Residential Fridge - battery power
We just replaced the Norcold with a residential refrigerator. The question is - if I turn on the inverter will it run the refrigerator without harming the batteries?
Forum Discussion
John & Angela wrote:
What Tex said. No worrys about hurting the batteries as a fridge doesn't draw much. To put it in perspective, your microwave draws about 14 times the current as your fridge does.
I don't think Tex said or meant any of this. There is a BIG worry about hurting batteries with 120V fridge, unless battery bank is big or you run the fridge only a short time. Tex has a big 440 bank, 4*220AH @6V = 440 AH@12V. And yet, after approximately 24 hours, his charge drops low. The OP has almost twice smaller bank, which means they are good for maybe 15-20 hours. Or less than 15 hours, if they have more loads than Tex, besides the fridge. This would work if they are always plugged in at the camp, and need the battery while on the road only.
Yes, microwave draws 14 times more current than 120V fridge, but it also runs total 14 times less than a fridge, over 24 hours period. Though, due to Peukert effect the high current drawn by MW may draw more charge from the batteries than the fridge, even if KWH @120V over 24 hrs period is the same.
