help me decide on a refrigerator purchase

The addition of a microwave will be just to run when hooked up to shore power, I don't plan on running an inverter at this time. When we want to run the microwave a quick key start of the Honda EU3000 will take care of that plus run the air conditioning. I plan on changing every interior and exterior bulb to a LED. So the hope is enough solar on the roof to run the fridge, the lights and maybe some TV or radio. My guess is the wife and I will spend more time in conventional campgrounds with amenities than we will boondocking but I will want to go to sports car races and for that solar will have to do the trick.

Novakool r4500 is 24" deep including door. And you need at least 1" gap at the back because it has passive condenser spanning the back. And at least 1", preferably 2", insulation on the sides, top and bottom (except for the rear bottom half where compressor is sitting).

You may start a separate thread for microwave, but I think that having both electrical fridge and MW is beyond the envelope of solar+ 2 batts. The problem with MW is that it draws too much current, I'm sure you know the difference between "cooking watts" and real watts of MW. Count on 30 AH or more, daily, for MW alone. It will draw 40-45A from each 12V battery, seems a bit high. With 2*6V in series MW will draw 80-90A from each battery. On most days you will have to run a generator for a while, and then why not getting a cheap 120V frig since you have inverter anyway.

Almot let me correct the larger size/same footprint statement. As an example the Norcold DC0788S is a 3.1 cu.ft. fridge per their website with dimensions of 20.5 " wide x 30 " tall x 20 1/4 " deep. The Novacool R4500 is a 4.3 cu.ft. with dimensions of 20 1/4 " wide x 28 3/8 " high x 21 " deep. So nearly identical footprint size but the Novacool is 1.2 cu.ft. larger which is a good thing. I want to try and max out the interior size ( within reason ) and still fit the current space as I plan to add a built in microwave over the fridge. The microwave will not impede the cooling for the fridge. I spent about 6 hours on the net last night researching all the brands mentioned in this post and I can find good and bad comments about all of them so I take that with a grain of salt. I am a believer in you get what you pay for so not looking for the cheapest way out. I do think I'm leaning towards a 12 volt fridge from the marine industry but still have not ruled out an absorption type either. I have about a year to decide and technology could make a large leap in that time. Thanks for the feedback.

rfuerst911sc wrote:
Almot I noticed you didn't include Norcold in your brands to check any reason for that ? The reason I ask is I was looking at a Norcold 3.1 cu. ft.

Nobody likes them. No personal experience. Somebody here with Vinni (Vitrifrigo), maybe he'll chime in, his previous one was very loud 12V Norcold. 3.5-4.0 cu.ft from other brands will cost $800-$900. Stainless option cost more, not that it is important. $609 for a stainless Norcold - tells something of their popularity, IMO.

If you don't have a room for more than 2 batteries, I would not go for 120V frig with inverter. It will not be - can not be - more efficient than 12V with extra insulation. 120V frigs come with insulated box already, but those built-in need some foam blocks. Extra space left after LP frig has to be filled with block foam, no gaps left, except for ventilation area.

"Larger frigs with the same footprint" from Norcold? Not very likely. The walls thickness is about the same, so it all boils down to taller VS wider but dimensions for the same volume don't vary much between the brands either. Sometimes they inaccurately post the cut-out size or don't include the door thickness. You should leave a space for extra foam blocks, don't try to squeeze the biggest box that fits between the walls.

:S Nice!
Bruce

That depends on what you put in the sodas, Bruce :)

popeyemth wrote:
Here's the front of the fridge

Dude, your soda to beer ratio is all wrong!
:B

Bruce

Here's the front of the fridge

We have room for a small 2 door( $130 at Walmart right now) if I go up into the space the roll of paper towels is in directly above- which I'm considering . That space was originally filled with the factory absorption unit.
The inverter is directly under so the cooling fan will work better
We eat a lot of frozen food (ice cream :) ) hence the fixation on freezer space

There are some great 12 volt and 12 / 110 volt units that use compressors for truckers. They come in all sizes. Just do a 12 volt compressor refrigerator search.

I didn't have very good luck with the absorption fridge; it wouldn't get colder than 50F in hot weather. I tried every fan trick I could find on the forum but didn't have any luck. You'll find more people than you would guess have trouble with the small absorption fridges if you search the pop up trailer forums. I replaced mine with a 12V compressor fridge and couldn't be happier with it.



Tundra Fridge

As mentioned earlier, you really need to have a PV array to power the fridge or you won't be happy with your battery life.

Bruce

P.S. I still have the absorption fridge sitting in the garage, I'll sell it to you for cheap. ;)