Fridge power consumption and operation
Hi there, I am in the process of installing an inverter and making some automatic circuitry to make the transition between shore power and battery power fully automatic. In this process, I am going...
Forum Discussion
pianotuna wrote:
Hi Westend,
For the difference in price I'd go with the 2000 watt Pro-Watt if I were going "stand alone".
Unlike Mr. Wizard, I run my fridge as much as I possibly can on 120 volt. Mine is a 3 way, and initially worked well on 12 volt, but doesn't even maintain on 12 volt any more. Draw on the battery bank is pretty much identical between 120 volt and 12 volt at 34 amps. I imagine there is some inverter overhead of perhaps at a maximum 2 amps.
I just finished a trip that extended from Oct 11 to Oct 26 and covered 2500 kilometers (1600 miles). Only on the last night did I not have access to shore power, so I ran the fridge each day on 120 volt powered by the inverter. I also burned no propane for heating.
Having looked at both setups, I think that operating the fridge on propane is the way to go, as it uses very little fuel, and thus the effect of using it in that mode is unperceivable. Using it in electric mode, be it in 120VAC or 12 VDC uses up more of the battery's power than the propane does of the total available capacity, thus the effect of using it would be quite noticeable in battery drain.
another reason to not use the battery/inverter is wear and tear on the battery: the more you use it, the less sooner it dies.
As I plan to get a flame sensor to have as a spare, I will only use the electrical operation as a back-up.
