Portable fridge/coolbox experience?

Phill

Phill

Well-Known Member
Joined
3 Sep 2004
Messages
920
Location
Surrey/Kent borders
Visit site
I have decided to get a portable coolbox as the fridge never seems to have enough room for food when I've stowed the beer.
I did buy a cheap one about twelve years ago that cooked the batteries and the food!
I guess they're loads better now but would welcome recommendations from your experiences.
Space is not really an issue but needs to run on 12V. 240V would be usefull for when in marina. Low battery draw would be good as we're often moored for hours on upper Thames.
 
Twio cxrew have been on my boat with Waeco fridge boxes ... and I can honestly say - they worked and battery drain was not bad.
I cannot afford one - I have to admit as they are not cheap.

I have a large cool-box that works down to about 5C ... which we fill with frozen stuff - even freeze the bread along with ice-packs etc. As long as people remember to not leave lid open etc. it works reasonably well - but not as a real fridge.

The Waeco's I saw on board were :>

http://www.waeco.co.uk/shop/shop.aspx?c=3&s=7&i=

The 18 and 25 litre models ......

My coolbox which I inherited with the boat is :>

forecabin.jpg


shown in its temp position when boat not in use ... when in use - it slots in aft of the cooker area .... close to batterys to get shortest cable run.
 
We bought a Coolfreeze CF18 from Compass 2 years ago complete with transformer so you can run it off 12V. or mains. I forget what we paid exactly but they're on offer at £269.91 at present. We're delighted with it - it must be very well insulated as its current consumption is no problem to our 170 Ah battery system when at fridge setting. It will freeze things but we've never needed to use that setting. I have no connections with either the manufacturer or Compass.
 
the latest Waeco are the most economical cause they work using the same danfoss compressor that you will find in a built in system. But they are expensive, (so are the danfoss compressors on their own")
 
If you want to run it off the battery for any length of time then you do have to get a decent one. I just got one for the same reason, the meat was going off when the fridge was ocupied by beer - which is all the time.

They are a fantastic investment though. If you're just popping down for the weekend you can stock up the coolbox with food and get it cold before you head out, then run it off the car on the way. This saves all the power required to get the fixed fridge cold, and you dont have to buy new milk/butter etc every time you go out. When you're out for longer periods you can run it off the shore power, fill it with beer, get it down to about -2 and then turn it off when you head out. The beer will be cold for ages.

The one I got was an Isotherm TB32, which seem to be on promotion a lot at the moment. I think they're having trouble shifting them as they're a bit on the large side for a coolbox and quite heavy to move around and a bit big to stow. Mine was 300, which isn't bad for a 32 liter box with a danfoss compressor. It draws 0.7 amps on average when keeping a reasonably cool temperature, runs on 12/240V, has a 3 level voltage cut off switch, and when power isn't a problem it gets down to -20 with ease. The Waeco one's will be pretty much the same, but whatever you get you want a Danfoss BD35F compressor in it and if it runs on both 12 and 240 make sure the inverter is from 240 to 12 not the other way round.
 
[ QUOTE ]


The one I got was an Isotherm TB32, which seem to be on promotion a lot at the moment. I think they're having trouble shifting them as they're a bit on the large side for a coolbox and quite heavy to move around and a bit big to stow. Mine was 300, which isn't bad for a 32 liter box with a danfoss compressor. It draws 0.7 amps on average when keeping a reasonably cool temperature, runs on 12/240V, has a 3 level voltage cut off switch, and when power isn't a problem it gets down to -20 with ease.

[/ QUOTE ]

Where did you get yours from ?
 
I got mine from a local chandler here in Sweden, and I've seen two other chandlers selling them off for £300 as well. I think Waeco are probably better represented in the UK, but they seem to be a quite a bit more expensive. The Waeco Coolfreeze are the ones with the danfoss compressor, but the cheapest I found with a quick search was the 25L for £369.
 
We only sail in Med and have in past had a coolbox .We found a 1.5 litre bottle of frozen water coupled with running fridge when engine was on kept things cool for two days provided we made sure lid was off fo minimum time .This was in 30 deg plus so UK it should work very well if your just off to boat for weekend .We now have proper fridge but still bung a bottle or two of frozen water in and its very cold !

andrew
 
I've got the small Waeco. I used it on Small Boat Champ's boat for the Yarmouth meet, it worked superbly. On my own boat, with 2 x 85amph batteries, there is no problem provided the batteries are charged up every day and I don't have shore power.

It maintains a steady 4/5 degrees easily and will even go down to minus 18 degrees. The other weekend it was starting to freeze the milk.

I can really recommend them.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Can I ask where you keep it on the Virgo?


[/ QUOTE ]
It just fits in front of the engine access door next to the steps and just fits under the half round seat there. You would possible get the next size up in the space, but would have to do without the seat.

The small box just has enough space to keep food that need refrigeration at the correct temp. Obviously cans of beer take up a bit of room, so I only tend to cool a couple at a time, or more as the food gets eaten.
 
I can honestly say after seeing it ....

Malcb's waeco was excellent machine ... size was about right for a weekend .... possibly 4 day jaunt, taking care as Malcb says not to fill with only beer cans !!

We found that restocking it with cans as they were used was fine and the Waeco coped with it very well.

As another says - the Danfoss compressor is likely available in other makes as well - so a google my bring up cheaper alternative makes ....

As I say - I was impressed with the Waeco .... Malcb's 18 litre and Toms 25 litre ..... very good.
 
Halfords do a suspiciously waeco looking model for about £70.
If anything, it gets too cold, which must be a first for portables! I m amazed how well it cools.
 
I've just bought a Waeco 18l to 'semi' fit into my boat when I've finished building it! I have just been camping though for too v.hot weeks and it has remainded in the car and performed superbly. Keep it on the lowest temp without freezing to maintain low temp when the engine isn't running, and a blanket over helped (in the boat it will be in a tailored insulated space) Oh, and DON'T buy anything but a compressor fridge (Waeco, Isotherm) anything else won't get low enough temps. and will drain the battery.
 
My son has a Waeco Coolfreeze CF18. Like everyone else, he and I both think it is excellent. I did an electrical consumption test last summer, and it uses about 10-12 Amp hours (at 12V) per day in a UK summer. A 30 Watt solar panel seems to keep up in sunny weather no problem.
 
Re: Portable fridge/coolbox experience? Halfords ...

halfords coolboxs

All appear to be the cheaper style as I have .... not Waeco /Danfoss ....


So is there another that is not listed ...
 
Re: Portable fridge/coolbox experience? Halfords ...

Thanks for all your replies.
I was hoping for a cheaper alternative but I'll bite the bullet and go the Waeco way.
Good cooling and low power consumption only seems to come with a compressor and 240v will help when in marina and also before we leave home.
 
Re: Portable fridge/coolbox experience? Halfords ...

Phil,

I have the Isotherm on boat and with 4 hours motoring a day on the Thames I can run fridge for 24hrs on an 85amp battery so I would highly recomend you do get one of these,

Paul
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top