly. I tend to only use it when motoring or plugged in but it's very good in the UK climate.

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[marchhare]

I fitted the small Waeco last year and have found it to be very satisfactory, my thermostat is fitted external to the cool box and set on medium and is just right for the volume of the box. Not sure of the litres but is a reasonable size, seems to hold enough booze and food stuff, point is I suppose is that there is still plenty of scope for adjustment. Cost about £255 on a "special" offer, good value, I think the Penquin equivalent is about £80 more.

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