Can i use a “normal” absorption small fridge?

[pampam]

I dont have a motorhome now,i have a little old caravan,and when i bought it it had many things wrong with it,the 3 way fridge being one of them so when it was at the service centre the fridge was taken out ,as the price for a new one was £1,000 i hung on to see what to do ,so i thought about buying a second hand one(but theres no guarantee it would last)
as i like ths where you have to be off grid,ive buried my head in the sand and done nothing,so now summer is coming and i dont think the 30year old van warrants spending a lot on a fridge( £2,300 for van £600 for resealing £350 reupholstery)
so ive seen a small electric fridge for £120 , but wonder if they are suitable for the bouncing about when on the road?
and then i could get a three way camping fridge for ths to put in awning if i go off grid on a ths.
i hope you understand my question
basically i can stay on an electric site with no awning and have a fridge
or a ths with awning( pain in the bum) and a gas fridge
so will cheap household fridge work in touring caravan is basically my question ?
Cheers

 

[Reallyretired]

I don't see why not. It shouldn't be any more delicate than a 3 wa. Could also run of inverter if you've got reasonable batteries and solar.

 

[Sapper520]

I dont have a motorhome now,i have a little old caravan,and when i bought it it had many things wrong with it,the 3 way fridge being one of them so when it was at the service centre the fridge was taken out ,as the price for a new one was £1,000 i hung on to see what to do ,so i thought about buying a second hand one(but theres no guarantee it would last)
as i like ths where you have to be off grid,ive buried my head in the sand and done nothing,so now summer is coming and i dont think the 30year old van warrants spending a lot on a fridge( £2,300 for van £600 for resealing £350 reupholstery)
so ive seen a small electric fridge for £120 , but wonder if they are suitable for the bouncing about when on the road?
and then i could get a three way camping fridge for ths to put in awning if i go off grid on a ths.
i hope you understand my question
basically i can stay on an electric site with no awning and have a fridge
or a ths with awning( pain in the bum) and a gas fridge
so will cheap household fridge work in touring caravan is basically my question ?
Cheers

Many years ago we had an old caravan. The three way fridge wouldn’t light, so my mate said ‘I’ll hold a match at the back’ ………burn’t his eyebrows.

Anyway, we just got rid of it and replaced it with a normal mains fridge that slotted nicely into the space left. Never had a problem with it.

 

[Richard n Ann]

You can run a small mains compressor fridge off solar. My shed set up...

Running a 240v compressor freezer off solar

I'm running an old 240v table top freezer in the shed off a 40w panel and 475w victron inverter on an old Land Rover battery. It's only set on 2°c though. I've fitted a 12v digital controller module that switches the inverter off via a 40a relay avoiding the 400ma quiescent drain. So far so...

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

 

[tonka]

Something like a quest 3 way fridge may suit your needs.. £250-300 new.

You often see them for sale used at around £100 so worth looking out for, guess you could run it off a gas bottle either inside the van or outside in an awning. Option for EHU and 12v to help keep cool when travelling.

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[Coolcats]

I dont have a motorhome now,i have a little old caravan,and when i bought it it had many things wrong with it,the 3 way fridge being one of them so when it was at the service centre the fridge was taken out ,as the price for a new one was £1,000 i hung on to see what to do ,so i thought about buying a second hand one(but theres no guarantee it would last)
as i like ths where you have to be off grid,ive buried my head in the sand and done nothing,so now summer is coming and i dont think the 30year old van warrants spending a lot on a fridge( £2,300 for van £600 for resealing £350 reupholstery)
so ive seen a small electric fridge for £120 , but wonder if they are suitable for the bouncing about when on the road?
and then i could get a three way camping fridge for ths to put in awning if i go off grid on a ths.
i hope you understand my question
basically i can stay on an electric site with no awning and have a fridge
or a ths with awning( pain in the bum) and a gas fridge
so will cheap household fridge work in touring caravan is basically my question ?
Cheers

During the height if the pandemic we purchased a Domestic freezer box which meant we could stay away for two weeks without the need to go to the shops this added to our fridge/freezer in the MoHo. I should add the food stayed frozen and at a minus temp for hours so traveling without being plugged in was not an issue.

Dometic Guide to coolbox
Dometic Toolbox/freezer
Dometic CRX range of fridge freezer is what is installed by many converters (50-80 litres)

Hope that helps there are other manufactures out there

 

[Hoovie]

If someone is going to get an electric-only fridge, then an absorption one would be a poor choice as they are so inefficient in both power use and operational effectiveness.
Get a Compressor fridge and it is a totally different story. A decent compressor fridge is around 7 times more efficient (based on my own testing) on power consumption, will get down to operating temperature much faster (within a couple of hours compared to overnight for an absorption), and if a fridge-freezer, the Freezer will be a proper freezer and not just be able to get a few degrees below zero.

I sold my 13 year old Thetford 3-way Fridge/Freezer and with the money bought and fitted a new similar size 240V domestic (note the 's') LEC Fridge/Freezer. It has been far superior in just about every respect.

 

[pampam]

Thankyou i think ill get a dometic freezer box for awning
and a domestic fridge and will look at a compresser thanks

 

[pampam]

Ive had a look on amazon and the compresser fridges are quite pricey compared to the same size absorption…..but i will have a good look around thanks

 

[Richard n Ann]

Ive had a look on amazon and the compresser fridges are quite pricey compared to the same size absorption…..but i will have a good look around thanks

You can get compressor coolboxes from about £150. Ours is a mobicool FR40. It only runs at about 2 or 3 amps depending on temperature.

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[Wissel]

---

Have a look at This Fridge

It uses 107Kwh per year, which works out at 293w per 24 hours, or around 23Ah per 24 hours. Less than 1Ah per hour.

These figures are accurate, even in a van. We have had ours for about 3 years without issue.

It's also pretty much silent and even using an inverter, which will likely be only c.90% efficient, it still uses less power than most 12v compressor fridges.

The freezer is just a cool box (will keep things frozen, but won't freeze them) and it's a 240v compressor.

 

[Sapper520]

Paid about £25 for ours….in the 1980’s.

 

[Hoovie]

---

Have a look at This Fridge

It uses 107Kwh per year, which works out at 293w per 24 hours, or around 23Ah per 24 hours. Less than 1Ah per hour.

These figures are accurate, even in a van. We have had ours for about 3 years without issue.

It's also pretty much silent and even using an inverter, which will likely be only c.90% efficient, it still uses less power than most 12v compressor fridges.

The freezer is just a cool box (will keep things frozen, but won't freeze them) and it's a 240v compressor.

I am going to put in a little correction if I may ... That fridge is actually even better as it is rated at 80kW/Annum
(and on logging the power usage, I did find my numbers matched the manufacturers data )
(you may be using total consumption including inverter overhead I guess?)

When I removed the Thetford, I was contemplating fitting another Inventor 93L, but decided I wanted a proper Fridge/Freezer so went for an A+ Rated LEC Mains Compressor unit.

Bit of power consumption comparisons ....
This was my Thetford N180 3-Way - Largish Fridge with integral Freezer compartment, running on AC Mains:

3-Way - AC Night by David, on Flickr

And this is the replacement - an LEC Fridge/Freezer of about 10% smaller total capacity, but with a 50/50 split between Fridge and Freezer:

Compare both the duty cycle (power on vs power off ratio) and the power consumed when on. Both for a 6 hour time period.
There is only one winner.

 

[Wissel]

I am going to put in a little correction if I may ...

If you hadn't posted the graphs, I honestly wouldn't have put 2 and 2 together. I guess if I'd noticed your signature

How you doing Dave?

(for anyone else, it was Hoovie research years ago, followed by long telephone conversations, that made my mind up on a 240v fridge)