Refrigeration Recap

Ta-Dah! The galley project is finished.

On the left is the Vitrifrigo DW70 freezer with a cupboard below for its small Danfoss compressor and a trash bin. The Captain made the cabinet doors match the others on the boat.

The trash bin is attached to the door by a little bracket and a bungie. It's a very small bin and we use shopping bags for liners. The door can be secured open at anchor or while preparing a meal, then closed while underway.

In the center, below the stove, is the original pan storage area; a small, dark, difficult-to-access cave. That's one thing that bugs me about the cabinet design on the Aldens; large storage spaces are limited by small access doors. I understand there must be faceframes, but they should be narrower to make the doors as large as possible.

On the right is the new Vitrifrigo DW100 refrigerator with a cupboard below for its compressor and more pan storage.

Ventilation is a big issue with refrigeration units, so each compressor area has a 6" diameter hole to the bilges to bring in cool air, and another 6" hole up high, behind the stove, to exhaust the warm air. There is about 3" of airspace on the side of each box, 4" on the top, and 8" behind, so I think we have good airflow.

Another important requirement is proper wire size. The Vitrifrigo manual suggested 9ga wire for our length run, but we used 8ga. Heck, the wire cost more than the cherry wood!

Vitrifrigo has several sizes of drawer units. The smaller units can be either freezer only, refrigerator only, or a combination. They have two types of latches: traditional flush or bowed designer style. They all have lights inside, one sliding top rack, plenty of stainless steel dividers, and sturdy Blum drawer guides.

http://www.vitrifrigo.com/ww/en/drawer_refrigerator_and_freezers

At only 3.3 cubic feet, our refrigerator is a little small, but we just couldn't fit a larger unit into our boat. The freezer, at 2.6 cubic feet is a little large, but we have plenty of room to make ice and I'm experimenting to find out what can be stored in the freezer without getting ruined.

When perusing the Vitrifrigo website, keep in mind the number after the "DW" refers to cubic liters which you can easily translate into cubic feet.

If you need help, the folks at Vitrifrigo are easy to talk to. The Vitrifrigo warehouse is located in Florida, so purchasing from Hanson Marine in St. Augustine meant quick delivery, and he was cheaper than Defender.

Now, let's drink that champagne!