LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
and should be—quotes should include
a protocol for alerting the customer
to these unexpected and unpleasant
discoveries. At the very least, the
moment a project deviates from the
quote, or when it appears it may do
so, the customer should be contacted
immediately and given his or her
options. In some cases, the client may
opt not to continue with the project,
in which case he or she should be
charged only for the portion of the
quote that has been completed.
Finally, offering clients a discounted
labor and materials rate for
unanticipated “add-ons” makes good
business sense.—Steve D’Antonio
POWERING THE FRIDGE:
WHAT’S MOST EFFICIENT?
I wonder if Steve D’Antonio could
expand on the answer he gave to Jim
White’s question in the March issue’s
“Letters to the Editor” about the
advantages of AC/DC refrigerators
over AC refrigerators. Many of us
have dual-voltage refrigerators, large
battery banks, generators, and
inverters. I have several ways to
power the fridge while anchored or
cruising, including AC power through
the inverter or DC power from the
battery bank. What is preferred or
more efficient?
Daniel Finnelly
Bellevue, Washington
In short, given the choice, the
preferred operation mode for most
dual-voltage refrigeration systems is
to use “parent” power—the type of
power that the compressor is designed
to operate on without utilizing
internal conversion. To answer your
question, once again I turned to my
colleague Rob Warren at Coastal
Climate Control.—Steve D’Antonio
Deciding which power source, AC
or DC, is most efficient depends
entirely on the type of compressor you
have. There are three common types
of compressors: Line-voltage AC
compressors use 115 or 230 volts
and are found in residential and
commercial refrigerators installed on
larger vessels. DC compressors use
12- or 24-volt DC power and are the
most common type of compressors in
