Front opening fridges on a sailing boat

[Dockhead]

But you only lose air when a fridge door is opened briefly.

Cooling down the air is not the biggest job that a yacht fridge has to do. Air weighs about 1200 grams per cubic meter (water weighs a ton per cubic meter, for comparison). So that means that most yacht fridges only hold a few hundred grams of air. That's not very much compared to the mass of the contents of the fridge.

If you leave the door open long enough to start warming up the contents, then all bets are off. But for typical use I would bet that there is not so much difference in energy consumption between top-loaders and front-loaders.

Whatever difference there is will be narrowed further by the fact that you often have to take stuff out of a top-loader in order to get at what you want, thus warming up that stuff. Plus the longer time you have the door of a top-loader open because it's just so damned inconvenient to find stuff in a top-loader.

Our present boat has a front-loader after decades of using top-loaders. We have no problem with energy consumption whatsoever. The advantage of convenience of the front-loader, as compared to the top-loaders we had in the past, is huge.

 

[Sailfree]

SWMBO suggested deleting the Alcantara uphostery (£2600 IIRC) but wanted a front opening extra door £515.

She is only 5' so cleaning the bottom of Fridge was difficult.

On balance, although I thought the price for 1 door expensive, we went for extra Fridge door but only use it to access bottom shelf and cleaning.

Charter Co warned us that the door would open with too much beer and a good tack and they were right!

Charter Co then fitted an extra perspex inner door on sliding bolts that retains contents on a tack.

I notice that some front doors have a locking handle so inner perspex door not necessary.

My preference would be only top acces unless additional and very cheap!