using a normal mains fridge via inverter

Mark in France

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Would this idea work? - using a normal small A+ class mains powered fridge via an inverter in my van? Possibly with the leisure battery being charged by a 100-200 watt solar panel. The idea is that max cooling needs are when it's hot qnd sunny and thats when a solar panel would work most efficiently. Daft idea?
 
You'd likely need 300w of panels and a very small efficient fridge to be certain

You'd probably be only pulling 100w in most sunlight conditions and by the time you have factored in losses you may just about keep pace with the fridge.
 
Firefox said:
You'd likely need 300w of panels and a very small efficient fridge to be certain

You'd probably be only pulling 100w in most sunlight conditions and by the time you have factored in losses you may just about keep pace with the fridge.
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Likely use would be in S France so pretty good sunlight, esp in August?
 
Idea has been considered before especially on the self build forums. Domestic fridges although they are pretty cheap & efficient are probably not robust enough to be bounced around in a motorhome (my opinion) but you can always try.
You can buy compressor fridges made for motorhomes & boats but they are really expensive.
 
I think VWAlan has a set up like that but he has several solar panels and several big batteries. The advantage being that domestic compression fridges work better at high temps in theory at least. You would have to speak to him for details.

Richard
 
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Elitist snobs :D
 
You would be better with a proper mobile 12v fridge, they tend to be more efficient an you don't have the inverter loss to wory about. There are build in versions just like the standard caravan fridge or for the more adventurous you can buy the components.
 
StevenJ said:
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Elitist snobs :D
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I used to be a paid up member of the sbmcc but since going free I can't make more than 10 posts so no more contributions from me. No wonder they seem to get less than 20 posts on a good day.

Try the problem shared forum - it's halfway down that page at the mo. last reply Today, 04:42 PM

I have a shoreline fridge/freezer which is one of the cheaper ones though many 12v fridges use the same Danfoss compressors. I've had no problems with it for the last 5 years.

Mr B.
 
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Mark in France said:
Would this idea work? - using a normal small A+ class mains powered fridge via an inverter in my van? Possibly with the leisure battery being charged by a 100-200 watt solar panel. The idea is that max cooling needs are when it's hot qnd sunny and thats when a solar panel would work most efficiently. Daft idea?
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There's a good thread on the SBMCC site re. domestic fridges and inverters,it did'nt seem very optimistic.
 
StevenJ said:
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Elitist snobs :D
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doesn't surprise me in the least
 
Bad idea using inverter, don't forget, even when the fridge is at temperature, the inverter is still drawing current from you batts. Not much on some, but a continuous load all the same.

12v cool boxes, great while you are driving and they cool down, but they use quite a lot of power, so will flatten your batts quickly. I have one and use in conjunction with a blue freezer pack for short breaks away in the car.

Costwise, several solar panels to run a cheap fridge, total cost, more than a 3 way and there's no juice to charge the leisure batts.
 
It's horses for courses. The advantage of a compressor fridge is that you can site it where you want, handy for self builders who may want to change the layout of their van, so no gas feed or vent to worry about. They will also freeze better in higher temps. 200 watt of Solar panels can perfectly run a fridge and charge batteries as well. On my trips to Europe we use only about 2 kilo gas/month. The disadvantage is in the winter months when sun power is reduced in this country and the system will struggle to work efficiently. I try to head south at this time.

Mr B.
 
When we had our self build, we had a compressor fridge, and it was fine in uk, but absolutely useless when travelling in southern Spain & France, despite have solar panel & 2 leisure batteries, and putting an outside vent - ended up more or less using as a cupboard - so in a nutshell I wouldn't recommend them. Another £360 went into the money pit.

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Compressor fridges, whether mains-powered domestic fridges fed via an inverter, or 12/24V DC type will require enough battery storage capacity to keep them running for whatever period of little or no sunlight you are happy to risk. A decent-sized fridge will consume between 60Ah and 100Ah a day so for a three-day backup you need to store 300Ah meaning a battery capacity of say 450Ah minimum.

Then you need solar panels or other means of charging the batteries to 100% asap once you do deplete them to that extent.

Easy enough to do if you own a BigRig, but not so easy on a typical smaller motorhome.
 
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