Fridge Power
- Thread starter nabcracker
- Start date
67cj5
Man On a Mission
Well that panel should put out a good 70Ah a day at your Lo-Cal,
Where I am it's not the Temp that is the issue, It's the Sun Hours or the lack of,, I just bought 2 X 150w panels plus a 100w portable, The 2 150's I will add to a 100w I bought a few years back giving me a total of 400w, That should over come the Grey Sky's,
Seems like we all have our issues with collecting the right amount of power. ?
In the Winter time indoors one of my fridges only uses about 9.3/9.6Ah or 120.9w per 24 hours On DC.
100W of solar might put ot only 30Ah per day even in great conditions.
Depends also on whether loads are there to accept the full output from the SC.
Depends also on whether loads are there to accept the full output from the SC.
Anything under 20Ah is crazy low, with a big temp delta 40Ah and above is a more realistic ballpark.
67cj5
Man On a Mission
Yeah John, I bought a small Snomaster last month and when set as a freezer at -12*c / 10.4*f in an ambient temp of 68*f it was chewing up 47.9Ah per 24 hours and just over 38Ah when set to the low power setting at the same temperature, Which makes it totally un useable for off grid use in places like Arizona etc.
67cj5
Man On a Mission
Side by side the Small Snomaster used 47.9Ah and the ARB 50Qt used 27.92Ah when set to the same settings in the same room at the same time,
So it makes me wonder what power it would use out in Arizona, Those figures could jump to over 100/120Ah per day, That's not good considering it is a small fridge.
Florida Native
Active member
The main issue with RV fridges is that they are typically not installed correctly. Get the installation manual for your specific fridge and check the install, especially with regards to venting and clearance measurements. Fixing the venting and adding a small low power 12V fan to keep air moving will work wonders on almost any RV fridge.
-Mike
Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
-Mike
Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
67cj5
Man On a Mission
When I was testing it it was eating a 115Ah battery that fast in the Auto mode which is equal to the only mode the ARB has, That at almost the 3 hour mark I had to hook the battery up to the big Charger because I was not sure that the battery was going to make it through the 24 hours. and that was in 68*f indoors, and this was after I had let it cool down for a few hours running on AC and it was full of cans of Coke.
And when it was set to the LOW power setting it still used more than 10Ah more than the ARB did. All the Hype about them is just that, And when set to the normal Domestic freezer Temp of 0*f It will chew more power on AC than what most Domestic fridge/Freezer Combo's do.
67cj5
Man On a Mission
I made sure the Cans were all cooled right down to because they had been in one of the other fridges for 48 hours set at 2*c/35.5*f, The worrying part is that once it was loaded up and allowed to cool for a few hours ( 8 hours ) Once I started the test it was never opened, So if I had opened it once every hour or Two then it would of used a lot more power than it did,
This is not a One Off situation because I also tested their Top of the line model and it was even worse.
Ducky's Dad
Explorer
FWIW, I have an Indel B 50 in the PW. Also have an ARB 50 but the Indel fits a little better in the back seat and gets a few degrees (maybe 3-4C) colder than the ARB when set to max freeze, which is my norm when heading to the desert in summer. My house batteries are a pair of 75ah AGM true deep cycles, and I can run the Indel B for a little over 24 hours on that setup before the lo vo interupt kicks in. Everything goes into the fridge either frozen hard or pre-chilled and the box is only opened by me, infrequently. Fridge has an insulated travel bag (Waeco) that sorta fits, truck is white, back windows are factory tint and rest of cab glass is filmed with 3M Crystalline 90% VLT. I usually throw a duffel or extra clothes on top of the fridge for some additional insulation. Truck is driven at least a little every day we are out, and the 270amp alternator puts out 116 amps (or maybe it's 119) at idle. With all that, I still need to add solar.
Ducky's Dad
Explorer
Bottom is insulated with the thermal bag and the fridge sits on a raised, ventilated steel platform for plenty of air circulation around the vents. Thermal bag is lined with reflective foil, and the stuff I throw on top is whatever I have handy. Thinking about cutting a section of something like a thermal pool cover to lay on top of the the fridge but haven't found the right stuff yet.
Martinjmpr
Wiffleball Batter
Just a data point, the Dometic 3 way fridge in our R-pod works perfectly on propane and hardly uses any gas. We've boondocked in hot weather and I still keep the fridge on 3 bars out of 5 to prevent our water and ice from freezing!
Battery draw is less than 1 amp/hr when running on propane (actually I think it's around .25a) With 2 x 6v FLA golf cart batteries an a 100w solar panel we've been good for 3 days of no power.
I know people have had problems with propane fridges over the years but our experience has been positive. I guess it depends on whether you're using a new or an old unit - our Pod is a 2018 model. Fridge is a 3 way and we almost never run it on battery. If we do run it on battery it's only while it is hooked to the tow vehicle with the tow vehicle running. A few times when we were boondocking I just left it on propane and drove it home. As long as I wasn't stopping at a gas station I figured it was safe. I think technically you're not supposed to run it on propane if you go through a tunnel (though I also have to say I've never seen a sigh on a tunnel that says "turn off propane before going into tunnel" either. Most of our tunnels around here aren't that long anyway.
Battery draw is less than 1 amp/hr when running on propane (actually I think it's around .25a) With 2 x 6v FLA golf cart batteries an a 100w solar panel we've been good for 3 days of no power.
I know people have had problems with propane fridges over the years but our experience has been positive. I guess it depends on whether you're using a new or an old unit - our Pod is a 2018 model. Fridge is a 3 way and we almost never run it on battery. If we do run it on battery it's only while it is hooked to the tow vehicle with the tow vehicle running. A few times when we were boondocking I just left it on propane and drove it home. As long as I wasn't stopping at a gas station I figured it was safe. I think technically you're not supposed to run it on propane if you go through a tunnel (though I also have to say I've never seen a sigh on a tunnel that says "turn off propane before going into tunnel" either. Most of our tunnels around here aren't that long anyway.