Residential Fridge battery run time

JimK-NY wrote:
"1200 watts solar, 3kw inverter/charger, LiFePo 618 AH batteries" and still thinking of adding another 400 watts of solar. Wow that is some expense just for running a refrigerator.

Just "gravy". I think we could get by with half of what we have. But more panels is sort of like more horsepower-you don't need it but it's nice to have if you want it.

Cptnvideo wrote:
My signature shows the "missing" info.
And, yes I can go more than a few days, but it's nice to be "topped off", just in case.

Sorry. I did not look down. Thanks.

"1200 watts solar, 3kw inverter/charger, LiFePo 618 AH batteries" and still thinking of adding another 400 watts of solar. Wow that is some expense just for running a refrigerator.

My signature shows the "missing" info.
And, yes I can go more than a few days, but it's nice to be "topped off", just in case.

Cptnvideo wrote:
After buying our new fiver, then adding solar, LFP batteries, and 3k inverter (see signature) we opted to replace the RV fridge (which was having issues) with a 20 cf Whirlpool res fridge. We are on our 4th day of boondocking and here are the results.
Solar charged to 99% state of charge at end of 1st day.
Solar charged to 96% SOC at end of 2nd day.
So it looks like we will need to run the genny once every 4 or 5 days for an hour or two. Or we might add another 400 watts of solar.

What is missing is how much battery AH you currently have and how many watts solar you currently have. Since LFP can be used down to 5% SOC, I would think you could easily go for a couple weeks, with current setup and usage.

After buying our new fiver, then adding solar, LFP batteries, and 3k inverter (see signature) we opted to replace the RV fridge (which was having issues) with a 20 cf Whirlpool res fridge. We are on our 4th day of boondocking and here are the results.
Solar charged to 99% state of charge at end of 1st day.
Solar charged to 96% SOC at end of 2nd day.
So it looks like we will need to run the genny once every 4 or 5 days for an hour or two. Or we might add another 400 watts of solar.

willald wrote:


That, and it’s much less prone to become a fire hazard like absorption refrigerators are known to when they get a few years on them.

Lol, ok buddy...

mr. ed wrote:

B.O. Plenty wrote:
The nice thing about a residential fridge is they only take a couple of hours to cool down.

B.O.

Another nice thing about a residential fridge is that it isn't as fussy about leveling like an absorption unit is.

That, and it’s much less prone to become a fire hazard like absorption refrigerators are known to when they get a few years on them.

It’s ok guys. We are supposed to wait until austinjenna comes back with more questions and confusion as she or he simply wanted to know how long 1 typical rv battery would last in 1 situation only.
Stay tuned for more later. Lol.

austinjenna wrote:

Doubt you'll get a new camper with a residential fridge and 1 battery, but in general, OE power and a residential compressor fridge is still a poor combination.
I know you think you have just a specific short term situation that you will need to run off of an inverter, but it's quite possible that you're not considering all scenarios. You only travel an hour or 2? Charging while traveling? Run onboard genny or install a heavy duty dc dc charger?

I'm not even sure what you are talking about. If you read my initial post I was wondering how long it would run on 1 battery because currently with my gas/electric fridge I start it up the night before in the storage lot then the next morning when I bring it home its cold, then load cold items into it and done.

I was wondering if I could do the same thing with a residential fridge and it seems from the responses the answer is no unless I add more batteries.

My storage lot is 2 miles from my house, so picking it up, turning on the fridge, it will not cool down in the 5 minute ride home to start stocking it up.

I know the batteries charge while driving.

Yes, that is evident. I was attempting to think ahead to more than just the pre-cooling of your fridge and a more realistic setup of what you could expect in a new camper.
But simple questions beget simple answers. And sooner or later you’ll learn some of the other aspects, like “how much” your truck charges the camper while driving. And other things that will help you understand what affects what.
In the meantime, my apologies.
1 battery won’t run a resi compressor fridge very long.