Never claimed they weren't 115v AC devices... The discussion is RE: residential fridges. Very few of them, if any run on 12v...
Residential fridges
- Thread starter wesselm
- Start date
Never claimed they weren't 115v AC devices... The discussion is RE: residential fridges. Very few of them, if any run on 12v...
Herbie
Rendezvous Conspirator
Of course they only run on 115vac, but in the context of mobile use, unless you are only using it 100% on shore power, sooner or later you have to talk about the power demands of running one with an inverter in a DC environment, otherwise it's all theoretical to the point of being meaningless.
Not arguing that point. Any, and I mean ANY power consuming device will, well... consume power. Totally agreed.
There is going to be a cost to run anything like this. Either a cost for a less efficient dorm fridge, or a more efficient portable 12V fridge.
The smaller 3.5 cu ft RCA uses 149.5 watts. VS say the Iceco JP50 50 liter 12v portable fridge which uses 55 watts on max, 35 watts on eco mode...
The issue is where are you going ot spend the money? The iceco is actually inexpensive as far as 12v fridges go, at $599.00 it is certainly however far more expensive than the $129.00 RCA fridge. But you have to put money in the overall system one place or another. I.E. you will need to generate more power for a lower cost fridge, thus your power generation / storage will cost more, OR you use less power, but spend more for a more efficient fridge...
Sorry if this wasn't completely obvious.
If you are spending any substantial time off grid, you put your money into
deep cycling bank that you can make last 8-12 years or more
as much solar as you can fit, plus alt charging setup, ideally won't even need a genset at all
Then if you're broke, compromise on silly-wasteful appliances, but replace with efficient ASAP.
Personally I'd do without, use a super ice cooler while I save my pennies for an efficient fridge.
deep cycling bank that you can make last 8-12 years or more
as much solar as you can fit, plus alt charging setup, ideally won't even need a genset at all
Then if you're broke, compromise on silly-wasteful appliances, but replace with efficient ASAP.
Personally I'd do without, use a super ice cooler while I save my pennies for an efficient fridge.
That's the approach I am working with. HOWEVER, I am not even close to full timing it. I was underr the impression, right or wrong, that the OP is a weekend warrior type...
Full time is a different kettle of fish all together.
FWIW, For MY application, for use on trips up to 1 week in moderately hot weather, and of course not in bear country, I would prefer to use a modified Coelamn 50qt rollaway cooler. (Fill the empty voids in the lid with expanding foam to insulate it, what a stupid design Coleman!). It's light, cheap, VERY portable, and will, if you start with containerized block ice for 5 days. My travels have me never more than 3 days away from an ice source...
Dream rigs, are great to dream about, but if they remain a dream because of fiscal realities bite, so sometimes we just gotta do what we gotta do. And the great part about that is, it drives some great creativity from folks...
Last edited:
So guys, OP here...
Firstly, thanks for all the responses.
Secondly, I was initially asking with regards to longevity of residential fridge/freezers in such an application, no so much the power consumption, although that will always be a factor.
The biggest problem over here is the exorbitant prices for 12v fridges, with the cheapest being about $900. Importing is not really an option, as VAT and import duties would push the price up too much.
I am currently looking into Dometic units, that's been refurbished with 220v compressors, going for roughly $350.
The vehicle will be used for both long and short trips, with the shorter ones not being too much of an issue as most camping sites have 220v power available.
The longer trips will vary between 1 and 2 weeks, especially when touring along our western coast ,(semi desert regions) .
Roughly 300ah in batteries, 900w in solar as well as 60a DC-DC charger from the alternator should be able to keep most fridges happy, 12v or 220v.
Sent from my 9009G using Tapatalk
Firstly, thanks for all the responses.
Secondly, I was initially asking with regards to longevity of residential fridge/freezers in such an application, no so much the power consumption, although that will always be a factor.
The biggest problem over here is the exorbitant prices for 12v fridges, with the cheapest being about $900. Importing is not really an option, as VAT and import duties would push the price up too much.
I am currently looking into Dometic units, that's been refurbished with 220v compressors, going for roughly $350.
The vehicle will be used for both long and short trips, with the shorter ones not being too much of an issue as most camping sites have 220v power available.
The longer trips will vary between 1 and 2 weeks, especially when touring along our western coast ,(semi desert regions) .
Roughly 300ah in batteries, 900w in solar as well as 60a DC-DC charger from the alternator should be able to keep most fridges happy, 12v or 220v.
Sent from my 9009G using Tapatalk
jkam
nomadic man
My buddy has a Winnebago with a big residential fridge. It's an all electric RV, no propane at all.
Since he likes to boon dock, he added 1600 watts of solar to the roof.
He also has six 115 ah AGM batteries. With this setup, during the day in summer, he has no problem running everything including the fridge.
This time of year, he needs to supplement the solar with about 2 to 3 hours of generator time at night so his batteries last overnight.
He has been thinking of putting a timer on it, so he can turn it off at night for a few hours to see if that helps.
He mentioned that it likes to defrost at night and that drew 50 amps, so he would also like a fridge that would allow you to set the defrost time.
Since he likes to boon dock, he added 1600 watts of solar to the roof.
He also has six 115 ah AGM batteries. With this setup, during the day in summer, he has no problem running everything including the fridge.
This time of year, he needs to supplement the solar with about 2 to 3 hours of generator time at night so his batteries last overnight.
He has been thinking of putting a timer on it, so he can turn it off at night for a few hours to see if that helps.
He mentioned that it likes to defrost at night and that drew 50 amps, so he would also like a fridge that would allow you to set the defrost time.
shade
Well-known member
Not as nice as having the feature designed into the fridge, but if it uses a standalone defrost timer, I don't think it'd be hard to change that over to a simple switch or one cycle timer. Pick a sunny day to run the defrost when desired.
Photomike
White Turtle Adventures & Photography
I think your missing something here. Build your unit and put a cooler in it. Go on a long trip to some country that has lower prices for fridge. Remove cooler replace with lower price fridge then go home
