I guess I've mentioned our reefer (aka refrigerator) a time or two in one posting or another. Mo-C came equipped with a reefer/icebox which we've used from time to time. The problem with it was... well, let's be honest - there was more than one problem. First, it was wasting energy. Ben suspected it needed a freon charge because after a couple days of use, the fan would remain on 24/7. We considered fixing the problem, but that's where the other problem came into play: Location. It is situated beneath the only counter space available in our galley. Besides that, it is very difficult to open and, because of its depth, even harder to find stuff in. This means every time we open it, we're in a race against the clock to find whatever we need without wasting precious energy. It's a race we'd never win.
Ben did some research and came up with the
Engel MT35 Fridge/Freezer (pictured above). It uses between 0.7 and 2.5 amps (even at start-up) and we placed it where we can easily open it, find what we're looking for and close it without wasting energy. He hooked it up yesterday afternoon before the sun went down and we had solid ice cubes in it when we checked at 7:30 this morning! And this new addition frees up our old icebox for much-needed dry storage in the galley.
The Fridge/Freezer only works as one or the other, so we'll use it as a freezer and keep the cooler for refrigeration. Now that we have ice on-demand, we can rotate ice packs from freezer to cooler each day to maintain a cold cooler for refrigeration.
Oh, the money we'll save not having to buy ice every other day and waste food that's gone bad from lack of refrigeration!
Now... I've gotta make a trip to the store to stock up on some frozen foods and ice cream!...
That's a pretty sweet system.
ReplyDeletethanks... so far, it's working great. ben recessed it into the quarter berth so it doesn't take up as much room and we've had ice cubes everyday :) we still need a good cooler to use as a frig, but ice cubes are *priceless*!
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