otrfun wrote:
crosscheck wrote:
Grit dog wrote:
crosscheck wrote:
Far superior to LP in cooling especially in hot weather.
Dave
I'll admit, I've never camped in really HOT weather. High 90's afternoon temps, dry or humid is the hottest we've camped.
Never noticed any lack of cooling ability with LP absorption, or AC mode. Beer was always frosty cold and ice cubes froze in the freezer for cocktails.
At what temp does absorption fridge become an issue?
When turned on, DC fridge has frost forming in the freezer in less than 30 minutes where as adsorbsion fridge takes forever to cool down. In hot weather(95F), temperatures are more consistent at least that is my experience.
Dave
Most of the 5-8 cf LP units we've used can sustain fridge temps of 40 deg. in 115 degree heat (S. CA/AZ). This assumes an LP fridg in good working order, installed to OEM specs (proper ventilation), operating with boiler temps in the 170-190 C range (level fridge with good LP/AC/DC heating). This is also assumes the fridge door is opened infrequently and reasonably cool temps inside the RV (a/c operating).
We've also camped in 115 deg. temps with small 3-5 cf compressor units sitting outside in the shade. No doubt about it, they cool-down/recover much faster than an LP fridge. However, under these conditions the compressor has to run flat-out requiring a constant 2-3 amps of 120 vac. (or 20-30 amps of 12 vdc via an inverter).
The NovaKool unit that the OP is looking at draws 4.4 A when cycling.That is 5 to 7 times less 12V power and double the size than your residential unit. Remember, these compressor fridges are much more efficient than the unit you were using and of course much more expensive. During 95F day, 65f night, the most electricity we used in a day was around 75AH.Your daily draw even using the lower number of 20A is around 500AH/day. Either your numbers are off or that fridge should be used for a boat anchor.
Dave
