12v fridge for household use

[Fizzie]

A bloke on another forum has raised the possibility of replacing their current 240v household fridge with a 12v version:

"So, what are these fridges like compared to a normal fridge if you were going to use one in your home?

We currently have a 10 year old LG 120 litre fridge – GN-205SQA, label says 395kwh/year but I seem to recall a scandal about LG fridges using much more energy than the label suggests. I think the compressor in it uses around 1000W when running, and it is starting to run a lot more often nowadays and is a bit noisier than when it was new.

Was thinking about replacement with a "100L-Portable-Bar-Freezer-Fridge-12V-24V-240V-Camping-Car-Boating-Caravan-Cooler", SECO/Danfloss compressor from ebay, plenty of australian sellers around the $500-$700 mark brand new.

It seems they can be plugged into the mains with a laptop style power brick that seems to use 72W (12V @ 6A), which would be a massive power savings over the LG.

We don't keep a lot in the fridge, a few packs of frozen mixed veg, frozen chips, frozen fish fillets in the freezer mainly, milk, eggs, cheese, sandwich meat, leftovers, sometimes some fresh veg in the fridge part. There is only two of us and we aren't ravenous eaters"

What he's looking at:



Said I'd ask for people's thoughts here so what's the general thought -  I've seen lot's of comments about running the 12v as a beer fridge, but has anybody done it as their main fridge?

[SEADOO]

Why?

I can understand if he is living off the grid and relying on solar power. Makes sense.

If he is in town, why would he? How would he power it?

[sparkieqld]

Id be amazed if your fridge is drawing 1000 watts when running, it might for an instant on start up maybe, but that's 1KwH every hour it is running.

[UIZ733]

Some relevant and interesting information here (check all relevant links within site);
http://www.rpc.com.au/information/faq/power-consumption/refrigeration.html

[edz]

A mate had one of the Waeco upright  jobbies [ 2007 ] think it was 100 ltr  that worked alright, There was only him and no family, though I think it would have been better [colder ] if he had used an  80 / 110 ltr regular style fridge freezer built into a kitchen bench type set up .
His thoughts were that he would take it camping and use it at home when not .

[BaseCamp]

This has been our work fridge for the past 2 years (except for when it goes camping)     has worked faultlessly



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[edz]

A couple of those set into a kitchen bench would do nicely for an of on / grid house 

[KevL]

Theres a significant number of caravan and motorhome owners going the other way, fitting Samsung inverter 240V fridges in place of 3 way and 12V models.
Must mean something.

[BaseCamp]

Geez  ....   I wouldn't want to be running a 240vt fridge-freezer 24/7 in an off grid camping situation - through my batteries and an inverter, if that's what you mean?

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[Alan Loy]

Some relevant and interesting information here (check all relevant links within site);
http://www.rpc.com.au/information/faq/power-consumption/refrigeration.html

They seem to recommend Electrolux eco range fridges.  I couldn't find them on electrolux's website.  have they stopped making them?

[Fizzie]

Thanks everyone for your thoughts - I'll send it all back to the bloke that asks & let him decide what to do.

Had a read of that site - do Electrolux even make fridges any more? - I thought they'd shut down

[alnjan]

In the van we have an 110 litre Evakool 12v upright fridge. 

http://www.evakool.com/fridges/platinum-upright-fridge-freezers

We have the van set up with two solar panels and two batteries.  As we do not have a shed for van or vehicles it stays out in open and we have the fridge running full time just to keep the batteries ticking over as the solar panels are continually pumping in the power while the sun shines.   Been running like that for about 9 months now without a drama, although I did clean the solar panels as there was a fair bit of dust and crap set onto the panels reducing their output. 

The fridge runs well, keeps things cool and while it is only a small freezer section in ours it still keeps things frozen.  I can see no reason why you could not run these fridges on a 12v system at home off the grid. 

[Alan Loy]

The best solution to 12 volt fridges imho are eutectic fridges but they are expensive.  Since Autofridge stopped making fridges (although they say they will restart later this year http://www.intelliquip.com.au/products/autofridge/) the only option is custom fridges like http://www.ozefridge.com.au/ or http://www.freezetec.com.au/products/marine-refrigeration/custom-eutectic-refrigeration-systems/ both focused on marine applications.

As an aside the cabinet section of ozefridge is worth a read some good tips that help to explain why our fridges need so much power.  http://www.ozefridge.com.au/?page_id=28

[KevL]

Geez  ....   I wouldn't want to be running a 240vt fridge-freezer 24/7 in an off grid camping situation - through my batteries and an inverter, if that's what you mean?

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Like I said, plenty do with the new inverter fridges in caravans and motorhomes. Reported power consumption around 80ah per day max for a 227L fridge that works.
The fridge can be bought for under $600, add $500 for batteries, $200 for a good 150W inverter, $400 for solar panels, $200 regulator - $1900 for the complete setup.
You can't buy just the fridge for that in 12V version, well over 2K for 3way.

some reports:
http://www.caravanersforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=63680

[alnjan]

Why not just run a 12v upright fridge?

http://www.evakool.com/fridges/platinum-upright-fridge-freezers/210-litre-platinum-upright-caravan-fridge-freezer

http://www.australiandirect.com.au/buy/evakool-210-litre-upright-fridge-freezer/EVADC210

 EVAKOOL EK35  210 litre   Ambient temp 32ºC   Fridge temp +04ºC   Freezer temp -15ºC   Power usage 2.0 - 3.0 A/Hr

[edz]

Any 12V power gurus see any trouble with this math ? This is a copy and past from the link Kev put up ..
"  Samsung 255L inverter fridge.
You should allow for 70-80AH per day usage in a van - a bit less than the Waeco RPD175 we previously had. That includes inverter losses thru a Victron 350W inverter.

It doesn't have a high start up current - it is an inverter fridge.

Using Samsung's specs: 280kWh/ year = 280,000 / 365 = 767Wh/day = 767 /12.5 = 61AH per day + you need to add inverter losses

The 1.5A that Samsung quote is at 240V = 240 x 1.5 = 360W. Converting that to battery usage, 360/12 = 30A maximum.
So 30A (360W) is the maximum you need to allow for out of your batteries for inverter sizing.
In practice, I have never seen more than 10A when the fridge has been reloaded after doing the shopping, and usually it is much less than this.

I am using the same 350W inverter to run the fridge, a 26" LED TV and a Samsung stereo system. Saves me having to run the big inverter to run the TV, so for all intents, the fridge, TV and stereo are effectively 12V to us.

They are a great fridge - auto defrost and little twist ice-maker is very handy. And plenty of room.

I hope this helps." .

[Cruiser 105Tvan]

The biggest problem with any upright fridge is opening the door.
When you open the door, all that hard won coldness escapes at once and is replaced with Ambient Temp. air.
With a Chest type, this can't happen.  You would have to have the chest type fridge on its side, when opening, to achieve the same effect.
An upright fridge works far harder when accessed than a chest type.
To partially get round the problem some manufacturers have fitted drawers instead of shelves.

[sparkieqld]

The biggest problem with any upright fridge is opening the door.
When you open the door, all that hard won coldness escapes at once and is replaced with Ambient Temp. air.
With a Chest type, this can't happen.  You would have to have the chest type fridge on its side, when opening, to achieve the same effect.
An upright fridge works far harder when accessed than a chest type.
To partially get round the problem some manufacturers have fitted drawers instead of shelves.

A very strong argument for keeping the efficiently packed with beer.