Many early smaller cruising sailboats, circa ’70s-’80s came with Ice boxs, but no refrigeration. Some, like myself, were impressed by the size, insulation, shelving of their Ice Box. Any marina seemed to sell Ice at reasonable prices. A 10 pound bag could keep things cool on a hot humid day for a couple days depending on box location insulation, boat shading etc. If you were in an area with cool evening climate in the winter you could keep things fresh by putting them outside at night.
Goes without saying that self-sufficiency is a main zeitgeist of living aboard. Having to constantly seek and purchase ice defeats that ideal and is not a pan geographical practicality.
The apparent obvious answer was to install a low power using cooling device into the ice boxs. For many boat owners, what seemed an easy practical solution, turned into a monumental project.
- Drilling holes through multiple layers
- Sufficient/adding insulation
- Space
- Fiberglassing shelving into the box as a platform for the cooling unit.
- Location of your Ice box to your power source.
#5 can be particularly daunting if your batteries are not located near the ice box, say, on the other side of the boat, under lazarets, or adjacent to bilge areas.
After doing some research the alternative became a no brainer.
3 Best small AC/DC refrigerators for boats;
- Astro AI mini fridge, Amazon; https://amzn.to/3TrRMAX Before you laugh, low power usage can be critical if you have a small boat/battery bank, and you like to be on the hook. Can’t beat the price either. Have one in my shopping cart.
- Astro AI 16 quart fridge, Amazon; https://amzn.to/3JtACyi If you need more capacity and don’t mind spending a couple hundred more and sucking more power. Sticking with Astro brand because of their high customer feedback rating.
- Bouge RV 42 quart fridge, Amazon; https://amzn.to/3LyM1iZ Larger, similar price range as the larger Astro, High customer rating, efficient use of space.
Keep in mind that your large Ice box can now be used as a cool covered area for non-refrigeration necessary food storage. Having more provision storage space on a small cruiser is like Christmas.
