DC Compressor Refrigerator - UPDATE: Fridge Installed

We put in a NovaKool 9.1cuft DC compressor fridge in a new build. Vitri is supposed to be the same or better quality. I think both use the Danfoss compressor.

Our battery bank is smaller than yours (250AH) but our solar larger (1100 watts). We also have the EU2000i for backup.

As a point of reference, I am seeing about 600 watt-hr per 24 hour period being used by the refrigerator when I set it to a little colder than the default middle setting (so the fridge portion is about 33 degrees and the freezer gets to 0 F).

So with no input from solar, gen, or alternator, the fridge would drain your bank to 50% in about three days. We always get 100 to 200 watts of solar though even on rainy days.

Whatever you do stay away from Dometic. Some folks have had good luck but I got a lemon and Dometic said tough luck!!

I have a NovaKool 12 volt refrigerator in my Class B and find it to be far superior to the gas absorption units. Like previously posted, with modest solar, energy consumption is a non issue. I think you will find both units you are interested in use the same compressors and other components, so the real question is (sonce you already eliminated cost as a factor) which company do you trust to give you the best support and which size do you prefer.

I have no experience with either of those models, but I expect you will be very happy with either if they use the danfoss compressor.

I have been using a NovaKool the past 2 years (about 8 months of camping total) and am very happy with it. I don't have a battery monitor so I can't say just how much power it uses but I have not run short except when I had about 2 weeks with almost no sun in 2014. I also have an Engel (for beer) running on my system, 320Ah of battery and 400W of solar.

Its just like your fridge at home, just set it and forget it. It won't blow out, it won't have issues restarting, it doesn't care about level, it doesn't have to be adjusted for warmer days or altitude... The list just goes on and on.

Thanks everybody for your feedback. Good stuff! Keep it coming please.

- - - - -

Jfet, you provided exactly the information I was hoping for.
I had been using 650 W-hr as my estimated daily consumption number and explained to my wife that this means "about 3 days" of use with no charging... and that we're able to do lots of charging. I'm glad to hear that in practice your NovaCool is using ~600/day. That'll be easy to keep up with.
The salesperson at the dealer who sells Vitri (also sells Nova) said that he has a slight preference for the Vitri, but he also said that since they both use the Danfoss BD35 compressor that performance and reliability were the same.
(BTW, I have been drooling over your flat bed build pics for quite some time now! Spectacular!)

- - - - -

DJ, the Dometic fridge did not make it onto my short list due to the negative reviews I have read about 'em. In case you're wondering... Vitri, Norcold, IsoTherm, & Nova Kool were the 4 brands I considered.

Cheers,
-Mark

Hi Mark,

The great thing is you have plenty of battery power and solar. We have 160w solar and only 100amp hour of battery so we struggle, plus our Waeco fridge draws 6 amps when the compressor is running. In cool September weather with sunshine we could probably run indefinitely - and your additional battery power and solar puts you ahead of us.

Re. ferries - if you have a 24 hour ferry trip then you might need to plan your battery usage.

I suspect you already have a good battery meter to show how much charge remains. If not already supplied with the fridge I would look at getting an after-market digital thermometer so you can see the temperature of the fridge without opening the door. The combination of the two means you can plan ahead in situations where the truck won't be running and you won't have sufficient power from solar. You can also work out what the numbers on the fridge thermostat actually translate to in Celcius.

One trick we use if we know we will be struggling to have enough solar, hook-up or alternator power to recharge the batteries over several days is to turn the fridge up and get its temperature really low in advance, then once we are running on battery, the first time we go into the fridge, turn it down - that way it may not need to run for hours thus saving battery power.

The other thing we did is work out why we were opening the fridge a lot (and therefore wasting cold air) - firstly to check the temperature - an external temperature gauge fixed that, and secondly to get milk - so now when we get to a campground Sally fills a cup with milk and leaves it on the side for tea and coffee - so no need to keep dipping into the fridge for that.

After renting that class C for a week with an absorption fridge and remembering how intolerant it is to angle and how slow it is to adjust, I've been looking more favourably on my own compressor fridge.

Steve.

Have a look at the largest Truckfridge model, too. Might be a bit cheaper. They also use the Danfoss compressor.

Did someone install 120V refrigerator with the same idea?
I did it in vintage Airstream trailer that I was restoring and having inverter, I did buy $120 bar-sized refrigerator for it.
I used it for 1 season before selling and with hookups at campground -used the 12V source only when driving.
It did work and I estimated that even in CA heat, the single battery should power refrigerator for at least 3hr, what was good enough for any stop we might have.
Good inverter makes minimal power loss and purchase price sure makes big difference.

msiminoff wrote:
Thanks everybody for your feedback. Good stuff! Keep it coming please.

- - - - -

Jfet, you provided exactly the information I was hoping for.
I had been using 650 W-hr as my estimated daily consumption number and explained to my wife that this means "about 3 days" of use with no charging... and that we're able to do lots of charging. I'm glad to hear that in practice your NovaCool is using ~600/day. That'll be easy to keep up with.
The salesperson at the dealer who sells Vitri (also sells Nova) said that he has a slight preference for the Vitri, but he also said that since they both use the Danfoss BD35 compressor that performance and reliability were the same.
(BTW, I have been drooling over your flat bed build pics for quite some time now! Spectacular!)

- - - - -

DJ, the Dometic fridge did not make it onto my short list due to the negative reviews I have read about 'em. In case you're wondering... Vitri, Norcold, IsoTherm, & Nova Kool were the 4 brands I considered.

Cheers,
-Mark

I wish I had read the same reviews!!! If I win a lottery I will change it out to a Nova Cool and install electric jacks!!! :B

I just put in a Novacool and it is 100% better than the gas fridge it replaced. I would never go back to gas.