12 V Fridge Quagmire

[luthj]

Most folks don't need a really big fridge. Something in the 40-60 liter/qt range works great for 2 people. Interestingly enough, there isn't a huge price difference between 30-80 liter fridges. So going larger only takes up more space and uses more power.

Fridges are pretty reliable devices, and most any major brand is likely to provide good service.

https://www.truckfridge.com/all-models/ (and IndelB company) sells many indel B portable models. They are a major manufacturer, and have good products.

Power options are not the issue, but thanks.

If you know what you need, that's fine. You specifically asked about power in your first post. Just saying "alternator and solar" is about as useful and specific as saying "12 fridge". There is a big difference between a charging and battery system that will run a few lights and phones, and one that run a medium or large DC fridge in warm temps.

Will a single deep cycle battery charged by solar or alternator keep it running.

 

[buckwilk]

Lots of useful info, thanks, very helpful. My excursions are 4 to 6 mo. in length and I travel alone so I'm thinking a 50 to 60 qt would be fine. I'm stationary for up to 2 weeks at a time and have 170 watts of solar to keep the charge up. When on the road the truck would be charging the battery in the trailer. I will be using 2 100 amp deep cycle batteries. I think the charging is sourced. Now have to decide on brand. Sounds like most are happy with their choices. Warranty and repair sites are never mentioned in the descriptions pf the product. Anyone have any experience with that?

 

[dreadlocks]

if you obtain a ~20AH per day fridge diet, which is honestly really good... you got ~5 days before you need to drive it w/poor solar.. not bad at all and would suit 90% of the people here perfectly.. but if your out for up to 6mo like you said, you'll find out that total solar independence is harder than you think and you can end up chasing the dragon so to speak, in a losing battle for more and more.. I've found the sweet spot for FLA batteries is about 200W per 100AH and the minimum is 100W per 100AH.. your not even meeting minimums let alone the sweet spot.

Also consider the seasons, a solar setup producing say 500Wh in June wont come close to those numbers in December with the shorter days, lower sun, and harder to obtain directsunlight.. A shaded solar panel only outputs about 10% of its full sun power, so for most purposes a panel thats not in the full sun wont be outputting really anything.. for long term boondocking you really need to plan for the worst and hope for the best.

For 6mo outtings, I'd be carrying a genset if I needed to be entirely independent for electrical needs, you can run that all day long if needed to get the bank back to 100% SOC and will use a fraction of the fuel or do the wear and tear.. if you can go 5 days before a recharge its just ~8h of runtime every 5 days at worst which is pretty low and you wont be faced with the dilemma of killing your batteries, losing your food, or idling your engine all day long .. I'd also invest in a nice monitoring system showing power in and power out so you can actually know whats going on and be able to forcast your needs.

*edit*
I'mna double down on cheapest batteries you can with your long term setup.. get a pair of 6v GC2 batteries from CostCo/Sams for under $200 and they will take the abuse your about to dish out much better.. Lead batteries dont like being at a partial charge for long periods, and your style of boondocking is going to mean they are at a partial charge more than not.. GC2's will handle this abuse better, last longer, and be cheaper to replace when they finally do crap out.. dont expect super long life and check fluid levels regularly with this kind of heavy use and the'll last longer than anything more expensive short of Lithium.

 

[1leglance]

I have owned a number of fridges over the last 12yrs...
Engel classic way back when
National Luna Weekender 52L
ARB low profile 63qt
Dometic 75L dual compartment.
All my travel has been 2-4 people with resupply once a week, used for beverages and cold food.

National Luna has been the most efficient and their new line is even better.
My ARB 63qt was bought because the shape was perfect as a rear center console.
My current Dometic 75L dual is great because I only use the smaller compartment 24/7 between trips and turn on the larger compartment the night before we pack to leave. Also I use the smaller as a beverage side turned down lower to help chill drinks.

Honestly you need to measure your space, think about lid (side vs front and the ability to change) and then buy a good name brand and sell/change if you needs change.

 

[shade]

On a road trip, a DC To DC charger is a fantastic investment. Charges a 100Ah AGM battery in no time.

Fully?

 

[AtomicGeo]

In my truck camper shell I have 200 Ah of AGM sealed lead acid batteries charged by 200W solar upon top. The batteries were 1/3 the cost of lithium. My fridge is an ICECO JP40 40 liter with a Danfoss compressor. So far happy after using it a few times. I agree with earlier post...200W is the sweet spot for running fridge, lights, and other small draw electronics.

 

[slvyj]

I bought a 50qt ARB for my family of four and its too big for us, wish I had gone with the 37qt. I do not chill my water or drink sodas, which I believe for most people take up most of the space. Before a trip, we will freeze a bunch of stuff before departure, that helps with power management and has last us two weeks.

 

[dbhost]

110 liter is how big in quarts ? Freezer, optional. Environment, summer travel western U.S. 6 mo. at a time. Temps-- 70's to 100's. Portable best application. Initial install in enclosed trailer transferable to covered P.U. bed on occasion. Battery size and location not an issue. Good questions, thanks

110 liters is 116.23 quarts. That's roughly 2 60qt coolers, and that's HUGE.

 

[luthj]

It depends on what your doing. Its big for most car campers, but for a live-aboard rig, or one with a family, ~100 liters is a great size. It lets you have condiments, produce, and a decent sized freezer for veggies or dessert.

 

[dreadlocks]

Ive always bought the biggest I could fit in the space allocated, this time around my trailer is big w/no space issues so I got the largest one.. once packed full of chilled food/liquids it dont seem to consume any more power than my smaller ones did or run any more frequently.. the compressor is the same, pulls the same amperage.. now if I had to take whole fridge from room temp to near freezing i'm sure it would suck up alot more power just because of the extra mass it has to extract energy from.

Never regretted not having enough room, tho I admit this 84qt is a monster that holds over a weeks worth of food for my family.. and then some.. but the wife and kids always seem to find a way to fill it all the way up.. very worst case the fridge is half full of pre-frozen water bottles for a weekend outing because we dont have that much food or beer for a 2-3 day trip... for these cases the larger fridge ends up using alot less power than a smaller one would with the frozen water buffer.. on longer trips the frozen water bottles are swapped out with frozen slabs of bacon, hamburger, sausage, etc and 10 days in we still have to pull out items to defrost before we can cook em with my Engel set at 0C

 

[bglenden]

An advantage of a fridge over a cooler is that you don't have to keep so many cans/bottles of drinks (beer, soda, ...) in the fridge - just replace cold ones with warm ones as you drink them. (Ours is 65l, which seems to us to be a good size for 2-3 people for a few days; ours isn't permanently installed and I wouldn't really want to be routinely lugging around a larger one).

 

[dreadlocks]

An advantage of a fridge over a cooler is that you don't have to keep so many cans/bottles of drinks (beer, soda, ...) in the fridge - just replace cold ones with warm ones as you drink them. (Ours is 65l, which seems to us to be a good size for 2-3 people for a few days; ours isn't permanently installed and I wouldn't really want to be routinely lugging around a larger one).

You can do that with a cooler too.. its just you burn through ice quicker.. however in a fridge you'll burn through power quicker too.. I can hypermile a fridge to last off minimal power for quite a while if its packed full of pre-chilled beer, same with a cooler.. but when I gotta chill the beer in the field my ice or power consumption dramatically increases.. the advantage of the fridge is I dont have to go into town every few days for ice despite having a very well insulated 7d+ cooler due to the re-stocking constantly adding heat to the system.. but in exchange it took a really good power system to last indefinitely in the field

My #1 reason for Fridge was after loosing a bunch of game meat when customs agents opened all my food and tossed it back into the nasty cooler water.. I had carefully prepared backpacking meals ruined and was forced to eat nasty MRE's on my honeymoon.

 

[Westy]

The battery requirements will be based off your needs, expectations, setup and vehicle accessories, power required, etc and types of trips. I've found a single, good quality extra large deep cycle battery is more than sufficient. I can run a 45L Engel fridge for 3-4 days without starting vehicle. If you need to freeze things or are trying to keep the temperatures really cold or in high temperature environment, etc your use and requirements may be different. I also sometimes depending on ambient temperature will put a Artic Ice freeze block in the bottom to allow much longer intervals of run time on particular trips where stationed for multiple days. Obviously if you are moving daily or every other day the battery will be just fine. I prefer the simplicity of a single battery setup vs dual batteries.

Solar would be a good addition and will power a fridge and help the battery.

I would no question buy another Engel fridge. They are simple, reliable, very efficient and well built plus a reasonable cost. Its held up great over time which has been a lot of rough roads and backcountry places.

We mainly use it just for food and add in drinks as needed. A 45L will hold A LOT of food, easily 7-8 days worth for two people if properly portioned & planned by incorporating dry goods/non refrigerated foods into meals it can really stretch out things.

 

[buckwilk]

First hand info works much better than reviews. It looks as though most fridges use roughly the same amount of power if equal in size. No one has chimed in that they have had a bad experience with any particular brand. In the $500 to $700 range there are some good choices it seems. The over $1000 kits don't seem to offer any real advantages. I'm leaning toward Whynter or maybe Truck Fridge. Thanks to you who have shared.

 

[shade]

First hand info works much better than reviews. It looks as though most fridges use roughly the same amount of power if equal in size. No one has chimed in that they have had a bad experience with any particular brand. In the $500 to $700 range there are some good choices it seems. The over $1000 kits don't seem to offer any real advantages. I'm leaning toward Whynter or maybe Truck Fridge. Thanks to you who have shared.

National Luna fridges are generally the most efficient, but that efficiency can cost 2x the price of an Indel B / TruckFridge. If I was living out of a vehicle for many months or years at a time, I might be able to justify the cost, but for how I use a fridge, an Indel B has been perfect.

Since you're shopping, I bought mine from Equipt1.

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www.equipt1.com

OJ's 2017 article has taken some criticism for the test parameters, and it's a little out of date now, but I think it's still a good resource.

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