12v Fridge - reliability?

[huntindog]

Good question. We were experiencing some cooling issues with our frig and a mobile repair technician recommended that we leave ours running off gas vs electricity, regardless if hooked up to shore power. He said that heat exchange with gas was more efficient than running off electricity and the unit didn’t have to run as often.

All of my previous fridges over the last 30 years cooled better on propane...By a lot. When I got my present coach, I noticed that the manual claimed that the fridge was more efficient on elec. They did not specify just what manner it was more effcient in. I hove noticed that this one cools a lot better on elec than my previous ones ever did. As for which is better gas or ellec. It is a toss up IMO. If the elec. is in fact better it is just barely. So I have started using the electric more, particularly when under tow, as I have an inverter and enough solar now to keep up with it. When in camp, I switch to gas as I then have other elec. draws. (I never have hookups)

[JohnSWood]

… Batteries are always being charged by the solar 24/7.

Really???

[Hoopy Frood]

Really???

Nice one, I totally missed that. LOL

[tonygoncalves]

Really???

Maybe he camps above the Arctic Circle during summer solstice?

[terryriddle]

I think the primary differences between the three different types in energy usage is pretty significant, with the gas electric being the lowest consumer (not withstanding other potential issues), with the 12volt compressor style next and the residential as the largest energy consumer of the group.

All have the good and bad associated and it is that set of things that helps each of us determine the best for our application.

I believe the gas electric only needs good 12v for the control board and an ample supply of propane. They sip both which is why many boondockers like them despite the long list of downsides. I believe these may use maybe 10-20 ah per day of battery and 60lns of propane could last several weeks or longer.

12 volt compressor style refrigerators consume 20-50 ah daily and though they require more energy, they function far better and more consistent than the traditional gas electric. You will need more than a single 12volt battery to boondock with this style of refrigerator, and solar is a great supplemental power source for your batteries.

Finally, residential style refrigerators typically are larger, better built and run the best of the three, but consume the most energy, and, require an inverter which represents larger upfront or conversion costs and added complexity. These devices can consume as much as 100 ah daily. There are some upsides though, typically the cost of the refrigerator is far less than the equivalent gas electric or 12v compressor. That helps with conversion costs. Solar here is also a great supplement to charge batteries. Another downside is you need a large enough inverter and enough battery to get you through each charge cycle and good solar to carry the batteries daily.

Hope this helps.

Bill

Additional comment about the residential-style fridge. If it fails and you plan on replacing it, the cost to remove is several thousand dollars since they have to remove a slide to get it out. The RV door will not cut it on a residential style fridge. My dealer said it can cost between 4 and 5 thousand dollars to remove and replace a slide, even before the cost of a new fridge.

[Second Chance]

Additional comment about the residential-style fridge. If it fails and you plan on replacing it, the cost to remove is several thousand dollars since they have to remove a slide to get it out. The RV door will not cut it on a residential style fridge. My dealer said it can cost between 4 and 5 thousand dollars to remove and replace a slide, even before the cost of a new fridge.

I don't know about other models, but that's not true in many Solitudes. The residential fridge will fit around the island and out the door with the refrigerator doors removed.

Rob

[Wandering5thwheelers]

I have the GD 200MK and it has the 12V refrigerator in it. Besides one issue with a faulty converter, my fridge runs beautifully! I love mine. As long as the sun shines, my batteries stay charged forever. Haven’t had an issue with running them down at all.
I was sceptical at first, but now, am happy that it’s there.

[goducks14]

Really???

LOL how about I'm unplugged from shore power 24/7. Fact is I never need 120V with solar and a 12V fridge. It will run until the batteries fail or the solar fails.

[mostad]

I will making a trip to JC Refrigeration in the spring to get my Norcold 2118 converted over to their 12 volt compressors. The unit that they build and sell for that model will come with two 12V compressors for a total amp draw of 10.8 amps when it is running. I'm also building a 4 cell LFP battery that is rated at 304 AHs and it's pretty common to run a LFP down to 10% SOC without doing any damage to the battery. So 304 x .9 = 273 AHs. If you divide the 273 by the 10.8 amps that the unit draws when running, you come up with approx. 25 hours of run time. So if the refrigerator ran steady, without cycling on and off as needed, that would be 25 hours of steady run time on a single LFP battery before requiring it be recharged back up to 100% or so of SOC. We all know that refrigerators do not.....or should not have to run steadily, they cycle on and off as the thermostat requires to keep temperature at the setpoint. So let's say that it only runs 1/2 hour out of every hour.....now you are looking at 50 hours of run time on that battery....or basically two days. Without constantly opening the door of the fridge or when it if first loaded up with food that isn't already cooled, that 50 hour time should be even more. I'm counting on way more than enough battery to run that fridge for at least a couple of days without having to charge the battery. The fact that we don't really boondock, almost ensures that we will have zero issues regarding battery reserve, even during a day that might involve 12 hours of time between unplugging the trailer from shore power, traveling to another campsite, then setting back up and plugging back into shore power. I've already run a dedicated 12V circuit from the battery compartment back to the rear of the refrigerator area, which is in the curbside slide. The power feed is 8/2 cable and the breaker is a 40 amp manual reset type breaker. The wire is obviously oversized for a ~11 amp draw, but that will also help to keep voltage at a good level without any voltage drop at the fridge. Now, all I need is for the battery cells to arrive so that I can complete the battery build, top balance it and then load test it so that I know the true capacity. It seems that some of those CATL cells actually have a bit more capacity than advertised, which would be a nice bonus to be in the 310 - 312 AH range.

Here is my 2 cents, I did do the JC conversation on my 12 cubic foot fridge with the 120 volt compressor. I did install an inverter that ran the circuit only. I also have 510 watts of solar at the time with 400 amp hours of lithium batteries. My power consumption was no big deal at all the solar and batteries kept up with no issues. My issues were the fridge will go into its little shut down to thaw and when this happen I would see the fridge get into the 40’s which I did not like. I even popped the outside covers off to help it stay cooler allowing more air flow.

Fast forward a few months and I was so tired of the fridge getting warm that I pulled out the rv fridge and installed a residential fridge. I’m so happy I did no more warm fridge temps and no more manually defrosting the ice box.

I have recently started living full time in my RV and semi-retired, I’m so happy with my set up now.

[moterbiker]

21cf residential in a 337rls it typically draws under 200 watts AC when it’s actually running, it was a tight fit!