Power used on hook up

[DavidG58]

I am lazy and always leave MH on hook up at home, ready to go when we are

Alde turned off when I remember

Only things on are fridge and charger

Alde definitely off today, (I checked) I have just invested in one of these to check round our house to find what is using approx 800W all day long

First check motorhome , Alde definitely off, two readings are whole motorhome with fridge on mains power, then fridge manually turned to standby it is hard wired so can’t test just the fridge

My only small doubt is whether the fridge may use more power when it reconnects to mains, I have to disconnect to plug the device in

I will try a longer test later and report back, but for now the fridge is turned off

270W @27p Kwhr is £638 / year I really had no idea it would use that much, and didn’t really worry about it at 10p Kwhr

Have already also found our fish pond pump is 180W, That is going on a timer for daylight use only when our house solar will pay for it

Just another 320W to track down

 

[Verteuil Man]

Them there big fridge/freezer jobbies use more leccie than you think. The Marjal site in Spain there was 4kw per day included in the Daily pitch fee. With only the fridge on it used over the 4kw.

 

[Garfields]

Our biggest user of electric in the summer are the fridges.

 

[jdk62]

We have ours on mains hook up all the time at home but always turn the fridge off and leave the door open.

When we go away we just turn it on the night before.

 

[Nirvanauk]

Doesnt that gadget just measure 1 plug at a time?

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[DavidG58]

Doesnt that gadget just measure 1 plug at a time?

Yes

It’s connected via my 13A hook up adaptor for the whole MH

 

[CazPaul]

Wow I never knew anybody left their van fridge on constantly. You will save a fortune going forward.

 

[DavidG58]

Wow I never knew anybody left their van fridge on constantly. You will save a fortune going forward.

It saves emptying, leave basic stock of butter beer and sauces plus a bit of cheese and chocolate, we try and get away every month saves forgetting things and as line 1 post 1, I am lazy

 

[DavidG58]

Wow I never knew anybody left their van fridge on constantly. You will save a fortune going forward.

I never dreamt they would use so much power, my much larger domestic fridge freezer in the house is only taking 80W

I had hoped MH fridge would have been similar

Just trying a different idea now, turned fridge to 12V manually, doesn’t appear to have thrown a wobbly and controller display says less than 1A being drawn from the battery, as the charger is (was) only drawing 6W seems too simple , what have I missed ?

 

[DavidG58]

We have ours on mains hook up all the time at home but always turn the fridge off and leave the door open.

We have found ours with black mildew when left off, even with the door cracked open. When costs were relatively unknown / lower I never really considered emptying, always a couple of cold beers if I get caught out while mowing the grass

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[Tonks]

I have mine plugged in at home quite often, but the power to the lead is switched off inside the house unless I'm needing to help the solar out just prior to a trip. If I've got a few weeks between trips I turn off the fridge, empty it, clean it and leave it 'door ajar'.

 

[DavidG58]

I have mine plugged in at home quite often, but the power to the lead is switched off inside the house unless I'm needing to help the solar out just prior to a trip. If I've got a few weeks between trips I turn off the fridge, empty it, clean it and leave it 'door ajar'.

Think I will now do the same myself, although based on how little the charger seems to take I might just leave the mains on with just the charger running

 

[PhilandMena]

We spent a whole month on a campsite in Crete with hook up. Electricity was 0.38 Euros per KWh. We had fridge on whole time, plus on board battery charger and used TV most nights.
Total electricity costs was 51.0 Euros and I was very happy with that. Those days are gone now I think. In the UK we have just had an 80 % increase to our price cap. I notice at present the daily charge for lecce at Camping Villasol is 4.60 Euros. If that increases by 80% come January there will be problems for both the campsite and campers.

 

[DBK]

Just trying a different idea now, turned fridge to 12V manually, doesn’t appear to have thrown a wobbly and controller display says less than 1A being drawn from the battery, as the charger is (was) only drawing 6W seems too simple , what have I missed ?

What you might be missing is the fridge won't be working on 12 volts unless the engine is running.

 

[DavidG58]

What you might be missing is the fridge won't be working on 12 volts unless the engine is running.

I did wonder that, but thought being a smart arse fridge it would give an error for no power

Will see if we have a pool of water or a frozen freezer still in the morning

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[1ten]

Is it a compressor fridge or 3 way?

 

[DavidG58]

Is it a compressor fridge or 3 way?

Three way

 

[Mr porky]

We spent a whole month on a campsite in Crete with hook up. Electricity was 0.38 Euros per KWh. We had fridge on whole time, plus on board battery charger and used TV most nights.
Total electricity costs was 51.0 Euros and I was very happy with that. Those days are gone now I think. In the UK we have just had an 80 % increase to our price cap. I notice at present the daily charge for lecce at Camping Villasol is 4.60 Euros. If that increases by 80% come January there will be problems for both the campsite and campers.

We managed 8 days with solar last year at villasol unfortunately we where there for 9 days duh

 

[gus-lopez]

Wow I never knew anybody left their van fridge on constantly.

As I use the van daily the fridge was always plugged in when at home to keep the cokes cold. Right up until we went away it had been on since 2020. Never noticed an increase/decrease in units used whether on or off & as I check daily I would notice.
Our fridge & under counter drawer freezer use 44kw per month between them in the summer when we are away.

 

[dunnah01]

Our largish Domestic fridge/freezer has a 195w element on 240v and is turned on 24/7 so if it's using power 50% of the time it won't cost the earth

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[EML]

270W @27p Kwhr is £638 / year I really had no idea it would use that much, and didn’t really worry about it at 10p Kwhr

If you think that's bad, wait another month, and it will increase to over £1200/year.

277W is bizarre, and should be impossible. It should be about 80W, like your home one, or a lot less.

Because: a huge in-your-face fridge freezer runs at about 250kWh/a. This means that the average instantaneous power consumption is only 28W (250000/365/24). If the fridge has a duty cycle of 1/3 (in other words, it's on for 8 hours a day, and off for 16) then you will measure (28x3)W when it's actually running, ie. 84W.

Small mains fridges (45L-65L) should run at about 110kWh/a. The one in my van reads 10W when it's resting and 44W when the compressor kicks in (both figures including the inverter power consumption).

 

[Reallyretired]

When we are not using ours we keep the fridge and freezer doors closed with a disposable dehumidifier in each. No trace of mould.

 

[Reallyretired]

My 12v compressor coldbox uses 44w when the compressor runs and zero when it doesn't.

 

[ShiftZZ]

We have found ours with black mildew when left off, even with the door cracked open. When costs were relatively unknown / lower I never really considered emptying, always a couple of cold beers if I get caught out while mowing the grass

When I sold my house and everything went into storage, the storage company blokes asked me for a tea bag, I was a bit surprised, but they insisted that leaving a couple of Tea Bags inside the fridge will eliminate the black mildew , and when they delivered my furniture some 8 months later they were right..

How to Store a Refrigerator (Fridge) when Moving - Palmers Relocations

We have provided this guide to help you in ensuring your refrigerator is stored correctly and how you can avoid the unwanted growth of mould and mildew.

palmersrelocations.com.au

 

[tonka]

It should be about 80W, like your home one, or a lot less.

Except the home fridge / freezer will be a compressor type.
The 3 way is absoption and often the elements are 150-180 watts at 230v. So hence not as efficient.

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[jdk62]

We have found ours with black mildew when left off, even with the door cracked open. When costs were relatively unknown / lower I never really considered emptying, always a couple of cold beers if I get caught out while mowing the grass

With the door open, we have never had any issues with mildew.

like the beer touch though!

 

[DavidG58]

Now convinced I have a faulty fridge it has been less cool recently , I have read up on thermal paste and ordered some

I will report back on how that goes and the impact on costs

 

[DavidG58]

What you might be missing is the fridge won't be working on 12 volts unless the engine is running.

Being possibly the least technical person on this forum , I am now very confused

Fridge set to run on 12V by selecting battery option, hook up on and only running the battery charger / Reich controller

The fridge does seem to be working off 12V freezer not a hint of defrost 18 hours after switching to 12V

 

[EML]

Except the home fridge / freezer will be a compressor type.
The 3 way is absoption and often the elements are 150-180 watts at 230v. So hence not as efficient.

Ah - I can see that now, thanks. So, expensive, open flame, requires ventilation, and not actually "energy efficient", as advertised... hmm

 

[tonka]

Ah - I can see that now, thanks. So, expensive, open flame, requires ventilation, and not actually "energy efficient", as advertised... hmm

Obviously on EHU it uses the electric element in place of the gas flame for heating. I know on mine it's rated at 180watts.

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