compact fridge
Does anyone know what size inverter i will need to power a residential/compact refrigerator with the following specs? FYI,it is a 4.5cu ft. Thanks for the help. Wattage (Last 1/3 of cycle) 55 to 73...
Forum Discussion
255w of solar just keeps up with our 3.2 cu ft fridge with about the same power requirements as the proposed 4.5 cu ft fridge, during a string of mostly sunny days. That is with a four battery bank.
If the fridge is cycling on half the time and it is half cloudy during the day, and it is half day and half night, then you have the solar needing to do twice what the fridge uses at night to stay even in a 24hr period. One overcast day and you are behind and might never catch up till you get shore power or have a generator and charger as well as solar.
If you have a generator and charger and lots of time allowed to run the gen if solar conditions are not so good, you can get by longer. Even if you had twice the solar it would not help if it is overcast.
Having a 120v fridge is very challenging for off-grid! Your rig has to be able to carry that generator and charger along, and IMO more than two batts so there is some reserve for when the sun is not shining. How much solar is needed is too scenario-dependant to be exact about. IMO 170w is not going to keep up, but then it depends on how long you will be camping before the batts get down to 50%. You lose some every day, so how many days "depends"
The 120v fridge requirements dominate everything, and makes camping off grid too much of a nail-biter IMO. If at all possible, have a propane fridge!!!!
If the fridge is cycling on half the time and it is half cloudy during the day, and it is half day and half night, then you have the solar needing to do twice what the fridge uses at night to stay even in a 24hr period. One overcast day and you are behind and might never catch up till you get shore power or have a generator and charger as well as solar.
If you have a generator and charger and lots of time allowed to run the gen if solar conditions are not so good, you can get by longer. Even if you had twice the solar it would not help if it is overcast.
Having a 120v fridge is very challenging for off-grid! Your rig has to be able to carry that generator and charger along, and IMO more than two batts so there is some reserve for when the sun is not shining. How much solar is needed is too scenario-dependant to be exact about. IMO 170w is not going to keep up, but then it depends on how long you will be camping before the batts get down to 50%. You lose some every day, so how many days "depends"
The 120v fridge requirements dominate everything, and makes camping off grid too much of a nail-biter IMO. If at all possible, have a propane fridge!!!!
