The government energy ratings seem to be the best source. Unlike 12v fridge vendors, dorm fridge makers provide little data. This thread got me to do a little digging and it turns out that dorm fridges are bad but not totally horrible. When doing my design, I just took it on faith that the cheap 110v dorm fridge/inverter combo was not worth considering and didn't look into it further. Works well but wasn't cheap, especially if you include the incremental cost of a larger electrical system. I have a Dometic CR-1110 3.8 cf 12v front opening fridge. That way any amps from the solar panel is all used to charge the house battery. On non sunny days I can also turn on the "vehicle" inverter so the refrigerator runs on 120vAC instead of 12vDC from house battery while driving. Have not had to do that since I increased the solar panel size from 135 watts to 205 watts. Use that "shore" power to charge the house battery with a proper 3 stage charger. If I want to charge the house battery from the Sprinter, I turn on my second "vehicle" 600 watt inverter to get 120 volt power while driving. I do not charge my house battery with the alternator. I do have extra insulation around the refrigerator and a hole in the floor under and behind the refrigerator to get air flow past coil and out the Maxxair roof vent. My refrigerator is a 80 liter that draws 4 amps DC when running. Without 120vAC the refrigerator runs on 12vDC from house battery. The 12vDC/120vAC refrigerator automatically runs on 120vAC if it is available. If I leave my inverter on overnight without anything operating, my 255 amp-hr battery SOC (state of charge) is down to 93-94%.Ģ. Inverters are about 85% efficient so you waste 15% using an inverter. Compressor refrigerators are more efficient. The energy rating sticker is probably an excellent indicator towards how good the construction is.ġ. I'd guess the economies of scale for ac devices and the bad consumer ratings for small fridges that die too easily would allow for a decent small ac fridge. But if you are clobbering your daily consumption with frequent alternator miles, shore power or excess solar wattage then a well-made stick house fridge could do the job. It was not unknown in my moving career to have an apparently undamaged customer fridge not survive a truck ride and a few flights of stairs.ĪH consumption is usually very important for a drycamper so close attention should be paid if you want to camp gennie-free. And perhaps the lesser quality may mean more prone to motion damage. So many may consume a good deal more w-hrs than the better dc ones. The 110v dorm/bar fridges are typically compete on price and not power consumption. (I've got 10 years now on my Engel chest.)Īnd perhaps the general hardship at providing a 12v bank slants the mfrs towards as much efficiency as possible at that price range. I looked at off-roader reviews for the hardest use. A lot of spendy 12v compressor fridges are built rugged for mobile use.
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