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sgfrye's avatar
sgfrye
Explorer
Dec 12, 2018

question about powering outside kitchen fridge

i have a basic question about options for powering "residential 110v" mini fridge on the road.

we traded in our previous 1 slide TT last week for a larger multi slide TT. previous TT had nice large residential fridge that worked great for us. pack it full and head out. our trips are anywhere from 2 hours to 8 hours. we had a mini fridge in outside kitchen but never used it until we were on shore power. we had a 1200 inverter running the fridge on the road. we do not boondock or dry camp.

new TT has rv fridge which i don't mind except it has much less storage capacity. the outside kitchen with this TT is decent size 3.2 cubic feet. no current inverter in TT

i could get by packing cold food in a cooler and bringing along but
im bouncing ideas around to use the mini fridge for extra cold storage on the road.

options im thinking.
1. inverter install in front storage bay area behind batteries mounted on tongue. (2 deep cycle 12volt hybrids) then running wire to dedicated outlet direct from inverter to outdoor kitchen.

2. i've been browsing small "battery" generators up to 500 watts. place one in outside kitchen and run mini fridge off it while on the road. i know run time won't be that long but fridge door has space for a tall bottle. maybe putting frozen water bottle there to help cool it possibly helping by compressor not running as much to extend battery life. i know from experience the mini fridges warm up fast in hot weather with no power.

the specs in the mini fridge manual notes
ELEC 115V /60HZ .8A


any thoughts from anyone who has maybe done something similar to this?

10 Replies

  • leggy's avatar
    leggy
    Explorer
    Dec 13, 2018
    Never had an issue with heating up the compartment, runs all summer long even when not camping. Mostly beverages when traveling, left overs when at campsite. I also use frozen bottles and frozen meat for trip to help keep things cool while traveling.
  • CincyGus's avatar
    CincyGus
    Explorer II
    Dec 13, 2018
    cyntdon2010 wrote:
    Save your money. our camper is plugged in and drinks loaded 24 hour before.

    We freeze water bottles in outdoor kitchen mini frig. freeze area. Never had an issue defrosting.


    While all the answers are good, I think this is the best one. As long as you stock a couple days prior to leaving and everything is down to proper temp, if your only traveling 2-8 hours, you will be fine. Fridges today are insulated very well and if you don't open them and they are not having to cool warm items, they will stay acceptably cold for 8 hours easily. For drinks, condiments, etc, if you have everything mid-high 30's before leaving, it won't rise above mid to high 40's after 8 hours in 90 degree heat. If you have anything frozen you can put in it that you need to thaw, that helps also. I've put frozen steaks, burgers, hot dogs, chops, etc in mine and not turned it on because I was out of propane until I got to the campground 4-5 hours away and got my tanks swapped out. Stuff was still frozen and just starting to thaw.

    What gets people in trouble is stopping on the way and going grocery shopping and opening the door and putting in a bunch of stuff that isn't down to temp and then expecting the camper fridge to bring the temp down 20 degree's.

    All that said, the inverter and a couple extra batteries is a great safe guard and will be a benefit if you take a longer trip or have an emergency that requires the trip be be longer than planned before you can plug in.
  • ScottG's avatar
    ScottG
    Nomad
    Dec 13, 2018
    Mbiviano wrote:
    I run mine consistently with the door closed and haven't had a problem. Haven't noticed heat build up either. I'm not sure how it could be expected that you would leave the door open at all times when running it.


    It would not surprise me if the "engineers" didn't even consider heat. Most of the units I have seen had no way to run the firdges while traveling so naturally we wondered if it would work closed up or was even inteded to be run that way. Sounds like it works ok.
  • Mbiviano's avatar
    Mbiviano
    Explorer
    Dec 13, 2018
    I run mine consistently with the door closed and haven't had a problem. Haven't noticed heat build up either. I'm not sure how it could be expected that you would leave the door open at all times when running it.
  • ScottG's avatar
    ScottG
    Nomad
    Dec 13, 2018
    I've wondered the same thing. Will it make so much heat with the door shut that it becomes a problem?
  • DutchmenSport's avatar
    DutchmenSport
    Explorer
    Dec 12, 2018
    I've never had the outside kitchen style camper before, but I have done a lot of reading and try to keep up with things, way beyond the scope of my own camper.

    But, if I remember right, are these small residential refrigerators even able to be run in such an enclosed space when the kitchen is all closed up? Without some kind of ventilation inside the enclosed outside kitchen, wouldn't the heat produced from the refrigerator itself just get trapped in that compartment area. The colder the inside of the refrigerator got, the hotter the outside of it got, until it reaches a point where the heat build up will kill the refrigerator completely?

    Like I said, I've never owned one, so I don't know, but there must be some logical reason why manufacturers do not supply power to those refrigerators in those closed and sealed compartments?

    Something to think about? Has anyone found a way to actually run the refrigerator inside that compartment with it all closed up? What's the outcome?
  • cyntdon2010's avatar
    cyntdon2010
    Explorer
    Dec 12, 2018
    Save your money. our camper is plugged in and drinks loaded 24 hour before.

    We freeze water bottles in outdoor kitchen mini frig. freeze area. Never had an issue defrosting.
  • sgfrye's avatar
    sgfrye
    Explorer
    Dec 12, 2018
    theoldwizard1 wrote:
    DrewE wrote:
    A 500W inverter would probably have trouble starting the compressor in the dorm fridge. Running it once started would not be a problem. The compressor might not like MSW power any too well.

    CONCUR on both statements.

    I know there is a BIG price difference, but you would be much better off with a 750W-1000W pure sine wave inverter.

    Also, those mini-frdges have notoriously poor insulation.


    Thank you both for confirming what I was thinking. Previous TT had a xantrex 1200 pure sine wave and it work flawlessly for the 18 months we used it with 2 12v hybrids on a few long drives and campground power outages a couple of times. Price will be more but it would be good long term investment
  • theoldwizard1's avatar
    theoldwizard1
    Explorer II
    Dec 12, 2018
    DrewE wrote:
    A 500W inverter would probably have trouble starting the compressor in the dorm fridge. Running it once started would not be a problem. The compressor might not like MSW power any too well.

    CONCUR on both statements.

    I know there is a BIG price difference, but you would be much better off with a 750W-1000W pure sine wave inverter.

    Also, those mini-frdges have notoriously poor insulation.
  • DrewE's avatar
    DrewE
    Explorer II
    Dec 12, 2018
    Forget the battery generator thingy. That's nothing more than a (usually smallish) 12V battery and a (usually cheapish) MSW inverter in a single plastic box with a handle. You will get much better battery life from the trailer's house batteries, and be able to install a better inverter as well.

    A 500W inverter would probably have trouble starting the compressor in the dorm fridge. Running it once started would not be a problem. The compressor might not like MSW power any too well.

    (Don't be surprised if you find the mini fridge uses almost the same amount of power as your full-sized residential fridge. Most are not all that efficient comparatively speaking.)

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