As the crisis deepens Part 1: Freezers/Refrigeration.

One of the things to consider as the crisis deepens, is that rolling blackouts and power outages will add to the burden of an already stressed population and economy. In a world of shortages, one thing you don't want, is to have your limited supply or food of perishable medicine to be destroyed by unreliable power.

I've been looking for a high efficiency 12 volt dc/110 ac freezer for a while now. Although I've know about Sundazer and Sun Frost for years, neither really suited my needs.

I wanted a chest style freezer that worked on 12v and 110ac, yet had a low enough power consumption that it could run off solar panels. Most 12v coolers are of the thermo electric variety. They are very inexpensive and pretty much useless (I have one). They provide little cooling for the power consumed.

Then I ran across the Coleman Stirling Power Electric Cooler. Which led me to the Engel freezers. The Danfoss compressor, in the Engel, is the same high efficiency one used in the Sundazer.

The Engel's is sold by Big Frog Mountain and Cabelas. I consider that a pretty good endorsement, since Big Frog has been doing the alternate energy thing since 1989 and I've always been pleased with the stuff I bought from Cabelas.

Engel is an Australian company, here is their link. They also sell kits for converting an existing cooler or building a freezer from scratch.