ewarnerusa wrote:
This is something I'm curious about. Intuitively I would agree with this statement. But readings these forums there are some claims that the 12V control panel on a modern RV absorption fridge (while on propane) is on all the time drawing 12V power. I've read in the neighborhood of 1 amp continuous load. This sounds like very little, but that is 1 amp for 24 hrs/day. That means 24 Ah/day just to run the fridge on propane. If you've got a single group 24 battery with a typical ~80 Ah rating (40 Ah available to stay above 50%), then in only two days you would use all of your recommended available battery just with the fridge alone.
Now I don't know if these claims are true and I don't really ever get a chance to test it because I have solar installed and no amp meter on my batteries, but it is kind of eye opening. The following links are what I found in a quick search on Google. Seems like claims of 0.1 A to 2 A to run the 12V electronics on the fridge when running on propane.
http://www.rvnetwork.com/index.php?showtopic=103161
http://rvservices.koa.com/rvinformation/rvmaintenance/rv-converters-and-amp-draw.asp
http://www.keystonerv.org/forums/showthread.php?t=3853
The only actual datasheet I found while surfing was for a Norcold and it said 1.2A on 12V DC power.
I expect 1.2A is the maximum, not the average. I've gone 2 weeks without problem before (accidentally; I thought I was plugged in but the breaker had tripped). Maybe some fridges are different.
