12v Refidgerators

I would imagine those refidgerators would "run" on solar all day as long as the sun is shining. The question would be will they run through the night.

Post the make/model of your refer. We need to know its power draw and duty cycle.

12v only seems kind of short sighted on the manufacturers side. Are you looking at new trailers? Can you post a make and model of one of them?

opnspaces wrote:
12v only seems kind of short sighted on the manufacturers side. Are you looking at new trailers? Can you post a make and model of one of them?

agreed ... I've seen several new rigs, mostly toward the higher end with 120v only fridges... but not 12v only?

GordonThree wrote:
...with 120v only fridges... but not 12v only?

I'm betting it's 120 and he just forgot the 0.

My daughter and her fiance' just purchased their first trailer this weekend..
It is a 2021 Forest River Vibe and it came with a - "12 Volt Everchill Residential Refer"..

Part of the deal was for the dealer to include a second battery, and upgrade BOTH to deep cycle..

They will NOT dry camp at any time, so that type of fridge is fine. I am not sure how people who boondock would take to this?

12 volt Refrigerators are some pretty efficient units , or at least can be. Many people have preconceived ideas based on old tech. 400 watts solar with a sufficient battery pack and no additional large draws would be plenty for a 10 ish cubic foot modern 12 volt unit. Now if your camping in the winter with no sun and furnace use ... well most likely not.
How much battery capacity ?, that tells you how long it will run. the solar or Generator (what solar is)just replenish the battery. hopefully 5-6 hours of solar replenish the 24 hour draw.

"How long will they run on solar?"

That's not the attitude! With an adequate solar system...batteries, panels and controller...every day the sun shines and without any generator use. Do any energy survey to determine what you need.

"They will NOT dry camp at any time, so that type of fridge is fine. I am not sure how people who boondock would take to this?"

I'm sorry since they will be unable to camp in SO MANY beautiful spots. I'd never buy an RV that wasn't fully capable of boondocking for a week at least.

If it's actually a 12v fridge (mostly made for marine installations), 400w solar should be able to handle it if you don't have other major draws. Boats generally don't have the option to use propane so they have put a lot of effort into getting these to run efficiently on 12v.

If you really meant 120v (household fridge), it's not so clear cut.

Either way, there should be a rated wattage draw while cooling and then you need to estimate the duty cycle. By multiplying out the wattage times the operating hours, you get an estimate of the watt-hrs used. Figure the 400w panels will put out about 1600 watt-hr per day but that presumes no shadows from trees or overcast. You can convert your battery bank to watt-hr by multiplying the amp-hr by 12v and assume 50% is usable without damaging the batteries.

If it's a household fridge, you can do the same but add another 10-20% because it needs to run thru an inverter to convert to 120v AC power. You could just buy a $20 killavolt meter which includes a kwh option. (It's good to have a voltage meter anyway so you can see at a glance if you have low voltage.

No it is 12v only. I don't know the make of the refridgerator. I beleive it is 10 cuft. The trailers I am looking at is a 2020 Surveyor Luxury 267RBSS. jorbill2or, I really wish LP was an option. Sometimes you can't count on sun everyday to replenish the batteries and you ina place that doesn't allow generators.