What kind of fridge should i get?

TJ

tj-grant

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Joined
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Sooke
I have been researching fridges for too long and now i don’t know what i want. I’m not so enthusiastic about the propane ones just because of needing to run the propane lines and the levelling n all that. I have a 120v apartment fridge in the basement that i could use. Or do i commit to spending the cash for a 12v unit?

In that case do i really save on power that much? I know I’ll lose about 15% on dc-ac but is it actually all that bad? What would you recommend for a12v fridge freezer, 7-10 cuft?
 
Personally I'd run the propane line. Is it that you do not trust yourself to install it?

I use a yellow pipe dope on all threads, and let it dry for 24 hours before testing. Don't even let the gas exit the tank until it's dry as to not leak into your bus while it drys in case you didn't cover it well.

Then when testing, release the gas into the lines, and spray with soapy water. no bubbles, all good.

No pipe dope on flare fittings though, only straight pipe or lines with theads only.
 
What are your plans; boondocking or sites with shore power? My boondocking will be limited, and I have an extra household 120v ac fridge, so I chose an inverter to power it in the rare case of no shore power.
 
nikitis said:
Personally I'd run the propane line. Is it that you do not trust yourself to install it?

I use a yellow pipe dope on all threads, and let it dry for 24 hours before testing. Don't even let the gas exit the tank until it's dry as to not leak into your bus while it drys in case you didn't cover it well.

Then when testing, release the gas into the lines, and spray with soapy water. no bubbles, all good.

No pipe dope on flare fittings though, only straight pipe or lines with theads only.
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Idk i think I’d prefer to have somebody install it. It just seems like it will end up costing more in the end. But we do plan on being off-grid as much as possible (in the summer).
I’m just not sure what is best or how much power the electric fridge will consume. I doubt we’ll even be using much power. We don’t have tvs n computers n many electronics at all aside from the lights and pumps. We plan to rig the solar to the desired specs.
 
Mr P said:
What are your plans; boondocking or sites with shore power? My boondocking will be limited, and I have an extra household 120v ac fridge, so I chose an inverter to power it in the rare case of no shore power.
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We would like to be off-grid as much as possible in the summer. I guess i don’t really want to invest in a big solar system just to power a fridge.
 
Test the fridge you have to see how much power it uses....which will depend on what it's doing; keeping cold stuff cold in a cold room, or making ice/cooling down hot food in a hot room are two opposite extremes.
 
A small solar set up can power an efficient 12v fridge. 200 watts of panels and a 100ah battery would work with enough juice to charge your phone and run some lights too. Propane fridges smell, are finicky and use a 20 pound tank every 3 weeks or so. I'd not want one at all!
 
Timeline said:
A small solar set up can power an efficient 12v fridge. 200 watts of panels and a 100ah battery would work with enough juice to charge your phone and run some lights too. Propane fridges smell, are finicky and use a 20 pound tank every 3 weeks or so. I'd not want one at all!
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Ya. I don’t really want to waste propane that can be used for cooking. And hey, a Solar charge is free. Do you recommend any 12v fridges?
 
I have a 120 VAC dorm fridge I run off of solar and an inverter. I have ~450 watts solar, a 2K inverter and a 280 Amp battery. Solar covers the fridge running full time in all but the darkest of rainy season here in sunny northern California.

Personally I see no merit in the more expensive 12 volt fridge. My dorm fridge was a hundred bucks at the ding and scratch dept. Theoretically you could do the same and use the savings to beef up solar or battery.
 
Rucker said:
I have a 120 VAC dorm fridge I run off of solar and an inverter. I have ~450 watts solar, a 2K inverter and a 280 Amp battery. Solar covers the fridge running full time in all but the darkest of rainy season here in sunny northern California.

Personally I see no merit in the more expensive 12 volt fridge. My dorm fridge was a hundred bucks at the ding and scratch dept. Theoretically you could do the same and use the savings to beef up solar or battery.
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I’m with you on that. I bought a 2.6 cuft Galanz retro look fridge on sale at Lowe’s…I can replace it 5 times over for the price of a 12v one. As far as electric consumption, it pulls about 4 amps when the compressor is running (about 40-50 watts).
The only reason I could see for getting a 12v fridge would be if you were not planning on having an inverter…that, or money is no object…
 
I plan a living in my bus for months at a time and decided to get a very good fridge/freezer, even though money is an object!

A dorm fridge needs to run about twice as much as this Iceco unit. Thats twice the energy, noise and heat. It's chest design, dense insulation (like a Yeti cooler) and Secop tech make it have to run less.... btw is runs on 12, 24, 120, or 240v fwiw

I had a customer with a dorm fridge in their hot garage, thing never quit running so that was a factor in my decision!
 
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Timeline said:
I plan a living in my bus for months at a time and decided to get a very good fridge/freezer, even though money is an object!

A dorm fridge needs to run about twice as much as this Iceco unit. Thats twice the energy, noise and heat. It's chest design, dense insulation (like a Yeti cooler) and Secop tech make it have to run less.... btw is runs on 12, 24, 120, or 240v fwiw

I had a customer with a dorm fridge in their hot garage, thing never quit running so that was a factor in my decision!
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What size (cu. footage) and price? That may help others who are watching this thread make their own decisions.

And yes, no matter what the unit it needs to be able to do heat rejection. My fridge is enclosed in (I think) 2" isocyanate foam save for the back bottom where the fan is. So far, the amount of heat coming out of the unit is so small it doesn't cycle too badly even on hot days.

Just in case, I have a provision for a fan to exhaust heat to a nearby window, but have not needed to install that system so far.
 
Do those under desk office fridges need exhausting? When I worked at Microsoft we saw those things completely enclosed with no venting at all, and they ran all the time never a fire.
 
In summer 2020 when we were fridge shopping, supply chain issues forced us to try out small 110v chest freezers. Now that we've used them for 5 years overall and more a year on the road, I wouldn't change a thing.

We have a 5.0 cu ft chest freezer that's set to fridge temps and a 2.5 cu ft chest freezer for freezer food. They were around $250 for the pair, new. Together they fit more food than the 11 cu ft stand up fridge in our house because there's no wasted space. Nothing falls out after driving and we don't have to latch them closed like an upright. Cold air doesn't pour out every time we open it either, so no worries about the kids taking forever choosing a snack. They're easy and cheap to replace at any Home Depot or Best Buy (though we'd probably have to get a larger one if the freezer died... That little size is hard to find). I don't have my power usage numbers any more, but they're actually MORE energy efficient per cubic foot than the cooler-sized 12v fridges. Since there's no defrost cycle like a standard household refrigerator, I could add insulation everywhere except the compressor area and make them even more efficient, but haven't gotten around to it.
 
Personally, My rig is a shore power queen, and will boonedock once in a blue moon, (Computers use a lot of electricity!) So for that case, I'm going to use one of those cheapo vintage style fridges.. good bang for buck ratio IMO.
 
I am stubborn and stingy, so I converted a FB marketplace 5 ft³ chest freezer into a DC Danfoss chest fridge. It is very efficient.
 
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