BAC Forum
General Boards => General Discussion => Topic started by: John Padmore on July 22, 2013, 02:46:41 PM
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My coach didn't come with a washer dryer unit. I am thinking about putting a small upright freezer in that spot, and am looking to see if anyone has done this. Can someone recommend a model? See any drawbacks to doing this? Thanks......
John
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John, We have made 4 trips to Alaska, leaving 1st of May and returning last of Sept, fishing ALL the salmon runs. I needed space for frozen vacuum packed filets, so I replaced the chair of our table that backs up to the fridge with a 5 1/2 cubic foot upright freezer which held @ 200 # frozen filets. Worked well for us!! Henry
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Thank you George. Can you tell me the make/model # of that unit when you get a chance - I think it is just what I'm looking for.
John
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John, Hope to be @ my coach later today, and will info for you. Henry
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John, Sorry for the delay in getting the info for you. The measurements of the freezer are: 29"W, 22"D, and 33"H. It is a 5 1/2 cu ft size. Many manufactures make them @ approx. this size, just check with merchants that carry freezers and get the exact size you need. Henry
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John, we are in Alaska right now, and I bought a 5 cu ft freezer when I got here to store our fish. It was purchased at Fred Meyer, but they have them at Walmart, Costco, etc. the cost was $165 or so. I just moved the chair around and put it on the living room slide. When we get home, I'll just take it out until we need it again. The nice thing about a chest freezer is that it will stay cold all day without power, if you don't open it.
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During travel, just turn on the inverter and the engine will keep it working with no problem. The fuller the freezer is, the more it will keep temperature!! Henry
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That Haier 5 cubic foot freezer is on sale now at Fred Meyer for $169.99 through Aug 3rd.
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Joel, I can't seem to find it on their web site....do you have a link? Thanks.....
John
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http://fredmeyer.inserts2online.com/customer_Frame.jsp?divID=701&drpStoreID=00063
page 4 of the General Merchandise ad folder.
Each store should have some in stock. I retired from their Clackamas warehouse, and if they are out at a store, they should be able to get them in within a couple days, depending on the normal truck schedule for a particular store. Alaska stores go mostly by Hanjin container shipping (by sea), so that takes much longer, but Alaska stores stock more to begin with, especially re. freezers and such with fishing season at full tilt. My nephew bought one in Idaho and replaced a chair space at his 5th wheel's dinette with it, then headed for Soldotna. In 2003 it cost us about $1/lb. for two Coleman coolers to be shipped dry-iced on Alaska Airlines with us from Anchorage to Seattle. I think each cooler held 50 lbs of halibut and sockeye. It's much more costly than that now, I'm sure, so having your own FoodSaver vacuum unit and freezer is a good investment, if you have the room. And you can have more fun catching more fish to begin with ;D .
I would look up that unit's dimensions first to make sure it will fit where you want it to. Perhaps Robert can give you the numbers.
Joel
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Thank you Joel, I was looking to purchase an upright model.....thanks.
John
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Most I've seen go with the chest freezer - it is more energy efficient, especially for an RV. Robert alluded to that in his post.
Joel
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John, The dimensions I gave you are for a CHEST type freezer. We take it out when we get back from Alaska trips. I have not seen an upright one of that size, but thet are probably available. Henry
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They make a smaller one, but if you can make this one fit in your W/D spot it would certainly be a better investment given its capacity. Be aware that manufacturers' stated capacities are virtually always inflated beyond the real space inside. This one may be about as close to what you want as you are going to get, John, (Henry said initially his was an upright, but apparently not):
http://www.haier.com/us/products/kitchen/freezers/upright-freezers/hum048ea.shtml
I think you can get it through Amazon, but finding one while on the road in Alaska... not likely; that said, we were in an outdoor/hardware store in Soldotna that carries quite an amazing array of food storage options, so if you are there be sure to shop and ask around - you never know. If you go Amazon, be sure to get there via the Amazon portal on the BAC Home website.
We don't need 200 lbs of fish hanging around the house (although we gave some away to relatives on the road before getting home in 2003), and if I was taking the RV up there again I planned on putting one of those Dometic or Engel 3 c.f. portable units on a slide in a bay. They ain't cheap, for sure, but are more moveable and energy-efficient than the Haier units, and the fish aren't in the living space ;) . I also consider a couple of modern super-insulated Coleman coolers as an option; total cost-wise they can't be beat, and dry ice goes a long way we discovered. If you're smart you carry dry ice with you anyway; you don't need a bunch of fish thawing out if your electric system goes belly up in the boonies.
Joel
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Thanks for the ideas folks. I think I will choose between a Haier or a Summit after seeing them......Thanks.
John
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I pulled the washer dryer out of the coach as we didn't use it and installed a small upright freezer in the spot. Put a grill in the top of the compartment to allow condensor heat to go up. We run it when we are hooked up and don't run it while we are driving. If the freezer is mostly full with frozen food, and it isn't opened during the day, ours doesn't thaw any at all during the day of driving. We go about 300 miles a day so about 6-7 hours. We had to put a bungee cord on the door to keep it closed tight as driving will shift the contents and try to open the door. I purchase the freezer at a garage sale and installed it to try it out and that was 4 years ago. We live in Wa. and winter in Az. so it get miles on it. I put it in a plastic tub to keep water off the floor, Had to modify the tub somewhat but keeps the floor dry when we defrost.
Arden