kerosene fueled refrigerators

[HINO SG]

Anyone know anything about the availability/use of kerosene fueled refrigerators? A quick preliminary google just brought up the ones intended for cabin use, not designed to take the kind of abuse an off-road vehicle is subjected to. Didn't find anything in my nautical sources, although havn't looked very far.

Evan

 

[flywgn]

I've seen a few in Baja CA Mex. They seem to work fine, although two of our neighbors switched them for propane.

Allen

 

[flyingwil]

Evan-

I have a nice Technical article on fridge selection here

For our style I recommend a reciprocating compressors as opposed to an absorption (gas) unit. You will want your fridge to work in off chamber situations.

The Engel/ARB/NORcold units use a swing motor, which is time test and hands down the best. Waeco Units off equal comparison in capability and durability.

I chose the Engel Unit and mounted it on a side that slides out my door for loading and accessibility to make the Driver's side the kitchen as shown below.

I got my Engel for $660 from SierraExpeditions.com

 

[HINO SG]

kerosene fridges

Will-

thanks for the link. I absolutely will read it; after posting it I remembered how solar power and refrigeration tend to complement each other, i.e. if it's hot, there's probably a lot of solar energy to work with.:arabia:

On the other hand, my project is unique in that space is not at such a great premium as in a typical light-duty truck, weight is a non-issue, and I'm already using diesel as my main fuel. A 50 gal kerosene tank would be fine, because it's a acceptable substitute for diesel fuel.

Evan

 

[flyingwil]

What exactly are you planning on using the fridge/freezer for and in what?

 

[HINO SG]

refrigerator

I'm building a camper in a 18' box on a commercial truck chassis on the premise that I might be able to aquire the front wheel drive components from Japan or Austrailia. I don't know how that's going to work out. I doubt I can land the parts in the country for much under $15k.

That might be ok but if I have to do any serious engineering to make the parts fit, I might have to try plan B. 18' is too long for a stock Mitsu FG chassis but almost any competent heavy truck garage can add a couple feet of frame length.

Ideally, I'd have a kerosene-fueled freezer and run the refrigerator off of battery/solar power. I'm avoiding pressurized fuel for a couple of reasons, one of which is that I may have to operate under commercial vehicle regulations and carrying a fifty gallon LPG tank would get me catagorized as a Hazmat carrier. Mucho Complicate.

Evan

 

[flyingwil]

Evan-

I am unsure of your desire for the absorption (gas) refrigeration. If you have the room, I would go for 2 Engel's, one to use as a fridge and one to use as a freezer, with remote monitoring temperature gauges it would be easy to set up so that you can monitor the temps from the cab. Also the emissions off the gas may be a concern as well. As you can see I am trying to lean you to the compressor driven units, on top of that they will work with a 24v system as well as 12v, so you could keep them removable and use in your daily drive for trips to the grocery store, ect. You can also use solar power and with that size you can go hard mounted for cheap.

It sounds like you have an exciting build up underway, and it will be fun to watch.

 

[HINO SG]

refrigeration

Interesting points, Wil. I do have room for a couple of acres of solar panels on the roof, and the weight of 50 gallons of fuel is equal to a pretty hefty bank of deep cycle batteries.

I'll post again when I have pictures of my actual project. I'm putting everything I have into it, but at the end of the day, I may have to sell my sweet Japanese turbo-diesel truck and leave the van box parked up on blocks next to a good trout stream in Wisconsin. Use my neighbor's deep freeze store my venison in and keep my six-packs cold in the river.

:camping:

Evan

 

[flyingwil]

What part of WI are you located? I grew up near Oconomowoc, and have family in the Rhinelander area, Stevens Point, and metro Milwaukee areas.

 

[HINO SG]

refigeration

Grew up in a small town across the river from Red Wing, Minnesota; went to college in Duluth, MN, and been living in Minneapolis for about 10 years now.

You're probably right. In terms of the laws of physics, a kerosene fueled freezer and somthing like an Engel fridge would be ideal but I'd have to design and build the freezer myself. That would be fun, if I had that kind of time on my hands. I'm still going to look around the nautical world a little more. They tend to be expensive but there are a lot of nice appliances that run on kerosene or even just diesel.

Evan