Inverter size
Hi all, I just got my new residential fridge installed in my 5er. It is a whirlpool WRT111 and it is 10.7 cu ft. I love it so far. With the unit being at ambient temperature (and never having be...
Forum Discussion
Golden_HVAC wrote:
Hi,
The 600 watt probably will handle the job just fine. The 1000 watt will consume more power to run the same load that running a smaller inverter near it's full rated load.
I found that out running my TV and satellite dish. When using my built in 1500 watt inverter, my total draw might be 8 amps, but changing to the 300 watt inverter will use a total of about 5.8 - 6 amps. It has much smaller transformer, and smaller capacitors, ect, so not nearly as much parasitic draw.
A pair of 6 volt batteries are the minimum with that load. Anything smaller, and the voltage will 'dip' to far when starting the compressor, and you might never recover, unless the engine is on, or you have a huge solar system that is putting out more than say 20 amps!
80 watt load - figure about 8 amps from the battery into the inverter into the load.
Your propane CO leak detectors team up to use about 1 amp per hour, or about 20 AH daily. No matter how much you conserve, you can not drop below about 35 AH on a typical RV battery draw. With your electric refrigerator, add about 80 amp hours daily, and you will be good. So yes you 'could' go boondocking, with about 3 solar panels - this place has 140 watt on sale for $229 recently.
SunElec.comp
Have fun camping!
Fred.
Thanks for the input. The info you provided is where I get a little fuzzy. The batteries I have are rated at about 220 AH. If I follow correctly I should be in the neighborhood of 2 full days just running the fridge and counting parasitic load. Is that correct??
I do eventually want to explore the solar route. I just have too many other projects in the works right now.
Steve
