12 volt Refrigerators
Have any thoughts on the new 12 volt Refrigerators? So far I am impressed with the 10 Q ft. Not much of a amp draw
Forum Discussion
jeeperman wrote:
Lots of good thoughts here.
One thing I did not think of is dry camping
On cooler nights with furnace and fridge off the batteries
Two six volt may not last long
In a small trailer it's difficult to sleep with furnace on, it wakes you up every time it cycles. I've stopped using my furnace after bought Olympian Wave 6 catalytic heater. Sips propane very lightly and no 12V draw. Keep one window and roof vent cracked open a few inches and have working CO detector since this heater is not vented.
On the subject of fridges - I looked into 12V Danfoss babies 7 or 8 years ago, planned for this when installing 500W solar, but decided to let the OEM propane fridge be, for several reasons. I remember that back then (2013?) besides Dometic and Norcold there were also other 12V compressor fridges: Isotherm, Sundanzer, Canadian brand Novakool and one German brand that I forgot. This is not something new, they've been around for many years and still are. Sundanzer now only makes top-loading fridges.
To my observations, trailer/5er people who camp often on hookups replace OEM propane absorption fridge with a residential 110V compressor model (if there is enough space). Cheaper than 12V Danfoss units, better insulation, DC draw after inverter is significant but not much higher than with Danfoss fridge of the same size, because insulation is good. They don't care about DC draw, anyway. For an offgrid living it's a different matter.
