Compressor Fridge/Freezer`s..... Question...???? (1 Viewer)

[old-mo]

Are they economical............ or do they run away with the electric...

We have (2)..... what look like bigg`ish Solar panels...

And according to the readout... (Lights on the unit in the cupboard) they were showing chucking a charge in both battery`s, even on a dismal, no sun day...

All the equipment in the van, as far as I can tell is top notch... not your cheap Flebay stuff...

Or should I think about changing fridge/Freezer to a normal 3 way..????

Thanks for any input..

 

[Woodgates]

I’ve had a compressor fridge for 8 years and not found a problem, having 2 x 100w solar panels and 2 x 100 batteries helps. In winter in UK I sometimes turn it off overnight to ease battery use.

 

[old-mo]

"Woops"..... Just catching up on over weeks threads, and came across this one, which answers most of my questions..

Compressor fridges

As compressor fridges are becomming more mainstream in motorhomes how are people coping with power consumption. Looking at the spec on some, it seems 45w is the average consumption. What battery capacity would cope with this and for how long could you be without hookup? Interested to hear what...

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

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[Two on Tour]

There is thread running at the moment on compressor fridges that might be worth a read through as it has differing views and info.

https://www.motorhomefun.co.uk/forum/threads/compressor-fridges.243438/

 

[Lumpy]

We have used the Thetford T2090 compressor fridge for the past 4 years and seems to work fine, have used it in +40deg and -5 with 240 and on solar (we have 100w panel and 220 amp of battery) , biggest draw is on start up.

 

[carolyn]

I do hope it works out for you both. I wouldn’t rush into changing the fridge. I know we’ve got a 3 way fridge but there are lots of PVC owners now with compressor fridges. I’m pretty sure most have 2 panels plus 2 batteries if they want to stay a week off hook-up but Wombles managed that in the New Forest in May this Year and the weather was horrendous! They haven’t got lithium and I don’t think they have a B2B charger. Karen will soon put me right!

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[cmcardle75]

I do hope it works out for you both. I wouldn’t rush into changing the fridge. I know we’ve got a 3 way fridge but there are lots of PVC owners now with compressor fridges. I’m pretty sure most have 2 panels plus 2 batteries if they want to stay a week off hook-up but Wombles managed that in the New Forest in May this Year and the weather was horrendous! They haven’t got lithium and I don’t think they have a B2B charger. Karen will soon put me right!

I'm getting on fine with a compressor fridge without even having solar. To be fair, it's running off 300Ah Lithium and I drive around a lot. Whether you can run one from a particular electrical system depends on many factors, such as how much daily driving happens, what part of the world, what season, what other loads there are etc.

I've not yet gone under 250Ah remaining, but I'm sure I will soon enough. I appear to be using about 50-60Ah a day in total and reckon the fridge is slightly over half of that.

 

[berni109]

Just leave it as is and see how u get on. If you start to run out of juice after a few days stay overnight on a site and plug in.

 

[Gellyneck]

"Woops"..... Just catching up on over weeks threads, and came across this one, which answers most of my questions..

Compressor fridges

As compressor fridges are becomming more mainstream in motorhomes how are people coping with power consumption. Looking at the spec on some, it seems 45w is the average consumption. What battery capacity would cope with this and for how long could you be without hookup? Interested to hear what...

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

That's 'cause ah telt yi Auld Yin!

As said above, see how you get on with it first!
If your new bus is capable of charging them would lithium batteries be a better option than changing the fridge. Benefit to payload as well?

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[Wombles]

I do hope it works out for you both. I wouldn’t rush into changing the fridge. I know we’ve got a 3 way fridge but there are lots of PVC owners now with compressor fridges. I’m pretty sure most have 2 panels plus 2 batteries if they want to stay a week off hook-up but Wombles managed that in the New Forest in May this Year and the weather was horrendous! They haven’t got lithium and I don’t think they have a B2B charger. Karen will soon put me right!

So far our compressor fridge has been excellent - no need to be level & much better at temperature control than our 3 way one before. We have 2 x 100w solar panels (fitted by German dealer) & 2 x 95ah Leisure batteries (factory fitted) & no problems for long periods off EHU. Know ours was also wired by dealer to also charge the cab battery so no flat batteries but no B2B charger. Definitely no lithium here!

 

[Sapper520]

Before going away I put the Van on EHU and get the fridge going overnight. All the food is chilled / frozen before putting it into the van fridge.

Saves on the initial heavy draw…. it seems to work well for me.

 

[gerry mcg]

We have a 190Ah AGM battery bank with 175w solar.
My compressor fridge draws about 3A when the compressor is running, (which might sound scary) but 0A when not.
At cold setting 4 of 7, which is pretty much adequate chilling up to 35c outside, the compressor only Runs maybe 30% of the time, so on average, 1A draw. / (24A in 24h), however In daylight, we get more than adequate solar power to offset the daylight hours battery demands and the night time energy spend is put back in by solar by 9 am

The other benefit of the compressor fridge isn't it does not need to have vents cut in the side of the van

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[Tanya_and_Mick]

We are also new to a compressor fridge - 150w on the roof and x2 95ah

Our first off grid use was the Peterborough show and it coped OK.

Will be interesting to see how things shape up at a cloudy Stoneliegh - we have a PWM controller.

 

[Minxy]

Or should I think about changing fridge/Freezer to a normal 3 way..????

No - you won't be able to change it for a 3-way as it would entail quite a lot of work, eg you'd need to find one that would fit the existing space which might be difficult, then install drop vents in the floor, 2 external wall vents plus running the gas to it.

Just use it and enjoy it Mo and if you do find you are short of juice sling another leisure battery in (assuming you only have one at the moment), use a site or buy a genny!

 

[EuroTrotters]

take a look at my post re compressor fridge modification. I can't see it at the mo But will try and link it

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[Gellyneck]

...., use a site or buy a genny!

He'll have Judy peddling a bike to keep it going!

 

[Minxy]

He'll have Judy peddling a bike to keep it going!

... or a massive hamster wheel for poor Daisy!

 

[stewartwebr]

We did give a compressor fridge a lot of thought when we bought our new Morelo. It was made more difficult by all the good reports we were reading about the new 3 way Dometic unit. However, I listened to the Morelo salesman and spoke to a few people who had them. I also liked the idea of no external fridge vents. When we collected our new van it was the one thing I was most nervous about, how much power would it use and how loud would it be.
Morelo install Siemens 230V Fridge Freezers and supply them with a complex power system. Rather than feed them through the vehicles large inverter which would need to be constantly running consuming power, they have installed a small stand alone inverter which is switched via the cooling circuit of the fridge. If the fridge temperature increases it calls for the compressor to start, to start the cooling process. A control feed is taken from this circuit to start the inverter when the fridge needs to cool. This way the inverter is only operational when required, saving power. With regard to concern about noise, we have honestly never heard it.
We are absolutely delighted with it in terms of power usage, noise and most of all cooling capacity, so very different to what we have had in any other motorhome.

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[Gellyneck]

... or a massive hamster wheel for poor Daisy!

***NEWS FLASH***

Just in from our roving reporter!

Coming to a field near you in the very near future. Auld Yin confirms he's now self sufficient in supply of leccy.

Undercover sleuths have also confirmed he's went for the optional extras for himself as well.

The wine dispenser!


***BREAKING NEWS - CHANGE TO FRIDGE UPDATE PLAN***
High level sources have confirmed the plan to change fridge to a compressor version has been scrapped as he doesn't want his wine boxes compressed to a smaller size!
Senior officials at compressor fridge manufacturers were confounded by this decision as they don't believe the boxes will be in there long enough to get cold never mind shrink!

Reuters and Associated Press have despatched their top reporters to Salisbury to try and uncover what the town has done to warrant not only Russki "tourists" but also Weymouth wanderers! Initial reports seem to suggest residents are pleading with the local authorities and national Government to reimpose Level 21 lockdown sanctions on them in case they bump into some auld codger wandering around like a f*rt in a trance!
Further to follow!

 

[old-mo]

Thanks for all the reply`s.... even Yung-Yins...

What with this thread and reading jezport `s thread, I have decided to stick with the compressor fridge..

Previous owner of the van has used it for a few years.. without changing it, so will carry on with it.. and see how we get on..

Van has a tow bar........ so if it is not up to the job... I can always tow one of these behind..

 

[carolyn]

We did give a compressor fridge a lot of thought when we bought our new Morelo. It was made more difficult by all the good reports we were reading about the new 3 way Dometic unit. However, I listened to the Morelo salesman and spoke to a few people who had them. I also liked the idea of no external fridge vents. When we collected our new van it was the one thing I was most nervous about, how much power would it use and how loud would it be.
Morelo install Siemens 230V Fridge Freezers and supply them with a complex power system. Rather than feed them through the vehicles large inverter which would need to be constantly running consuming power, they have installed a small stand alone inverter which is switched via the cooling circuit of the fridge. If the fridge temperature increases it calls for the compressor to start, to start the cooling process. A control feed is taken from this circuit to start the inverter when the fridge needs to cool. This way the inverter is only operational when required, saving power. With regard to concern about noise, we have honestly never heard it.
We are absolutely delighted with it in terms of power usage, noise and most of all cooling capacity, so very different to what we have had in any other motorhome.

This was us in our previous IH which is a similar size to old-mo Vantage on a site in France. We woke up next to a van similar to yours one morning. They then erected a huge awning for the two of them and their car and didn’t seem to move for days. Talk about little and large!

Think our electric requirements might be a bit different but I don’t suppose I’d be worrying about charging my electric bikes with yours ever!

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[Odd job]

I have always had a 3 way but with the new tech I would put in a compressor now. I have a portable 12v compressor fridge freezer in our picnic car, and although I expected to have to put in a leisure battery, so far it's been fine, running for several hours from the vehicle battery with no starting problems