12v or 240v FRIDGE?

[Chasn]

Yes it is an upright (Alpicool CR90X, cost me £216). It has a small freezer compartment, three shelves and a hydrator drawer. My previous absorption fridge Dometic RM9555. This was taller having four shelves and had a slightly larger freezer compartment. Unfortunately Alpicool don't do a fridge of the same height dimension. I decided to accept the slightly shorter fridge and added a raised shelf to mount the new fridge so the top was at the same height. This provided an extra locker underneath (about 320mm tall) which I use to store the electric kettle, toaster and air fryer.

 

[wildebus]

I guess you have thought about the more practical issues about the replacement of the fridge no matter what fridge you intend to purchase. We have an Autotrail MH and wanted to change the fridge because of gas problems and found we couldn't get the thing out the MH. The habitation door is far too narrow and even taking out the passenger front seat we couldn't get the damn thing out the door so chopping it up was the only option.
Had the gas problem resolved which was much more cost effective!

I nearly resorted to doing that in my Autotrail Motorhome, but actually I think they do think of this... Otherwise it would be impossible to ever replace the fridge, wouldn't it?

What I did, with the help of my glamorous assitant Rae from Fife, was to remove the original Thetford fridge/freezer (which was a standard width, not a narrow unit) from the housing; Then removed the rubber/plastic surround from the habitation door opening. This provides an opening EXACTLY the same size as the width of the fridge, so as long as you lift up the fridge high enough to clear the hab door catch at the bottom and take it out DEAD STRAIGHT - so 90 degrees to the side of the motorhome, then the fridge will come out without any damage.
The only thing that did happen when removing it was it was such a tight fit through the door the Thetford sticky label on the fridge side peeled back as it slid though the door.

 

[Mtbcol]

Yes it is an upright (Alpicool CR90X, cost me £216). It has a small freezer compartment, three shelves and a hydrator drawer. My previous absorption fridge Dometic RM9555. This was taller having four shelves and had a slightly larger freezer compartment. Unfortunately Alpicool don't do a fridge of the same height dimension. I decided to accept the slightly shorter fridge and added a raised shelf to mount the new fridge so the top was at the same height. This provided an extra locker underneath (about 320mm tall) which I use to store the electric kettle, toaster and air fryer.

Sounds what we're looking for. You wouldn't have a picture would you? (Inside and out)

 

[Thistle]

All three of my vans have used mains fridges, other than a bit of work required to bolt them in place securely and put kiddy locks on the doors it’s a no brainier they are far cheaper and unlike 12v fridges have comparable independent energy ratings.

An inverter with a power saving option uses very little power and even that can vary, my Cotek is more efficient than my Victron in that respect at around 200mA.

Most important thing with any fridge especially if you’re getting on a bit is mount it at eye level…..
You can thank me for that later!

 

[Sid]

A faulty 3-way fridge is probably landfill.
A working 3-way fridge can be worth the cost of a 240V Compressor Fridge or possibly even a 12V Compressor Fridge.

So ... actually changing now before waiting for the original to pack up can be the cost-effective option, and changing to the type of fridge you prefer is an added bonus

That's the approach I took, the difference between 3 way and the identical sized compressor version was £370 (after beating the 3way) not a small chunk of change but it made a very straightforward job. Just swap position of the +ve terminal in the control unit. This enables 12V supply to the fridge to be permanent rather than via d+.

Difference in gas use is huge, our 3way was about 250g a day. As you say small solar panel replenishes battery in summer but needs a bit of b2b in autumn/winter.

The only reason 3 way still fitted in m/h is the converters are committed contractually to take them.

 

[trevskoda]

What I mean is the D+ connection from the alternator which only supplies power when the engine is running.

Yes that takes power from the battery as its connected to it even if the engine is not running.

 

[Robmac]

Yes that takes power from the battery as its connected to it even if the engine is not running.

A minute amount Trev only to signal when the alternator is running. The appliance will only take power from the alternator.

 

[Nabsim]

Yes that takes power from the battery as its connected to it even if the engine is not running.

What? Do you really mean the D+ Trev? Mine doesn't take show anything until I turn the ignition on. Suppose it would depend what you use to give the D+, I use the one provided by MB

 

[Chasn]

Sounds what we're looking for. You wouldn't have a picture would you? (Inside and out)

Here are some photos. The only non-standard items are the shelves. I changed the plastic coated wire shelves with 6mm twin wall polycarbonate sheet with white 20mm plastic angle front and back. As well as stopping items falling out the angle stiffens the polycarbonate. My reason for doing that is that the wire spacing was sufficient to allow narrow tall items like yoghurt pots to topple over. No problem with that using a smooth flat surface.

 

[Mtbcol]

Here are some photos. The only non-standard items are the shelves. I changed the plastic coated wire shelves with 6mm twin wall polycarbonate sheet with white 20mm plastic angle front and back. As well as stopping items falling out the angle stiffens the polycarbonate. My reason for doing that is that the wire spacing was sufficient to allow narrow tall items like yoghurt pots to topple over. No problem with that using a smooth flat surface.

That looks great, and what we would be looking for in the future (still looking for a suitable motorhome). Thank you for your help

 

[Chasn]

That looks great, and what we would be looking for in the future (still looking for a suitable motorhome). Thank you for your help

No problem. If you need any more detail when you get to installing let me know.

 

[Mtbcol]

No problem. If you need any more detail when you get to installing let me know.

Thank you appreciated

 

[trevskoda]

A minute amount Trev only to signal when the alternator is running. The appliance will only take power from the alternator.

Only if its a regulated alt, some are not and the pickup will be from a regulator box.
The thick wire from alts is connected direct to the battery, the thin wire is signal, i would not want to be using that, way to thin.

 

[merl]

Most inverters take about 1A on standby

My we table top uses 250ma

I've personally not seen anything to support the notion that higher power Inverters take more standby current.
I've measured a 800w unit at 1amp.
2kw Renogy at 600mA
My 3.5KW Edecoa takes 320mA
Not a vast test study I'll agree but in those I've actually been able to measure the standby current lessened with power capacity.
I don't run a 240v fridge myself but let's say 500ma standby....
That would be 12Ah per day BUT some of that time the compressor will actually be running so again assuming 3:1 off/on ratio that would reduce the actual waste to 8Ah BUT this figure would reduce further if you turned the fridge/inverter off at night which I know some people do.
I think you'd need to have at least 200Ah of storage and ideally quite a lot more before you could contemplate using a domestic fridge/inverter setup so in my eyes the 8Ah ish wastage seems minimal. As long as your inverter isn't super greedy on standby but that seems to be a bit of a lottery

 

[Paul38]

Good evening friends.
Looking ahead to when we finally purchase a motorhome, what are peoples thoughts on powering a fridge? Pretty certain whatever we buy will have a 3 way fridge, and from what I've read they are not very good/ efficient. In our current self build we have a small 240v compressor fridge which we run very successfully with our solar panels, battery bank and inverter. Without a doubt we will replace the 3 way fridge with a compressor unit, the question is should we go with a 12 volt unit or a 240 (domestic) unit run via our leisure battery/ inverter set up? Obviously we will need a fridge unit that is roughly the same size as the unit we remove, so maybe will need a bit more power either way? I also expect a purpose made motorhome fridge will be much more expensive than a domestic one. Your thoughts and ideas are most welcome. Thanks. Colin.

Why inverter dc to ac Admittedly the 12 volt fridge isn't cheap but they are designed and made for the job . A 220v ac fridge is for your home kitchen

 

[wildebus]

Why inverter dc to ac Admittedly the 12 volt fridge isn't cheap but they are designed and made for the job . A 220v ac fridge is for your home kitchen

Why get 240V Fridge (we don't use 220V in UK)? How does £700+ saving sound as a reason?

 

[Chasn]

Why inverter dc to ac Admittedly the 12 volt fridge isn't cheap but they are designed and made for the job . A 220v ac fridge is for your home kitchen

I don't think that £216 is expensive for a 12v fridge (Alpicool) but I agree that Dometic and Thetford prices are way too high.

 

[Geek]

Good evening friends.
Looking ahead to when we finally purchase a motorhome, what are peoples thoughts on powering a fridge? Pretty certain whatever we buy will have a 3 way fridge, and from what I've read they are not very good/ efficient. In our current self build we have a small 240v compressor fridge which we run very successfully with our solar panels, battery bank and inverter. Without a doubt we will replace the 3 way fridge with a compressor unit, the question is should we go with a 12 volt unit or a 240 (domestic) unit run via our leisure battery/ inverter set up? Obviously we will need a fridge unit that is roughly the same size as the unit we remove, so maybe will need a bit more power either way? I also expect a purpose made motorhome fridge will be much more expensive than a domestic one. Your thoughts and ideas are most welcome. Thanks. Colin.

Whatever you buy will have issues and need things fixing over time. To start changing stuff before you know the van is downright stupid (with one exception*).

Some people have issues with 3-way fridges, and some don't. High end motorhomes have them for good reason, but a badly fitted 3-way fridge will not work well.

My old Electrolux 3-way fridge has no problem maintaining both fridge and freezer temperatures in ambient conditions of the very high 30s.
I suggest you wait and find out what is needed before planning to spend money on stuff.

* The exception is refillable gas. If you are going to install an underslung gas tank, or a refillable bottle (no point in fitting two), the sooner you do it, the better sense it makes.

 

[Geek]

What I mean is the D+ connection from the alternator which only supplies power when the engine is running.

Er, no. The D+ doesn't supply power.

 

[trevskoda]

Why get 240V Fridge (we don't use 220V in UK)? How does £700+ saving sound as a reason?

230v here and im sure mainland the same.