- Joined
- Sep 12, 2021
- Messages
- 5
- Reaction score
- 2
In the past NL was about low power consumption, sadly it seems a growing consensus with NL owners is they are not what they use to be, too many quality control issues and fridges failing well within 10years. Then SM decided there is more to life than power consumption and moved twords power, some like me don't care about power consumption, we want better cooling performance. The newer SM fridges were said to be in a class of their own vs. NL. Well now....NL have gone the same way and caught up...they have now a strong emphasis on cooling power. Both are regarded as the two top brands, NL are superior with regards to baskets, while SM are superior with value for money being made in china. SM are no longer available in aus. As mentioned NL have issues, SM however you never seem to read about them.
It's tempting to test a Trailblazer given their massive insulation and dual compressors.
So the two main things in these fridges that are very good are the insulation and the cooling, the cooling is just a reflection of the fact that in thermodynamics surface area is a major factor, the so called " 12 meters of copper pipes" I guess. However as great as these fridges are sadly they are exaggerated and misunderstood.
The job of insulation is to slow the heat ingress to such a point the compressor cylces on low duty cycle. However at 35-40 degrees C I can safely say my NL and SM fridges could clearly do with more, at a measly 15C they literally never cycle on, yet at 37C the NL was on 65 to 75% of the time.
There are some who like to tell you how quickly these fridges pull down the temps, usually with fridge empty, but sadly this is meaningless in the real world. You see air along with much of the material parts of the fridge can't hold much heat and so add in the superior cooling it's not hard to see why the temps get down soon quickly. But if your like me and want to cool drinks, it takes hours and hours in summer, due to water and many beverages high heat capacity. It takes a huge amount of energy to loosen the hydrogen bonds. So for me these cool down tests mean absolutely nothing.
The power consumption of the SM was on average 5 amps at 13.1v on low speed in 40degree heat. In high mode, over weeks of testing in spare time she showed she couldn't run reliable without overheating. Both the NL and SM run Soo hot on their high modes in summer the front control panels are almost too hot to keep my back of hand on. What about the little Engel???? Barely a few degrees above ambient...
The stainless SM was used as a food fridge full of fruit, veg, milk, orange juice, 2 liters of water, 6 cans, basically a well set up 2 person minimalist fridge. In a hot summer setting when the mercury hit 39 degrees by 10am and held that to 4pm, and didn't drop down to 26 until 3am, she drew 35ah over 24hours off my portable lithium system. Considering how many times it was opened and drinks were exchanged that is amazing low consumption. And if you take into account the sheer consistency of cooling, no warm food on top like an Engel would do, pretty amazing fridge.
The moral is these fridges are good, but over hyped, alot of claims about them like very low power consumption are unsound without context, at times they are guzzlers. My Engel has never given me a warm drink as long as the planning is done right.
It's tempting to test a Trailblazer given their massive insulation and dual compressors.
So the two main things in these fridges that are very good are the insulation and the cooling, the cooling is just a reflection of the fact that in thermodynamics surface area is a major factor, the so called " 12 meters of copper pipes" I guess. However as great as these fridges are sadly they are exaggerated and misunderstood.
The job of insulation is to slow the heat ingress to such a point the compressor cylces on low duty cycle. However at 35-40 degrees C I can safely say my NL and SM fridges could clearly do with more, at a measly 15C they literally never cycle on, yet at 37C the NL was on 65 to 75% of the time.
There are some who like to tell you how quickly these fridges pull down the temps, usually with fridge empty, but sadly this is meaningless in the real world. You see air along with much of the material parts of the fridge can't hold much heat and so add in the superior cooling it's not hard to see why the temps get down soon quickly. But if your like me and want to cool drinks, it takes hours and hours in summer, due to water and many beverages high heat capacity. It takes a huge amount of energy to loosen the hydrogen bonds. So for me these cool down tests mean absolutely nothing.
The power consumption of the SM was on average 5 amps at 13.1v on low speed in 40degree heat. In high mode, over weeks of testing in spare time she showed she couldn't run reliable without overheating. Both the NL and SM run Soo hot on their high modes in summer the front control panels are almost too hot to keep my back of hand on. What about the little Engel???? Barely a few degrees above ambient...
The stainless SM was used as a food fridge full of fruit, veg, milk, orange juice, 2 liters of water, 6 cans, basically a well set up 2 person minimalist fridge. In a hot summer setting when the mercury hit 39 degrees by 10am and held that to 4pm, and didn't drop down to 26 until 3am, she drew 35ah over 24hours off my portable lithium system. Considering how many times it was opened and drinks were exchanged that is amazing low consumption. And if you take into account the sheer consistency of cooling, no warm food on top like an Engel would do, pretty amazing fridge.
The moral is these fridges are good, but over hyped, alot of claims about them like very low power consumption are unsound without context, at times they are guzzlers. My Engel has never given me a warm drink as long as the planning is done right.
