12 Volt Fridges

SneakyP

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We have a 2022 GD Imagine 2500RL we have had now for 3 years. We had extra solar panels installed and a big lithium battery. We love to camp off the grid. Unfortunately we have found that this fridge draws so much power that we can usually only last 4 days off grid. We now have a generator so a bit better, but we are so unhappy with the fridge. Why did GD start using these? Anyone else wishing they had the LP option?
 
The huge advantage of the 12VDC refrigerators is cool down time. I can go from ambient air temperatures down to mid 30s in the fresh food compartment and around zero degrees in the freezer in under 3 hours of run time. They use a compressor for refrigeration instead of the older style absorption systems.
 
Even an LP refrigerator uses a significant amount of battery power when running on LP.

Even the 16 cu ft refrigerator shouldn’t use much more than 130AH in a day. Around 300W in panels should replenish that on a clear day unless it’s very hot.

In reality, you need to use a shunt type monitor to keep track of use and charging, then top off with a generator as needed.
 
We have a 2022 GD Imagine 2500RL we have had now for 3 years. We had extra solar panels installed and a big lithium battery. We love to camp off the grid. Unfortunately we have found that this fridge draws so much power that we can usually only last 4 days off grid. We now have a generator so a bit better, but we are so unhappy with the fridge. Why did GD start using these? Anyone else wishing they had the LP option?

To answer your question on why, my guess would be that the biggest/most complaints by a country mile are about RV absorption refrigerators. I'm sure they were looking to get rid of that headache.

When they work, if you get a good one, they're just ok. I would never go back to one. I have a residential with an inverter, don't know as much about the 12v's. My parents just tore out their absorption and put in a residential.

I don't have solar, but do have a generator and a charger that charges at 100amps+ per hour. A couple of hours a day top off the lithium's easily.
 
Why did GD start using these?
Because 99% of the industry is using them as the fridge manufacturer's have stopped making the LP variety. (or will stop all production shortly)

You may want to check your solar/battery set up, because if done right, that should never "only last for 4 days".
 
I can see why the OEMs are dropping the LP fridges. Maybe safety as well as reliability. They were nice for boondocking but very unreliable getting or staying cold, with some exceptions. I see and read a lot more about the RV OEMs trying to go more toward electric powered appliances instead of LP.
But total electric RVs and no LP has its own issues, they come with big power requirements and could be a problem for off grid. I really like the LP furnaces and stove operations!

Our Dometic 18 cuft has a real hard time cooling in warm/hot weather, always has from day 1. We had hoped to convert it to JC Refrigeration 12V compressor but things happen and we didn't get it done.

With the construction of new RVs and the addition of solar panels and power storage advancements, the 12V compressor fridges or residential fridges and inverters , are more reliable. The trade off is they do take more electric power to operate. Owners that boondock a lot have more to think about generating and storing enough power to last X amount of days, and you have to compensate for not being able to generate enough solar power on some days.
 
Because 99% of the industry is using them as the fridge manufacturer's have stopped making the LP variety. (or will stop all production shortly)

You may want to check your solar/battery set up, because if done right, that should never "only last for 4 days".
My 12VDC fridge is NOT a factory unit, but here is some details about what "can" be sometimes.

I have a Norcold 2118 that has had the JC Refrigeration Twin Compressor mod done to it. Two 12VDC compressors....one for the freezer section only and one for the fresh food section only. On average, in a 24 hour period of time, that unit will consume approx. 145AH of battery life. So two FULL days of running is not really an option, especially if you consider other 12V stuff operating also. I have a DIY home built LFP battery that has just over 302AH of capacity. So if I ran the fridge for 48 hours, theoretically I would have used right at 290AH of the 300/302 AH available. So the point here is that the OP's 4 day thing with the battery actually seems pretty good to me.

Side Note: Personally, I don't need more battery AHs because I never boondock. The purpose of the 302AH build was to have way more than enough power available for even the longest of travel days and then be able to plug into shore power and charge back up while camping overnight.
 
We have a 2022 GD Imagine 2500RL we have had now for 3 years. We had extra solar panels installed and a big lithium battery. We love to camp off the grid. Unfortunately we have found that this fridge draws so much power that we can usually only last 4 days off grid. We now have a generator so a bit better, but we are so unhappy with the fridge. Why did GD start using these? Anyone else wishing they had the LP option?
How big is the battery? How much solar. How much sun? How much other power consumption is going on?

People always complained about the LP refrigerators.... doesn't stay cold in hot weather; have to use fans to vent it; have to pre-cool it a day before you want to use it... the list goes on. The "nail in the coffin" was likely all the fires they caused.
 
We have a 2022 GD Imagine 2500RL we have had now for 3 years. We had extra solar panels installed and a big lithium battery. We love to camp off the grid. Unfortunately we have found that this fridge draws so much power that we can usually only last 4 days off grid. We now have a generator so a bit better, but we are so unhappy with the fridge. Why did GD start using these? Anyone else wishing they had the LP option?
GD started using 12 volt fridges because they “got in bed” with Furrion and Furrion only sells 12 volt fridges
Period
 
If you get the installation instructions for rv fridges, 12 volt and gas electric you will learn interesting things.

Gas fridges need additional ventilation in the area behind the fridge if installed in a slide. The factory put two little computer fans in there. An rv specialist with experience in these fridges added a large squirrel cage fan to mine. It works well.

Compressor fridges are intended to be free standing. Air space around the fridge. In most rv’s they are not. Thus they use more power than stated. Have to cool the box they are in.

Compressor fridges cost about 33% what gas electrics cost installed. The rv manufacturers we assume pass the savings on to us.

The gas electric fridges are common in the Amish community.

Unfortunately compressor fridges use a lot more battery per day. Solar is iffy in the Midwest. You would need 400 watts of panels on ideal days. So more would be better. Typically a 100 watt panel produces 25 ah per day if on the roof.

We have no solar and 412 ah of battery. We can boondock 3-4 days easily. Then we run the Honda 2200 to recharge. After 7 days we need to dump the waste tanks. The gas fridge works well.

If you want to boondock with a compressor fridge you need more batteries and the ability to charge them.
 
If you get the installation instructions for rv fridges, 12 volt and gas electric you will learn interesting things.

Gas fridges need additional ventilation in the area behind the fridge if installed in a slide. The factory put two little computer fans in there. An rv specialist with experience in these fridges added a large squirrel cage fan to mine. It works well.

Compressor fridges are intended to be free standing. Air space around the fridge. In most rv’s they are not. Thus they use more power than stated. Have to cool the box they are in.

Compressor fridges cost about 33% what gas electrics cost installed. The rv manufacturers we assume pass the savings on to us.

The gas electric fridges are common in the Amish community.

Unfortunately compressor fridges use a lot more battery per day. Solar is iffy in the Midwest. You would need 400 watts of panels on ideal days. So more would be better. Typically a 100 watt panel produces 25 ah per day if on the roof.

We have no solar and 412 ah of battery. We can boondock 3-4 days easily. Then we run the Honda 2200 to recharge. After 7 days we need to dump the waste tanks. The gas fridge works well.

If you want to boondock with a compressor fridge you need more batteries and the ability to charge them.
Before I had my Norcold 2118 converted over to the JC Refrigeration Twin Compressor mod, I had installed a pair of separately controlled fans on the inside of the upper vent. They have their own thermostat for automatic operation or I can manually turn them on (5 different speeds). When I had the JC refrigeration mod done I left those fans in place and run them when the fridge is running, just to help with air flow behind the fridge. They of course pull outside air in through the bottom vent and exhaust it out through the upper vent. I'm not 100% sure that I "need" them running, but I'm also sure that they don't harm/hurt anything by running...other than using a bit extra 12VDC.
 

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Besides Norcold moving overseas and environmental concerns on the horizon my guess is manufactures switched over partly because it's cheaper to put a 12V in vs an absorption fridge.
No 120V, gas line, cut outs for the access panel, no roof venting with the extra labor of sealing those areas. No leak testing, etc. Same with the solid steps. No welding in brackets, cut outs for the steps. Labor is the biggest driver in RV's. 12V fridges are also cheaper ($). All they do is stick it in the hole and run one 12V line to a fuse.
 
GD started using 12 volt fridges because they “got in bed” with Furrion and Furrion only sells 12 volt fridges
Period
Along with Norcold and Dometic. (and several other brands)

Oh, and I'm sure know that Furrion was bought out by Lippert, and 90% of the industry uses Furrion.

GD uses Norcold 12 volt fridges in some brands...
 
Somewhere I read that 12 volt fridges took up less room for the inner workings, where the old absorption fridges needed that big compartment with outside access.
Switch to 12 volt and you can put a fridge in the same location that has a larger capacity.
Once one trailer manufacture does this, they advertise a larger capacity fridge.
Then its all about keeping up with the Joneses.
 
We have a 2022 GD Imagine 2500RL we have had now for 3 years. We had extra solar panels installed and a big lithium battery. We love to camp off the grid. Unfortunately we have found that this fridge draws so much power that we can usually only last 4 days off grid. We now have a generator so a bit better, but we are so unhappy with the fridge. Why did GD start using these? Anyone else wishing they had the LP option?
I too have the same opinion of the electric refrigerators. If I had a choice, I would never choose the straight electric refrigerator, I would choose propane. In the past, my propane refrigerators have worked so flawlessly and allowed me to Boondock many days. I also upgraded my battery, but still the electric fridge limits your freedom
 
How big is the battery? How much solar. How much sun? How much other power consumption is going on?

People always complained about the LP refrigerators.... doesn't stay cold in hot weather; have to use fans to vent it; have to pre-cool it a day before you want to use it... the list goes on. The "nail in the coffin" was likely all the fires they caused.
Solar is not a precise science SO many factors to figure in- How many panels? what size? how much sunlight? What size and type battery? Are you using a DC-AC inverter? It's not only the 12VDC fridge that is pulling power on the DC system when you dry camping, water pump, lights, water heater, inverter if used. Also not everything runs at 100% effiency both on the charging side and the power draw side. Also $$$$$. I've seen videos where people have enough batteries and solar panels to actually run their AC on battery power. I don't have the abilily to spend 5 and 6 figures worth of cash to build my off grid system. So what is good for one person may not be good for someone else. As far as absorbtion units go- they could'nt have gotten rid of them soon enough. I have many stories I can tell about people who had the units fail during a trip resulting in a spoiled food. Also how many times do people really turn off theirs off when they refuel? I've had truckers approach me and inquire whether I turned my fridge off before I strarted fueling. I then explain I have a 12VDC fridge/freezer system that doesn't use propane and has no flame.
 
We had a Norcold 2118 absorption fridge in our Solitude. Went on a 3 month trip out west in 2021 where we boondocked most of the time. Had several times where I worried about the food staying cool enough but we were pleased with our new solar setup of 600ah of lithium and 1200 watts of solar (only used generator twice on whole trip). On a short trip in 2022 we had real problems keeping the food cool first on propane then on electric so we did an emergency stop at JC Refrigeration and had them put a 120v system in. On our 3 month trip west in 2023 we had a hard time getting our batteries up to 100% and found ourselves using the generator quite a bit, but never had to worry about the food being cool enough. We added 400 watts of solar before our trip west this year to account for the extra electric used by the fridge and used the generator one time in 3 months. Perfect combination for us.
 

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