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Wild camping with a 12 volt compressor fridge throughout Southern Europe

Is it possible to wild camp with a 12 volt compressor fridge in Southern Europe?

Mark Vose had his Citreon Relay converted by Affordable Van Conversions (AVC) in Somerset and after considerable research and investigation opted for a Vitrifrigo 12 volt compressor fridge over the traditional 3 Way.  After a summer spent touring throughout Europe, right down through southern Italy and across to Croatia we caught up with him at the recent Motorhome and Caravan Show at the NEC to get his first hand feedback on the performance of the fridge.

“We spent six months touring Europe in our Citroen Relay campervan conversion.  On the advice of others we had a 12 volt compressor fridge fitted rather than a three way fridge because we were spending a lot of time in hot countries and we planned to wild camp a lot of the time where we could not be sure we would always be able to level the van.

We were so pleased with our ninety litre Vitrifrigo fridge (C85i).  It holds a huge amount of food and drink, more than enough for two people on a long term basis.  With a 100 watt solar panel we could keep the fridge going for three or four days without plugging into the mains and in fact as we were touring around and never stayed in one place for more than three nights we had only three occasions when we had to plug into the mains in six months.

Although we were initially worried about the possible noise of a 12 volt compressor fridge, this proved not to be a problem despite the fact that I slept with my head next to it.  We are very pleased with our choice and have recommended your products to many campervan owners we met on our travels.”

Vitrifrigo 12 volt compressor fridge

The Vose’s Citreon Relay converted by AVC.  You can find more details on their conversions at: www.affordablevanconversions.co.uk

Vitrifrigo 12V fridge

For more information on Vitrifrigo 12 volt compressor fridges, including tips to set up your system to run from solar power, follow the link below to our website penguinfrigo.co.uk/12volt-fridges-and-freezers-for-campervan-motorhome-and-rvs/ or call the Penguin team on 02392 453430.

Climma’s DC Inverter Chiller set to revolutionise the marine air conditioning market

  • Variable Output 10,000 to 50,000 BTU from a single marine air conditioning system
  • Unique water cooled inverter
  • Climma Intelligent Control delivers modulated power
  • ECO mode
  • No start load
  • Up to 50% energy saving

The result of careful design and innovation based on over 40 years manufacturing experience new Climma DC Inverter chiller represents a revolution in energy efficiency of marine air conditioning chillers.  Driven by Climma’s unique water cooled inverter lowers the chillers power requirement by up to 50% compared to traditional chillers.

 Variable Output from a Single Marine Air Conditioning Unit

Using a scroll compressor with a state of the art DC brushless motor Climma’s new DC inverter driven compressor is programmed to run at the optimum speed for any given ambient temperature. Depending on the heat load requirements, the compressor frequency varies controlling the output capacity from 10,000 to 50,000 Btu. Modulating the compressor frequency from 12Hz up to 100Hz allows inverter compressors to produce faster cooling and heating, significantly improving the comfort on-board.

Climma Marine Air Conditioning

Unique Water Cooled Inverter Compressor

Unique in the marine industry, Climma’s water cooled inverter protects the compressor from excessive temperature, current overload and irregular voltage supply, allowing it to be installed in the engine room without additional ventilation. Added to this, the electronic control of the inverter requires no additional amps to start the compressor and provides continuous monitoring of the compressor curve to keep the unit within safe operating limits.  Eliminating stop-start cycles increases efficiency, extends the life of components, and helps eliminate large fluctuations in the load the air conditioner places on the power supply.

Climma Intelligent Control

Heating and cooling capacity is managed by the Climma Intelligent Control unit (CIC) which uses specially configured algorithms to ensure maximum efficiency.
So, if demand is high and the water temperature is not reached, the CIC will gradually increase the compressor speed until the desired temperature is reached and will also prevent speed oscillations. Similarly if the temperature is reached easily the CIC will reduce the compressor speed.

In practice operating on a sunny day, when the air-conditioning has a high heat load request, the inverter technology will allow the system run at full speed; while at night, when the heat load is lower, the inverter technology will automatically regulate the compressor to run at the minimum requested speed.

Eco mode

Climma DC chillers provide further efficiency gain through a special ECO mode that reduces the consumption even more. This function has been specifically developed to optimize the power consumption of the system in three principle ways:

  1. ECO mode enables the chiller to work more efficiently with a smaller output generator than would ideally be required.
  2. In ECO mode the power consumption is further reduced during night operation, when only a courtesy/night generator is working running and less power is needed.
  3. Eco mode allows the air-conditioning to run even while on the dock with a limited shore power supply.

No Start Load

A standard rotary or scroll compressor will operates much like a light switch – either off or on and for larger chillers there is a significant power requirement to start.  By using a DC compressor with inverter the Climma compressor starts at a low frequency requiring a fraction of the power.  For example the 50,000 BTU DC chiller has an initial power requirement of just 3A increasing to a maximum of 21A, a huge difference when compared to an equivalent 48,000 BTU standard chiller which has a 117A start load.

Up to 50% energy saving

The result of all this can deliver an overall reduction in power consumption of up to 50% compared to a traditional chilled water air conditioning system.

Penguin Refrigeration at the Southampton Boat Show 2014

Penguin Refrigeration,UK distributors for Frigoboat, Vitrifrigo and Climma Marine Air Conditioning, will be exhibiting at the Southampton International Boat Show from 12th to 21st September 2014 – Stand G037 in the Ocean Hall.

Large Range of Marine Fridges Freezers and Air Conditioning Products on Display

Penguin Refrigeration will be displaying a large range of their marine DC 12 volt or 24 volt compressor fridges and freezers as well as component products to refrigerate an existing cold box.  World leaders in marine refrigeration Penguin supply all the UK’s major boat builders and will help you to tailor your 12 volt or 24 volt fridge system to provide the optimum performance and efficiency for the sailing and cruising you do, be it local sailing in northern waters or blue water cruising through the tropics and beyond.  See our website for more information: http://www.penguinfrigo.co.uk/fridges-and-freezers-for-yachts-and-boats/

Also on display will be the latest Marine Air Conditioning products from Climma.  Climma is manufactured exclusively in Italy by Veco, who produce an extensive range of marine air conditioning products from the smallest stand alone Compact 3.5, suitable for a small sleeping cabin (i.e. a V berth on a 34 foot sailboat) to the Chorus chillers for superyachts of 50m and upwards.  Throughout the range the product is carefully engineered to deliver quiet, efficient cooling and air conditioning solutions using the best quality components within the most compact configuration possible. Recent additions to the Climma range include the new Aquacool chillers and ‘dry pan’ fan coils.

Technical Advice

As ever during the show Penguin technical staff will be on hand  to help and assist, offering advice and answers to just about any 12/24 volt fridge, freezer or marine air conditioning related question.  So whether you require advice, spare parts or a new fridge system, Penguin will be able to help you.

Special Offers

Penguin will also be running special promotions at the show with a 10% discount on all component fridge or freezer systems bought at the show and up to 20% discount on certain Vitrifrigo fridges freezers and AC systems.

We look forward to seeing you from 12th to 21st September oat our stand G037 in the Ocean Hall.

Climma Marine Air Conditioning High Efficiency Inverter Driven Chilled Water Systems

 

Climma Marine Air Conditioning have developed and refined their Solo range of chillers from 60,000 up to 1,152,000 btu/h providing significantly higher output and greater operating efficiency than previous chilled water systems. 

High Capacity Sea Water Condensers Provide Efficient Marine Air Conditioning

This has been achieved through the large capacity cupronickel sea water condensers which can take up to 10°C from the sea water (at standard flow rate) giving Climma CWS Solo chillers the highest capacity output from the smallest size.  Another major bonus is the unique ability of Climma’s high capacity heat exchanger to operate effectively in heat mode when the sea water temperature is below 10°C. 


Climma’s Inverter Driver Completely Removes the Peak Start Loads from their chilled water marine air conditioning

  1. The second area of efficiency gain is through Climma’s water cooled inverter driver.  Unlike a soft start which theoretically reduces the start current by 30-35% the Climma inverter completely zeros the compressor start load effectively keeping the start current to the same level as the nominal run current avoiding overload of the onboard generator.

Once running the inverter will control the compressor speed between 40-60Htz which has four main advantages:

  1. Reduces the compressor power by 30% when system has reached the temperature set point.  This provides further efficiency gains as the compressor is running at a lower speeds so benefits from an oversized heat exchanger.
  2. Automatically load sheds as required and protects the compressor from fluctuations in voltage supply.
  3. Slower operation also delivers a dramatic reduction in noise and vibration as compressor runs at lower speed.
  4. You also gain improved safety and reliability as there is less stress on the compressor running at a lower speed with a smaller pressure differential.

Another significant bonus with Climma’s marine air conditioning water cooled inverter is that it is built within the frame of the chiller ensuring there is no problem with electrical interference due to cable routing through the engine room.

High quality high efficiency Marine Air Conditioning through Penguin Refrigeration

Distributed through Penguin Refrigeration, Climma’s Marine Air Conditioning Solo Chillers are modular and can built up in pre-fabricated frames to provide cooling from 60,000 to over 1,000,000 BTU/h capacity.  Each system is remotely controlled and monitored with full diagnosis capability ensuring a truly reliable HVAC system with full redundancy.

CWS Solo Marine AIr Conditioning

2014 London Boat Show Ticket Offer

Thinking of coming to the London Boat Show in January 2014?

Use the coupon code below to get your advance tickets from just £12.00  Follow the link below to the London Boat Show ticket website and then enter the coupon EX12 to claim your additional discount.  www.londonboatshow.com/2014/show_info/ticket_information.aspx

Penguin Refrigeration will be exhibiting in the same location as last year, stand A173, opposite Garmin and Raymarine.

Come and see latest examples of our marine fridges, freezers and air conditioning products

As usual we will be displaying a large sample of our range of our marine 12 volt or 24 volt DC compressor fridges and freezers as well as component products to refrigerate an existing cold box.  World leaders in marine refrigeration Penguin supply all the UK’s major boat builders and will help you to tailor your 12 volt or 24 volt fridge system to provide optimum performance and efficiency for the sailing and cruising you do, be it local sailing or blue water cruising.  See our website for more information: http://www.penguinfrigo.co.uk/fridges-and-freezers-for-yachts-and-boats/

Also on display will be the latest Marine Air Conditioning products from Climma including the excellent new MK3 digital controller.  Climma is manufactured exclusively in Italy by Veco, who produce an extensive range of marine air conditioning products from the smallest stand alone Compact 3.5, suitable for a small sleeping cabin (i.e. a V berth on a 34 foot sailboat) to the Chorus chillers for superyachts of 50m and upwards.  Throughout the range the product is carefully engineered to deliver quiet, efficient cooling and air conditioning solutions using the best quality components within the most compact configuration possible. Recent additions to the Climma range include the new Aquacool chillers and ‘dry pan’ fan coils.

Technical Advice

As ever during the show our technical staff will be on hand  to help and assist, offering advice and answers to just about any 12/24 volt fridge, freezer or marine air conditioning related question.  So whether you require advice, spare parts or a new fridge system, Penguin will be able to help you.

Special Offers

Penguin will also be running special promotions at the show with a 10% discount on all component fridge or freezer systems bought at the show and up to 20% discount on certain fridges freezers and AC systems.

We look forward to seeing you from 4th to 12th January 2014 at our stand A173 opposite Garmin.