Compressor fridges

[jezport]

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 people who have them think.

 

[hja]

We have a new van with a compressor fridge. Cant remember whether our battery is 90 or 100 ah. We have a 120w solar panel.
I was told we would do 2 days off grid and not moving the van.
We havnt been off grid yet so no practical experience.
We were away last weekend and it was hot - fridge seemed to cope better than 3 way fridge - kept on turning it down. In fact my pack of fresh basil got inadvertently moved from veg drawer and pushed to back of fridge was destroyed - it sort of froze!!

 

[Richard n Ann]

We lasted 6 weeks off grid in Benidorm with the compressor coolbox set on -5°c .
Yes plenty of sun but the ambient temperature was high too.

100ah battery and 150w solar panel.

 

[TheMachMan]

We’ve now got used to the higher noise they make. Don’t even notice it now.
Often spend 3 days off grid without any issues.

 

[Raul]

A compressor fridge eats about 400wh per day, or 30ah. From spring to autumn that can be covered with a 100w solar and 100ah battery, still leaving few amp for lighting and pump. Or one hr drive with 30a B2B. From late autum to early spring you will need to: drive more, plug into ehu, or have more solar.
For comparison midd summer-100w solar can yield 400-600wh per day. Midd winter- 100w solar can yield 30-50wh per day. This does not account for rainy overcast cloudy days.

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[Richard n Ann]

A compressor fridge eats about 400wh per day, or 30ah. From spring to autumn that can be covered with a 100w solar and 100ah battery, still leaving few amp for lighting and pump. Or one hr drive with 30a B2B. From late autum to early spring you will need to: drive more, plug into ehu, or have more solar.
For comparison midd summer-100w solar can yield 400-600wh per day. Midd winter- 100w solar can yield 30-50wh per day. This does not account for rainy overcast cloudy days.

But in winter it's cold so the fridge will hardly run if you're out and the heating is off. So many variables.

 

[olley]

Unlike an absorbsion fridge a compression fridge doesn't have outside vents, in the winter it will still working be hard to combat the ambiant temperatures inside the van.
Ours lasted two days at the new forest show last year, 40watt panel 1x100ah battery, this year same show 2x100ah batteries, better but she wants the telly on, so fitted 2x100watt panels, at the Stratford overland show she got telly.

This is the smallest compressor fridge, in my opinion as made by autocruise ours is suitable for site use only.

 

[cmcardle75]

3 way fridges will soon go the way of dinosaurs. A compressor will eat about 30Ah a day (more if poorly installed). You need to size your electrical installation to cope with this. How to do so depends on your usage. Some will go for solar (sunseekers), some will go for B2B (tourers), some will go for a large lithium batteries (weekenders).

 

[Cal54]

Don’t understand the technicalities of my fridge but seem to manage off grid for upto 5 days without any issues. My current set up is 2 x 100 amp batteries and 2 x 100 wt solar panels. If my battery monitor is giving a low reading I have occasionally switched the fridge off overnight but it is very much dependent on the weather. Love the compressor fridge, no fuss with levelling etc and keeps the ice lollies frozen!!

 

[Minxy]

Despite having 2 x 100w solar panels and 2 x 85ah gel batteries we were having to keep an eye on our usage as the fridge seemed to hammer them, this was in France and Spain over winter wild camping. We also found ours noisy, so wouldn't be wanting to have another and were very happy that our Carthago has a 3-way with the benefit that if one form of power goes awry we can still use another.

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[cmcardle75]

Despite having 2 x 100w solar panels and 2 x 85ah gel batteries we were having to keep an eye on our usage as the fridge seemed to hammer them, this was in France and Spain over winter wild camping. We also found ours noisy, so wouldn't be wanting to have another and were very happy that our Carthago has a 3-way with the benefit that if one form of power goes awry we can still use another.

Yes, that setup does sound marginal for winter. It'd think it would do fine in spring/summer.

 

[berni109]

Full agm battery and no solar - out of power after 36 hours.
Lithium battery and 300watt solar - power for everything inc a bit of blown heating but we were only away for a week and it was sunny but cold overnight.

 

[Jim]

PVC’s with little roof and battery space, coupled with a compresser fridge, is a recipe for warm beer. Three ways rule

 

[sallylillian]

Despite having 2 x 100w solar panels and 2 x 85ah gel batteries we were having to keep an eye on our usage as the fridge seemed to hammer them, this was in France and Spain over winter wild camping. We also found ours noisy, so wouldn't be wanting to have another and were very happy that our Carthago has a 3-way with the benefit that if one form of power goes awry we can still use another.

It's the redundancy of the absorber I like to Mel, how many times do you read my fridge works on gas but not ehu or 12vdc etc etc, but it is still always working one way or another. That said I had compressor fridges and freezer on my last boat which never missed a beat in 11 years, they were 230vac and 12vdc so 2 out of 3.

 

[funflair]

I know Michael sallylillian reads the same German forum as I do and there have been reports of people having problems with the new Dometic 10 series compressor fridge/freezer, they also report needing around 50A per day to run them.

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[Richard n Ann]

If there's a freezer in them they will use more power.

 

[cmcardle75]

PVC’s with little roof and battery space, coupled with a compresser fridge, is a recipe for warm beer. Three ways rule

There are many disadvantages to 3 way fridges too. They eat gas, require gas engineers to fix, require to be fitted on an outside wall, are physically larger for same storage space and don't work in hot weather. However, it is true you can't just retrofit one to your van and expect your existing 100Ah lead acid battery and 100W panel to run it whilst parked up in winter. It needs to be planned in as part of an overall design.

I've just been away for a long weekend with a compressor fridge and my 300Ah lithium never dropped below 250Ah (and once recovered all the way to full). I have no solar, just from driving around. I would anticipate being able to use it continuously with my usage patterns even with no solar or EHU.

 

[Jim]

There are many disadvantages to 3 way fridges too. They eat gas, require gas engineers to fix, require to be fitted on an outside wall, are physically larger for same storage space and don't work in hot weather.

The eat gas because they can. In winter with little solar and nothing else I'm glad of that. They can be easily serviced anywhere in the world at the side of the road and I've never had a problem in very warm weather. People normally have their gas too high when its really hot and that is often the most innefficient setting.

I understand the benefits of compressor fridges especialy with a roof fulll of solar and a locker full of batteries. But supplying them from new with a 75AH battery is pretty dumb in my opinion.

 

[62272]

don't work in hot weather.

?? Never heard of that before. Ours is left on site in the South of France for weeks on end (and used daily) and all the frozen items remain frozen, and the fridge items really cold (35+ degree heat). Although that is on the EHU, will that be different on gas??

 

[cmcardle75]

I understand the benefits of compressor fridges especialy with a roof fulll of solar and a locker full of batteries. But supplying them from new with a 75AH battery is pretty dumb in my opinion.

Yes, the sure sign of the "designer" ticking all the cheapest boxes with no consideration about how it will be used. I guess it is fine for campsites.

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[cmcardle75]

?? Never heard of that before. Ours is left on site in the South of France for weeks on end (and used daily) and all the frozen items remain frozen, and the fridge items really cold (35+ degree heat). Although that is on the EHU, will that be different on gas??

Some installations suffer more than others. Even poor ones can often be redeemed by the provision of fans.

 

[Richard n Ann]

Our 3 way still works in 39°c ambient.

 

[funflair]

If there's a freezer in them they will use more power.

I have edited my post to fridge/freezer.

 

[62272]

Some installations suffer more than others. Even poor ones can often be redeemed by the provision of fans.

We must be lucky I suppose. although we are always careful to keep the awning out shading the vents. fans sound a good idea to increase air flow though.

 

[walburga]

I posted this a few years ago....just my experience:-

''I installed a 2nd hand shoreline 12v compressor fridge (approx 100 litre) in my hymer S650...2 x 75 watts of solar on the roof, 2 x 110 ah LB's...3 months in the spanish winter sun, on a site in Beni for 6 weeks, and never switched the on board charger on (although I was on ehu), everything using 12v including tv, LB's never below 12.2v, fridge was barely audible.''

regards
Allen

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[Clive Mott]

Friends brand new Hymer PVC at Peterborough show with 2 x 95ah batteries lasted 3 days with the fridge in Night mode. Had to run engine for 45 minutes using B2B to put enough into the batteries to last one more day. No solar fitted. But the next van will have a 3 way gas fridge for sure.

 

[Shrimp]

Our 3 way Dometic fridge works well.

 

[ED O'DARAC]

We have had both 3 way and now compressor (12v only). When we collected the van it only had one 90Ah battery and no solar. This is not enough. Now, with 120w solar and 180Ah wet battery it is superb. Upgrades cost £300 total.
The great thing is solar. When it is hot, the sun cools the fridge!
I prefer the newer compressor fridge, but Jim is right , the manufacturers should fit batteries and solar to cope with it.

 

[Garry - June]

3 way fridges will soon go the way of dinosaurs. A compressor will eat about 30Ah a day (more if poorly installed). You need to size your electrical installation to cope with this. How to do so depends on your usage. Some will go for solar (sunseekers), some will go for B2B (tourers), some will go for a large lithium batteries (weekenders).

Well that's a bizarre comment....you are totally ignoring the one main benefit of a 3 way fridge.... the very fact it can use multiple fuel sources.. having lived on a boat for 5 yrs with a small compressor fridge and now in our motorhome with the 3 way and the ability to switch fuel sources.... mains/gas/12v/ even solar when its producing enough...i greatly appreciate that over constantly worrying how much power i have in my batteries to power the compressor.... we fulltime and despite its occasional foibles I'll take my Dometic 3 way flexibility any day..

 

[cmcardle75]

Well that's a bizarre comment....you are totally ignoring the one main benefit of a 3 way fridge.... the very fact it can use multiple fuel sources.. having lived on a boat for 5 yrs with a small compressor fridge and now in our motorhome with the 3 way and the ability to switch fuel sources.... mains/gas/12v/ even solar when its producing enough...i greatly appreciate that over constantly worrying how much power i have in my batteries to power the compressor.... we fulltime and despite its occasional foibles I'll take my Dometic 3 way flexibility any day..

A 3 way will work on multiple source, yes, but one of them is NOT your leisure batteries. They only work on gas, mains electric and whilst actually driving.

With a decent 12V setup, you can easily arrange for ample 12V power for a compressor fridge. Then you don't have to worry about using lots of gas and needing to top it up or find replacement bottles. You can leave the fridge on 24 hours a day for entire seasons for zero cost in fuel or tracking down gas bottles.

That's before looking at the other advantages, such as smaller size for the same volume, better cooling capacity, flexibility on installation location (no outside wall needed), no need to puncture the sides with massive vents, no need for an expensive gas engineer to install/service, no need to fiddle around every time you stop (even with AES you have to remember to turn the gas on, unless you enjoy the peace of mind of driving around with the gas system enabled ready to spew flammable gas over you if you crash).

Obviously, it is not a good idea if your 12V installation isn't up to it and you have to worry about power availability. A compressor fridge would be hopeless for off-grid on the standard manufacturer fitout of an 85Ah lead acid, split charge relay and an 80W solar panel if you're lucky. It is also no good if you like to stay put over winter, where you have no electric hookup, very little solar and are not driving.

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