| Author |
Message |
Jerry Liebler
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, February 06, 2005 - 10:38 am: | |
Recently there was a thread about using houshold refrigerators vs. propane. In web cruising I've come accross what might be a better answer.
http://http://www.rparts.com/Catalog/Planet_DC/planet_dc_refrigeration.aspwww.rparts.com/C atalog/Planet_DC/planet_dc_refrigeration.asp
A 9.5 cu ft refrigerator that uses less than 20 AH/day from a 12 volt house system (on a 70 F. day) and costs about the same as a propane reefer($1150). So that means that with my 4 L16's I could go 18 days(50% of capacity) between charges with no other loads. That's again pretty competetive with propane.
Has anyone tried one?
Regards
Jerry 4107 1120 |
Jerry Liebler
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, February 06, 2005 - 10:45 am: | |
Sorry about the bad link. I'll try again.
http://www.rparts.com/Catalog/Planet_DC/planet_dc_refrigeration.asp
Regards
Jerry 4107 1120 |
Sean Welsh (Sean)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, February 06, 2005 - 9:02 pm: | |
Jerry,
We've got a NovaKool, which is similar. It uses a Danfoss DC compressor (which runs on 12 or 24 vdc) and is very energy-efficient. Ours is a 7.5 cubic foot model, and about 1.5 of that is freezer. So far, after almost five months full-timing on the road, we have never used up all the space in either compartment.
You might want to look into the NovaKool, which is handled by many marine dealers and discounted by Backwoods Solar. Looks like the Planet DC stuff would be fine too.
-Sean |
Jim (Jim_in_california)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, February 06, 2005 - 10:08 pm: | |
Yeah, it's ALL about that Danfoss unit. Anything using that is going to be VERY good stuff. The only variables past that are size and the amount of insulation, and it's not hard to add more insulation as you install it.
I'm probably going to go with the Novakool RFU6200 - "only" 6 cubic ft. total but 2.5 of that is freezer. Or maybe the RFU8000, adding .8 to the fridge side. I use a lot of freezer.
This page has a great set of specs:
http://www.e-marine-inc.com/products/refrigeration/novakool.html |
Jim (Jim_in_california)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, February 07, 2005 - 12:18 am: | |
Another Danfoss-based critter is the Tundra:
http://www.e-marine-inc.com/products/refrigeration/tundra.html
Dunno how big the freezer is, but the T80 looks good if you need bigger than the RFU6200. |
Pixie (Pixie)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, February 08, 2005 - 9:11 pm: | |
Hey,
We just went to walmart and bought a small electric fridge for 80 bucks.It has it's own bank of batteries and works great,MUCH cheaper and less dangerous than propane ! ~ Pixie |
TWODOGS (Twodogs)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, February 08, 2005 - 9:15 pm: | |
interisting.....would like to go see...got a part number ?? |
Captain Ron (Captain_ron)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, February 09, 2005 - 12:41 am: | |
Pixie, I'm assuming you mean you used your own batteries an inverter? I bought a 4.0 cubic ft electric from a friend for $75.00 which I plan to use for a while. I don't have an inverter yet and only one 12v deep cycle bat. thats brand new. plan on adding at least 3 more |
Richard Bowyer (Drivingmisslazy)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, February 09, 2005 - 7:30 pm: | |
And how do you plan on keeping the batteries charged when out in the boondocks for a week?
Richard |
Jim (Jim_in_california)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, February 10, 2005 - 2:57 am: | |
If the fridge is efficient enough, a short period per day on a genset will keep the batteries up. Or about $500 - $800 worth of solar panels.
As long as it's got a Danfoss compressor... |
FAST FRED
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, February 10, 2005 - 5:31 am: | |
A short period of charging will take the batts up a bit , but NOT fully charge them.
That takes hours & hours as that last 10% or so takes a very long time.
A perfect spot for solar , but then you have to park in the sun.
The danfloss was the best in the industry ,(and is still GOOD) but is slowly being supplanted by even better computer controlled , variable speed units.
Bigest hassle the mfg of really smart fridges is OWNERS.
To be really efficent the unit would run 24/7 at a very very reduced speed , but the owners rebel if it never turns off.
Solution , a less efficent 50 min run cycle to keep the owner happy.
FAST FRED |
Jim (Jim_in_california)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, February 10, 2005 - 2:31 pm: | |
OK, so who makes these variable speed critters?
Who makes ANY unit better than a Danfoss?
Links? Prices? I'm speccing out my rig right now... |
Pixie (Pixie)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, February 10, 2005 - 7:29 pm: | |
Sorry,let me clarify.......
The fridge does not come with its own batteries, we are hooking it up to several deep cycle batteries and an inverter.We are still working on the system,it's not quite done yet,we need to finish the electric system.I am shure it will work fine because I know folks who have done it before and they had no problems.
The thing is,refrigerators are not always running,they go off and on as needed,especially if you insulate all around them.We also set the fridge setting real low to help conserve energy.
When boondocking we will rely on a combination of solar panels (yet to be installed) wind generator or simply turning on the car for a bit.
Like I said this sytsem is still in the works,but I really trust my source on this one.Will let you know how it turns out soon.~ Pix |