Iceco frig or other options

2019 C dory cruiser love the boat but thinking about starting a loop next year
Have shore power hook up and a Honda 1100 gen.
Any recommendations for an iceco frig or something similar ?
Not really interested in solar yet ?
Iceco has about 30 different styles
not sure which to get but for only 2 people
Thanks from Iowa and the Norma Jean 2

I have 3 Iceco fridge/freezers...all 74 qt. The first I bought in 2020, and two additional in 2021. Two are regular with one zone (lowest setting -6 F), and one is divided into two zones, each can be set separately. I use them in my C-Dory to hold food and fish, in my camper when I hunt deer (with CWD, you can't transport whole deer), and in my remote yurt. They are a bit heavy and bulk, but then, I did buy the largest available at the time for the higher capacity. I often fill them. They make a good bench seat in the cockpit of my CD22, and generally keep everything cold or frozen from 300 watts of solar and some motoring. I have 200 Wh of battery and a Renogy solar/alternator charger. The only problem I have had is that the display on one lost some LED segments. I cover it with a plastic sheet to keep splashes off now. I do suggest them, but I also have 2 others, a maybe 10-yo Wynter 45 qt and a 1-yo BourgeRV, maybe 15 qt. The only other advice I'd give is that if you want a freezer and a fridge, maybe don't buy the large dual-zone, but instead two separate ones. If you want an outside seat, the large IceCo is great with a boat cushion or two. I'm almost 69, and they are getting kind of heavy to move around. Also, if you put raw fish or meat in them, put it in a plastic bag first...though the interiors are metal, it is very difficult to get the smells out if you put fish directly into them.

My boat came with the Norcold fridge mounted under the helm seat. While we didn't do the loop, we found this fridge quite capable for trips up to 3.5 weeks. When doing the loop, you're never that far from replenishment stops so you might not need as much cold storage as you think. Depends on the sorts of things you like to eat as well.

Just to clarify you have a 22. We have had two chest type in a 25, but one in a 22. You could put two or a combination in the cockpit but it leaves little room for other gear or other type of seating. We have not owned Iceco, but had many other brands with the same SECOP compressor. If doing the loop, I would be using one of the larger (over 55 liters) dual zones, for the freezer and cooler, with separate lids. This way you only get in the freezer once a day. There are many advantages to being able to have frozen food aboard. If you have the norcold front loading refer in the cabin, then a 55L freezer in the cockpit.

I would go with LiFePO4 Batteries, and the gear for charging these off the engine, and 110 V generator. A 1000 watt Honda will run one of the 5,000 watt window air conditioners. We had a separate 200 amp Li battery bank for the two chest types, one freezer and one refer, in the last 25. This setup ran off the start battery for charging, 110V off a Victron Multiplus 2000, 80 (amp charger) and 50 amp boost. For the 1000 I would use a smaller Multiplus--if you need an inverter, if not then a 30 to 50 amp charger. We found that a day's run keep out Li bank fully charged and also ran an induction burner for cooking and microwave, with 30 amps off the main engine when running (this lett about 15 amps for the electronics, engine etc. We had a 2200 Honda, but I have a portabe set up for camping, with one Li Fe battery and a single chest which runs fine off the Honda 1000, or pulling 18 amps off the SUV battery/charging system. Daily runs in the SUV keep the Li battery fully charged and it will run the chest for two days if necessary. It is fully independant of the SUV electrical system, except when charging.

For bringing the chest freezers or refers aboard if filled, we had an alternate position for our Garhauer Davit, which we also used to lift the dinghy to the cabin top of both 22's and 25's. That davit is rated at 150 lbs.

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We love ours. We have the 75. I got the auxiliary battery pack with it. Fully charged it will run the cooler for eight hours. As you can see with the proper cushions, it makes a great place to sit. Tilly approved.

Conan2324 said:

2019 C dory cruiser love the boat but thinking about starting a loop next year
Have shore power hook up and a Honda 1100 gen.
Any recommendations for an iceco frig or something similar ?
Not really interested in solar yet ?
Iceco has about 30 different styles
not sure which to get but for only 2 people
Thanks from Iowa and the Norma Jean 2

Click to expand...

We've got a 20 quart version. We go out usually for about 2 weeks at a time. When out on anchor I charge the 100ah Lipo4 battery using a honda EU 2000i generator . We use the cooler as a freezer for shrimp and salmon that is vacuum sealed. I works pretty well but it does uses a lot of energy. I would probably get the next larger size in the future. I would also invest in the solar to keep it charged rather than using the generator. If the battery gets down to 40% or so it takes about 3-4 hours to recharge using a smart charger set at 20amps. No big deal if your on the hook but at a dock with other boats around that's a long time to run the generator.

We just returned from a 60 day summer cruise in the San Juan’s islands.
I have a 22’ cruiser. I installed a 200W solar panel that powers my 1500wh BLUETTI which in turn runs my Vevor 55 qt. Dual zone fridge/freezer, which allowed me to bring home my limit of salmon. And keep plenty of fresh food on hand.
Solar panel lives on the roof attached to the hand rails with Velcro straps, the BLUETTI lives in the front port a potti area and the fridge is in the cockpit using less space then my 65 qt. RTIC ice cooler.
All wires run through the wire chase on the starboard side.
This set up has been a real game changer for our boating experience, and I want to thank Nigel Dunn on the Miss Maria for all his help and encouragement on getting me out of the ice age