Refrigerator

[Inquisitor]

For my renovation, I will be building-in a freezer/fridge. I did the research some time ago and picked the model I wanted. I started out looking at Dometic / Waeco in the 50 quart range and the sticker shock drove me to Amazon and many hours of comparing. I finally picked an Aspenora 54-Quart Portable Fridge Freezer. Some of my criteria:

1. Of course cheaper - Amazon had it 15% off for $340. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B082YWHMCY After the fact, I think it is possible to get it off the company site for cheaper... not sure. https://www.aspenoras.com/
2. I wanted it relatively square - Many of the brands had "Ergonomic" shapes. I plan to build it in and will be adding 2+ inches of rigid insulation around to help the efficiency. The ergonomic ones make that a serious PITA!
3. Having the handle removable - See 2 - Also it allows me to mount the freezer to boat structure.
4. Having two compartments so freezer and fridge could be used simultaneously. This one does, but it is not regulated independently. Its simply the fridge area is over the compressor and must get slightly heated.
5. Has controls and displays on top - Didn't want to have the insulation interrupted and will only have access to the top once installed.

I finally ran into this one and what synched it was a customer review - that did his own detailed testing with graphs and all. Appealed to my engineering anal-retentiveness. It also showed that the unit was more efficient than the Dometic equivalent. https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-revi ... B082YWHMCY

Anyway, I just received it today and even though my "Inqism-03: Electrifying" project battery and solar panel parts aren't in, I can test it out using the included AC adapter and do some verification myself... Stay tuned for results.

[Neo]

Nice cooler.

I wish I could find a (custom) solution that doesn't take up so much cabin space.

[Russ]

Nice cooler!

All your points are valid. I wish this was available when I bought my Edgestar cooler.
Looks like a well-designed cooler. Gotta love reviews. Makes buying stuff so much more confident.

Keep us updated.

[Inquisitor]

So far... I'm in the middle of the first use speed freeze test.

1. From room temperature, freeze 1 liter of water in a 8"x8" Pyrex bake pan.
2. Unit has two speed compressor - Eco, Max. Using Max to quick freeze.
3. Thermometers in both freeze and fridge sections
4. Opened for 2 seconds, every 15 minutes to photo thermometers and check water freeze
5. Record: display temperature, 2 thermometers and AC Watt-hour utilization.

Some Observations
PRO:

• Has a nice interior light in the door that shines down.
• Display temperature, mode is always showing.
• Soft close - I'm betting they needed that to protect the lid electronics from people who slam it down.
• Latch - Not sure if pro or con. Keeps closed, but won't fully close from a dropped lid.
• Noise - Quieter than my desktop computer and I don't think I'll be able to hear once built-in, but don't think I'd want it next to me while sleeping if not enclosed. Have nothing to compare it to, to know if its better or worse than say a Dometic.
• Vents are on three sides - 2 appear to be intake, 1 exhaust. Very slight heating of air. Not worth noting.
• Power usage - 48 Watts as measured before the AC adapter. I'm sure there are some losses in the adapter. Will check strait 12VDC usage once I get the Electrifying parts in.

CON:

• The fridge section is 1/4" too short to hold my long-neck beer bottles! DAMN!!! D.A. Engineer!
• Is lightly build. Will not take abuse like a blow-molded cooler.
• UI Menu is a little awkward and button presses don't always recognize. Once set up, I doubt I'd ever change it unless I want to change the main compartment between freezer and fridge temperatures.

[Inquisitor]

Nice cooler.

I wish I could find a (custom) solution that doesn't take up so much cabin space.

I had the same thoughts... but the expense of the kits... especially marine water cooled kits is huge. I'd be tempted to take something like this unit and just take it apart and use the guts for a custom solution... say... shaped like the hull using rigid foam sheets and glass it up.

Kind-of voids the warranty though. Pretty crappy how companies don't like you tearing apart their stuff.

[Neo]

I'd be tempted to take something like this unit and just take it apart and use the guts for a custom solution... say... shaped like the hull using rigid foam sheets and glass it up.
Kind-of voids the warranty though. Pretty crappy how companies don't like you tearing apart their stuff.

Now your'e talking
Please post up your photos

[Russ]

[*] Has a nice interior light in the door that shines down.
[*] Display temperature, mode is always showing.
[*] Soft close - I'm betting they needed that to protect the lid electronics from people who slam it down.
[*] Latch - Not sure if pro or con. Keeps closed, but won't fully close from a dropped lid.

All pluses. My edgesar has a slap down lid
Edgestar display is not visible. On the side.
Latch: My Edgesar has ripped 2 pair of jeans on that stupid latch.

[Inquisitor]

... Latch: My Edgesar has ripped 2 pair of jeans on that stupid latch.

EdgeStar's must be hull-for-stout - I looked it up... they look military grade. This one's recessed, it'd never catch jeans... but if it did, the jeans would certainly win.

[Inquisitor]

I'll re-iterate, just so you don't have to go searching...

• From room temperature (68°F) to -4°F and Freeze 1 liter of water in a 8"x8" Pyrex bake pan.
• Unit has two speed compressor - Eco, Max. Using Max.
• Thermometers in both freeze and fridge sections
• Opened for 2 seconds, every 15 minutes to photo thermometers and check water freeze
• Record: display temperature, 2 thermometers and AC Watt-hour utilization.

I'll summarize the results. Doubt anyone really wants to look at a bunch of tabular data.

• The Freezer section took just under 2 hours to go from 68°F to -4°F with water acting as a big heat sync. In my dreams, I'm imagining a kilogram worth of Tuna fillets caught off the back of the boat.
• During all this portion, the compressor was on all the time.
• As expected the "fridge" section above the compressor actually went up in temperature to about 70°F for a bit and slowly followed the freezer section down to 38°F
• It took another 7 hours for the water to freeze solid.
• The electrical consumption was 285 Watt-hours, but is not really representative of long-term usage. It only represents this test and as mentioned, its running on the AC adapter which wastes energy converting to the 12VDC native voltage of the unit and the thermometer was next to the warmer water.
• Though the unit was set to -4°F and the display hovered between -6 and 0°F, the thermometer in the bottom registered +3 to +6°F. This makes sense, since both the thermostat and the evaporative coils are toward the top of the unit.
• Once reaching a steady temperature (while the ice froze) the fridge thermometer hovered between +32 and 34°F. A little low for a fridge section, but not bad considering there is no controllability.

IN PROGRESS - Sustained freezer power utilization.

[Jimmyt]

Your third bullet says the frig section followed the freezer down to -38f. Assuming that should have been 38f.

Interesting test. Looks like the unit performed well for a cool-down test.

When applicable, post pics of tuna...

[Inquisitor]

Here is the usage over an eight hour period where it was already at the low temperature and not opened. aka minimum electrical draw when used as a freezer. Conditions:

• Ambient: 68°F
• Thermostat setting: -4°F (Delta = -72°F)
• Mode setting: ECO
• 1 liter of water already frozen and at the thermostat setting.

Now... I don't plan to go sailing where 68°F is the temperature. If I understand it correctly this kind of test is only about the delta. IOW, if in the tropics and the ambient is 85° and I set the freezer thermostat to 13°F, I get the same delta and I should get about the same energy usage.

These are AC adapter usages. Doing some reading, I see these adapters can be 50%-90% efficient. Once installed in the boat on the 12 VDC source they should be more efficient. Also, I will be adding, at least 2 more inches of foam insulation. So these number should go down.

When the compressor is running: 32 watts.
Average over 8 hour period: 20 watts.

NEXT TEST: Power usage when thermostat settings are for using only as a fridge: 37°F -
IOW, no frozen Margaritas. So this test is only for academic reference.

[Inquisitor]

Your third bullet says the frig section followed the freezer down to -38f. Assuming that should have been 38f.

Interesting test. Looks like the unit performed well for a cool-down test.

When applicable, post pics of tuna...

Fixed the ~ (tilde = approximate) issue.

The Tuna put up one hull of a fight as you can see. The admiral will NOT be pleased!

[Jimmyt]

Fixed the ~ (tilde = approximate) issue.

The Tuna put up one hull of a fight as you can see. The admiral will NOT be pleased!

I remember back when I could see... sorry. I'll have to get a bigger screen than my iPad.

You definitely wore that tuna out before you boated it.

[Inquisitor]

I remember back when I could see... sorry. I'll have to get a bigger screen than my iPad.

You definitely wore that tuna out before you boated it.

I'm right there with you man... I'm up to a 28" computer monitor these days!

The only wearing out's going to be when the Admiral finds her Pyrex missing... You took that over to your Dad's with a casserole... maybe it's over there still.

[Jimmyt]

I remember back when I could see... sorry. I'll have to get a bigger screen than my iPad.

You definitely wore that tuna out before you boated it.

I'm right there with you man... I'm up to a 28" computer monitor these days!

The only wearing out's going to be when the Admiral finds her Pyrex missing... You took that over to your Dad's with a casserole... maybe it's over there still.

Target run and done... I'd have to get a replacement and sneak it into inventory.