Front opening fridges on a sailing boat

[BlueSkyNick]

I have seen details of a few boats with front opening fridges, like a smaller version of a domestic unit, instead of a the usual 'lift the lid' found on most boats.

I can see they are beneficial when parked up, in making more work surface available and easier to find stuff - eg the beer wont be buried at the bottom.

However, the obvious question has to be what are they like at sea, especially when on the windward side of the boat?

 

[sarabande]

Mine had a caravan-style plunger on the top which made sure the door did not open as the beer cans inside rushed to and fro.

But you do have to remember to put the plunger down....


And asking the helmsman to tack so that you can put the butter away is not always popular.

 

[Robin]

I have seen details of a few boats with front opening fridges, like a smaller version of a domestic unit, instead of a the usual 'lift the lid' found on most boats.

I can see they are beneficial when parked up, in making more work surface available and easier to find stuff - eg the beer wont be buried at the bottom.

However, the obvious question has to be what are they like at sea, especially when on the windward side of the boat?

Have you been looking at Starlight 39s? That is one thing that put us off them when we were boat hunting, that and the lifting teak deck on another of the three we viewed. Front opening means you let all the cold air out every time the fridge is opened, OK in a caravan maybe but not good on a boat at anchor where power consumption matters.

 

[Coaster]

Presumably a front-opening fridge is less efficient than a well insulated top opener? The insulation in the front-opening door would be significantly less. And each time the front-opener is accessed the cold air will tend to spill out and be replaced by warm air from a higher level.

 

[BlueSkyNick]

Have you been looking at Starlight 39s? That is one thing that put us off them when we were boat hunting, that and the lifting teak deck on another of the three we viewed. Front opening means you let all the cold air out every time the fridge is opened, OK in a caravan maybe but not good on a boat at anchor where power consumption matters.

We have looked at one Starlight 39 which is not for sale, just to get a 'feel', with many thanks to 'Seven Spades' of this parish.

His boat has a conventional boat fridge, so I discussed the front opening variety.Then I understood that Starlight's were semi-custom built so top opening or front opening was optional.

The good news is that SWMBO and I both agree on what boat we want !

 

[Dockhead]

Ours is superb. Opens towards the bow, so you don't have the contents falling out onto you on the wrong tack.

Only problem with it is that it is very deep, so you tend to lose things in the back somewhere, later to find them in less than pristinely fresh condition. But I'll take that as a tradeoff.

 

[mjcp]

On the other hand, when ones 5 foot tall wife restricts the list of boats to ones WITH a front opening fridge... due to not being able to reach even half way into most yacht fridges.

We like the Dufour 405 (and 375?) which opens top and front.

mjcp

 

[alan_d]

I have a front-opening fridge, custom-fitted by a previous owner, on the starboard side next to the cooker. I have not found it to be amps-hungry, and it is certainly easier to find things in it than a top-opener. It has a latch as described by Sarabande so doesn't open when you do not want it to.
However... you do have to be careful opening it when on starboard tack. There is an upstand at the front of the shelf which goes some way to stop everything cascading out, and if you are going to lie drink cans down on the bottom it is better if their axes are athwartship. I can usually get the door open far enough to reach the milk without a problem, but it does depend on how much you are heeled.

 

[Robin]

We have looked at one Starlight 39 which is not for sale, just to get a 'feel', with many thanks to 'Seven Spades' of this parish.

His boat has a conventional boat fridge, so I discussed the front opening variety.Then I understood that Starlight's were semi-custom built so top opening or front opening was optional.

The good news is that SWMBO and I both agree on what boat we want !

We test sailed one and it was good, shame about the teak deck and the high price. The other two had no teak decks but one was Canadian owned and not VAT paid nor could be proved as being in EU waters when the RCD came into force. The VAT was easy solved, but the RCD was not, even though the boat od course was UK built, NUTS! The remaining one was in Holland and sold before we got to it.

I would imagine the front opener is replaceable. Certainly on one of the three we saw it was corroded and tatty looking anyway and a new top loader and cooker were put onto the cost to buy list.

Are you sure you could stand the shock of pointing close to the wind?

 

[LadyInBed]

However, the obvious question has to be what are they like at sea, especially when on the windward side of the boat?

Absolute C r a p! You might get away with it if it is fwd or aft opening, but side opening throws everything across the saloon when the door is pointing down hill.

Plus, as power is a major consideration on a boat, every time you open the fridge, the cold spills out all over the floor!

I lived with one for a couple of years before I got fed up with it and built myself a top opener.

 

[cameron45]

We are currently in Canada having cruised here in a Dehler 37 with an inboard opening fridge. We have not lost the contents as there is an inner door which allows some control of the contents when removing specific items. It has two hatches in it which allow limited access to either the top of the space or the bottom. As added security the outer door has a safety strap just in case.
It has stood up to the Atlantic, the North Sea, the English Channel and the Bay of Biscay without complaint and the fridge coped with 35 - 40 degree temperatures from January to July without complaint.
Other manufacturers could do well to copy the inner door concept as it has proved its value to us.

 

[robertj]

I fitted a engel fridge ( front opener) for this year after considering fitting a fridge unit into the cold box compartment on the port side. The front opener is facing forward and up until this post it didn't cross my mind about if it was fitted to either port or star side.
N
can't comment on power requirements with regard to cool box compartment types but after chatting to the experts at frigoboat stand they said that front openers arnt more power hungry as it's swings and roundabouts, if you need something at the bottom of the compartment then u have to remove all above thus letting warm air in and contents
being placed outside the coolbox slightly loses it's temp.

 

[jamesjermain]

Once upon a time I would have said a front opener was a no-no but the current generation are so much more power efficient, When I bought Belladonna she had an old Electrolux fridge which worked off 12v, 240v or gas. I had the gas disconnected as it was probably unsafe. It worked OK on 240v but I'm almost never in a marina and 12v took 8ah continuous. I've just bought a Waeco replacement which is rated at 1.6ah max and 1.5ah continuous. My solar panels should be able to keep up with that. I'll know when I fit it next week.

 

[BlueSkyNick]

Will be interesting to hear how you get on with it James, but there again a front-opener on a catamaran isn't such a silly idea as on a real, sorry I mean keel boat to windward!

 

[TrailerSailer]

Got the best of both worlds. Top opening with an offset lower bit that is side opening towards the stern. Bottles, beer and other large stuff plus veg in the top. small things in the side. Works for us!

 

[prv]

an old Electrolux fridge which worked off 12v, 240v or gas. I had the gas disconnected as it was probably unsafe. It worked OK on 240v but I'm almost never in a marina and 12v took 8ah continuous.

If it was able to work on gas, then presumably it would have been an absorption-cycle machine? These use a heater instead of a compressor, so they can run on gas or even paraffin, but in electric mode they're absurdly inefficient as it takes lots more power to provide the necessary heat than it would to turn a compressor.

Pete

 

[Ex-SolentBoy]

I spoke in length to a refrigeration engineer about this. If there is one on the forum please feel free to correct me, but the essence of what he said is as follows.

The issue with front or side opening fridges is only to do with whether things fall out of not.. Nothing to do with temperature. The warming effect of holding a fridge open for even a minute or two is virtually non existent, no matter what the door configuration is.

 

[grumpy_o_g]

If you have lots of money there are some excellent drawer fridges around - not cheap though.

 

[Robin]

I spoke in length to a refrigeration engineer about this. If there is one on the forum please feel free to correct me, but the essence of what he said is as follows.

The issue with front or side opening fridges is only to do with whether things fall out of not.. Nothing to do with temperature. The warming effect of holding a fridge open for even a minute or two is virtually non existent, no matter what the door configuration is.

A comparison with a domestic oven might show the effect, because when the door is opened on that to take something out or check it takes quite some time before the lights show that the set temperature has been regained.

By contrast, we had a big (210L) top loader fridge on our Jeanneau and when reasonably loaded and cooled down we could open it up and take stuff out without the fridge cutting in if we were reasonably quick about it. As for ease of access, we had two wire baskets in the base and these together with two shelves at the rear (hull side) kept things nicely organised.

Some years back friends had a Westerly Seahawk which had a front opener fridge. Not only did the contents fall out when on port tack but they could only run it 24/7 if plugged in to shorepower. When we cruised in company and anchored out, they would pass over all their food that had to be kept properly chilled and we stored it in our fridge, at that time an under bunk top loader on a Westerly 33 Ketch. If having drinks on board their boat away from 220v we had to take our own ice..

 

[emsworthy]

In a nutshell, cold air behaves much like water, just in slow motion. When you open the door of a front opening fridge it will as others have said start to fall out on to the floor. In a top opener it will pretty much stay there.

Just think of all the open topped chest freezers in Bejam's (Iceland) where nothing ever defrosted despite the absence of a lid. The same could not be said of an upright freezer that would defrost even with the compressor running flat out if the door wasn't there. Therefore with an identical amount of volume and insulation and the same sort of compressor during normal use, ie opening and closing the lid/door numerous times a day, a top loader will always be more energy efficient. Obviously if the comparative tests do not take account of what happens when the door is opened...