The Freezer
Artemis came well equipped, this in part was why we choose her. Some oddities though. One was that the cockpit table has a compartment accessed with a lid from the top. Typically this is also equipped with refrigerator. Not in Artemis case, annoying. Even more annoying is that I can´t figure out how to install one due to limitations in space for the compressor.
Another oddity is that there are two fridges, one great looking all stainless steel Frigoboat job and the other one is a huge coolerbox. In the Beneteau spec´s this compartment appears to be a freezer. Not in Artemis, the cooler cools and uses seawater for transporting the heat which is way more efficient than air. But, turning down the thermostat to below zero only builds ice on the evaporator and does not lower the temp below +2-4 degrees.
Knocking on the sides of this compartment (glassfiber molded insert) and hollow sound echoes back giving a suspicion there is no insulation. So the natural next step would be to insulate. This, however, would entail reaching in and around the glassfibre box. Closer inspection came to the conclusion that unless I wish to completely rebuild the galley, insulation is not possible.
Time for a new strategy, or thinking outside of the icebox...Generally buying "stuff" from the chandler is a good way to overpay and not always is it of superior quality either. So after some considerable roaming on off- and on-line catalogues, not a bad way to pass time at all, I averted my gaze to the consumer side...and the smallest freezer was a Whirlpool 100 liter unit. Toploading is also the best, all the cool air stays where is should.
The specs claims 171kWh per year or 465Watt/hours per day. That sounds doable. I test ran our slightly larger aux freezer at home and it drew 60watts when running. Very doable.
Then there is the 230volt challenge.
Artemis has a 2kW inverter, a bit on the low side for all that needs to be driven, actually. Also, a large inverter on idle draws more than a small inverter on idle...so after again some time on the web finding mostly junk Chinese "modified" sine wave inverters, I went for the smallest 24 to 230 volt pure sine inverter from Victron. It yields 250watts and thus is not being loaded too much as the fridge requires <60 watts running. At some point I am going to explain why I am taking an increased liking to Victron, but that will have to wait.
Why not a cheap Chinese inverter you say, are they all junk? No, certainly not, but firstly I don´t have the means to figure out which are not bad apples without buying them first. Secondly, a single phase compressor motor requires a sine wave to operate correctly. It might run on modified sine wave but it may not do so for a very long time.
Now, Artemis is resting in a Marina in southern Italy and this is taking place at our home in the Stockholm archipelago. I would need to drive blindly here. Hesitation.
Where would the Whirlpool live? We thought of converting one of the toilets (four does seem a bit excessive) as general storage and would take out the flushing chair...or of taking space in the crew cabin. But, then there was the space where the dishwasher used to be. Tempting and the galley opening is probably wide enought. Yes, there was a dishwasher, a small 4set unit. Now, the space is converted to a cupboard but the thinking here is that the width must be the same modular 60cm size why it in theory would fit in width. It would stick out horisontally a bit though, that´s bearable. The height is of course a totally different story.
The Whirlpool cost us 1.610SEK, around 150 Euro. Can´t beat it. One tenth of the price for the kit you get at the Chandler. The inverter about the same, still on the healthy plus side, with margin. Now bought and being shipped down to Italy (with a plethora of other stuff). Will we get it on board? Will it go through the saloon door? Will it be too large for the galley? Is there a carpenter skilled to do the job up to standard? Only one way to find out.
To be continued.
Another oddity is that there are two fridges, one great looking all stainless steel Frigoboat job and the other one is a huge coolerbox. In the Beneteau spec´s this compartment appears to be a freezer. Not in Artemis, the cooler cools and uses seawater for transporting the heat which is way more efficient than air. But, turning down the thermostat to below zero only builds ice on the evaporator and does not lower the temp below +2-4 degrees.
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| Whirlpool WHS1021 model 100 liters - small for home but big on a boat |
Time for a new strategy, or thinking outside of the icebox...Generally buying "stuff" from the chandler is a good way to overpay and not always is it of superior quality either. So after some considerable roaming on off- and on-line catalogues, not a bad way to pass time at all, I averted my gaze to the consumer side...and the smallest freezer was a Whirlpool 100 liter unit. Toploading is also the best, all the cool air stays where is should.
The specs claims 171kWh per year or 465Watt/hours per day. That sounds doable. I test ran our slightly larger aux freezer at home and it drew 60watts when running. Very doable.
Then there is the 230volt challenge.
Artemis has a 2kW inverter, a bit on the low side for all that needs to be driven, actually. Also, a large inverter on idle draws more than a small inverter on idle...so after again some time on the web finding mostly junk Chinese "modified" sine wave inverters, I went for the smallest 24 to 230 volt pure sine inverter from Victron. It yields 250watts and thus is not being loaded too much as the fridge requires <60 watts running. At some point I am going to explain why I am taking an increased liking to Victron, but that will have to wait.
Why not a cheap Chinese inverter you say, are they all junk? No, certainly not, but firstly I don´t have the means to figure out which are not bad apples without buying them first. Secondly, a single phase compressor motor requires a sine wave to operate correctly. It might run on modified sine wave but it may not do so for a very long time.
Now, Artemis is resting in a Marina in southern Italy and this is taking place at our home in the Stockholm archipelago. I would need to drive blindly here. Hesitation.
Where would the Whirlpool live? We thought of converting one of the toilets (four does seem a bit excessive) as general storage and would take out the flushing chair...or of taking space in the crew cabin. But, then there was the space where the dishwasher used to be. Tempting and the galley opening is probably wide enought. Yes, there was a dishwasher, a small 4set unit. Now, the space is converted to a cupboard but the thinking here is that the width must be the same modular 60cm size why it in theory would fit in width. It would stick out horisontally a bit though, that´s bearable. The height is of course a totally different story.
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| Not the Artemis galley but you can see the trace of the white dishwasher in the lower left part of picture. |
To be continued.
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