Refrigerator

[Pbrpanama]

Is the refrigerator efficient, and how does it operate?

[Rich W]

Originally Posted by Pbrpanama

Is the refrigerator efficient, and how does it operate?

Hi, Pbrpanama. Greetings from central Kentucky and welcome to the forum.

What brand / model of fridge do you have? Many use 12 volt DC and propane or 110 volt AC to power an element that heats ammonia; an absorption fridge. They are very common in RV and TT use. They take a while to get cold but do a good job once they get cold.

Model information will help.

[Shiny16]

I assume your talking about a 3.1 compressor fridge. If by efficient you mean in terms of cooling then I’d say it’s great. It takes less than 30 minutes to cool down even on a hot day. Mine has been running almost continuously for just shy of two years and has never varied much in temperature.
As for power consumption I’m sure you will get various answers. I have 180 watts of solar and two AGM batteries. With direct daily sunshine it can go indefinitely. I don’t really see much difference in power consumption from my previous similarly sized absorption unit.

[Pbrpanama]

Originally Posted by richw46

Hi, Pbrpanama. Greetings from central Kentucky and welcome to the forum.



What brand / model of fridge do you have? Many use 12 volt DC and propane or 110 volt AC to power an element that heats ammonia; an absorption fridge. They are very common in RV and TT use. They take a while to get cold but do a good job once they get cold.



Model information will help.

The fridge is a 3.1 compression unit. This unit gets cold pretty quickly. I was wondering whether the unit used much electricity and whether we needed a cooler in case the fridge lost power.

[Pbrpanama]

Originally Posted by Shiny16

I assume your talking about a 3.1 compressor fridge. If by efficient you mean in terms of cooling then I’d say it’s great. It takes less than 30 minutes to cool down even on a hot day. Mine has been running almost continuously for just shy of two years and has never varied much in temperature.
As for power consumption I’m sure you will get various answers. I have 180 watts of solar and two AGM batteries. With direct daily sunshine it can go indefinitely. I don’t really see much difference in power consumption from my previous similarly sized absorption unit.

Thank you for your answer. 2way electric ac/dc. Does that help?

[GetawA-S]

If your trailer is plugged in, you can use a power monitor (a feature of many surge protectors) to determine the jump in current draw when the compressor kicks in. That information, along with a estimate of the amount of time it operates, will let you figure the amount of energy consumed in watt-hours. (Multiply amp hours by the voltage to get watt-hours).
Another member installs solar systems, and posted his estimate of power consumption for a specific model. I’ll add the information if I can find it.

[Shiny16]

Originally Posted by Pbrpanama

Thank you for your answer. 2way electric ac/dc. Does that help?

That’s the compressor fridge I commented on.