Life with a compressor fridge...
A while back I posted about installing a compressor fridge in my TC. Well, here's an overview of my experience after ~3 months of continuous use; In most regards the Vitrifrigo has proven to be sup...
Forum Discussion
Nice report Mark, much like the very useful info you have supplied over time to this forum.
Most questions about the compressor fridge,/freezers are about electric consumption because in my experience, they have the largest draw of any other electric appliance in your rig because the fridge is on 24/7 even if it is not cycling and unless you are in a full hook up situation or have unlimited generator running times, battery drawdown is a concern.
Our NovaKool 7.5cuft fridge consumes 4.4a when cycling which is about 1/2 of all power coming from the batteries but this can vary because of the 25 ahr to 65ahr per day usage depending on how often it has to cycle which is governed by a number of factors: surrounding interior RV temps, door openings, warm food placed in unit, amount of extra insulation added around unit during installation, interior set temps, etc. Unless you attach some sort of an ahr measuring instrument on the unit itself, daily consumption is kind a guess. We keep a cool TC at night and even though the compressor is quiet, I can still hear when it starts to cycle and many nights in colder climates, it is never on. This would vary from the lifestyle of different campers as would the daily usage of the furnace, which is another big battery drain(blower).
When boodocking, having adequate solar and battery ahr capacity cannot be stressed enough if you don't want to be using your genny all of the time.
I appreciate the fact that 15 minutes after our compressor fridge is turned on, frost is forming on the freezer walls and constantly camping on unleveled areas or being stranded 5 hours on an 18% ramp waiting for a ferry was not going to impact the workings of the fridge later on.
Dave
Most questions about the compressor fridge,/freezers are about electric consumption because in my experience, they have the largest draw of any other electric appliance in your rig because the fridge is on 24/7 even if it is not cycling and unless you are in a full hook up situation or have unlimited generator running times, battery drawdown is a concern.
Our NovaKool 7.5cuft fridge consumes 4.4a when cycling which is about 1/2 of all power coming from the batteries but this can vary because of the 25 ahr to 65ahr per day usage depending on how often it has to cycle which is governed by a number of factors: surrounding interior RV temps, door openings, warm food placed in unit, amount of extra insulation added around unit during installation, interior set temps, etc. Unless you attach some sort of an ahr measuring instrument on the unit itself, daily consumption is kind a guess. We keep a cool TC at night and even though the compressor is quiet, I can still hear when it starts to cycle and many nights in colder climates, it is never on. This would vary from the lifestyle of different campers as would the daily usage of the furnace, which is another big battery drain(blower).
When boodocking, having adequate solar and battery ahr capacity cannot be stressed enough if you don't want to be using your genny all of the time.
I appreciate the fact that 15 minutes after our compressor fridge is turned on, frost is forming on the freezer walls and constantly camping on unleveled areas or being stranded 5 hours on an 18% ramp waiting for a ferry was not going to impact the workings of the fridge later on.
Dave
