12 volt only refrigerator

nmhuntr wrote:
A friend of mine just bought a new TT. It has a 12 volt only refrigerator. I am completely unfamiliar with this type refrigerator. Is this the new move on TTers? Is it better that a 120 volt/propane unit? My propane unit works great and it is 15 years old. I cool it down with 120 volts and then it keeps up just fine. I am asking because I am looking into getting a newer TT and I am now concerned that I won’t be able to get a propane unit.

Thanks for your insight and experiences.

I think the trend seems to be moving to 12v fridges. They are far better now then in the past. Personally I don't really see the reason for this unless you can't or won't have a couple propane tanks on your coach. And.........I know all the details about there being more room in the 12v vs propane. For boon docking I don't know why anyone would want anything but a propane fridge. 14 gallons of propane will keep a fridge cold for about 30 days while using the water heater. That's a long time with no worries. I don't need to set up a generator. I don't need to put out additional solar. I don't need to add more batteries. Meaning, I can just arrive, plant the trailer and start enjoying.............but this is just my humble opinion.....

The trend towards 12V fridges has been made possible with introduction of Li batteries, especially affordable now with many Chinese brands. This takes care of one of the requirements that I wrote earlier - big battery bank.
Solar panels prices dropped significantly over the last 7 years.
Controllers TAD dropped, not much. Morningstar MPPT is still costly but less known brands like Epever and Renogy are becoming popular with 40A MPPT selling for less than $200.
Offbrand supplies like solar cable with connectors made by god-knows-who have flooded the market.
Trailer manufacturers have a lot of catching up to do, they put 12V box in but their OEM solar options are a joke, usually.

12V fridges were not too bad 10 years ago, then Danfoss improved something in control board and compressor failure rate went down. Changed the name too, it's now Secop.

Li batteries are not necessary for 12v fridges, they run just fine on any battery.

I just did a weekend trip to the mountains. Parked in the forest under heavy canopy of trees with the fridge running. It did fine the first night of course with full charge, then the next day in late afternoon the fridge still said 13.6 volts, which is full charge. This is from 200 watts of solar under partial shade (some light always gets through the trees).

I would have done at least 300 watts of solar if to do again, but my 200 is in series and I havent figured how to add one more panel. No room for two. Maybe I can add the third panel is series too....

Combining the last two posts
I recently purchased a 25 AH LiFePO4 battery and charger..
I can easily pick this thing up with one hand in the manner of a pound of butter (Fingers either side) What's more I can use over 20 of those 25 Amp Hours before the voltage starts to drop significantly
That makes it about the usable capacity of a Group 27 MARINE/deep cycle

The BLF 1225 Weight: 5.8 lbs. (2.6 kg)
A common Group 27 Weight 59. pounds

You can lug a whole lot more AHs with LiFePO4

That said the battery maker does not recommend parallel operation of their batteries.. But some companies make higher capacity models.

OK, the original OP asked about 12 volt RV refers. YES, Dometic, Norcold and a new company(2015) WAY, have started building 12 volt Compressor RV refers. The main advantage is MORE interior space in the same size RV cabinet cut out, due to losing the rear Cooling unit. Most will run up to 40 hours on a single 27 series RV deep cycle battery. So, with a modest roof top Solar system you can run the refers for boondocking. Doug

I just installed a 12v fridge marketed by GE. Huge inside, fit the old dometic hole without spacers or trim. In one hour the freezer was down to 3 degrees! Looking forward to a long term test. Chino.