Gass powered fridge

[James Baxandall]

Hi
Sorry if I've done this wrong or this question has already been asked but it's my first time using a forum.

I'm finishing off my first ground up purpose built Overland rig and I have a question over using a fridge I have bought.

This fridge is a small unit with a door on the front and runns off gass, mains electricity and 12v. When trying to run it off just 12v I have noticed that it drains my lesure battery very quickly and if i were to use it whilst on the road for a while I'm pretty sure my battery would go flat. Obviously when I'm not at home or a site with electric hookups I can't use the mains to power the fridge.
My question is, has anyone any experience of using a fridge runing on gas and if so how much gas do they use and is it advisable to run the fridge on gass when on the road.

 

[old_man]

12v is not a problem while driving since your alternator will power the fridge. Propane works good when parked, but the flame has a tendency to blow out when on the road. Solar can provide a charge for your 12v battery while stopped as well. Having all three options is great, but adding the gas tends to make it bulky, not portable, and pricey.

 

[Mike W]

Check out a solar setup. Fixed panel or flexible fold up panels. They can keep up with a fridge if you make sure to park at the right angle or get your portable panel setup.

Mine is fixed, I use it as a wind fairing on my rack, to block wind from my cases. It uses some 20lb gas struts to hold it up/down.

Auxiliary battery, (dual battery system) and a solar charge controller.

 

[beck4u]

Sounds like you have a RV style fridge? Probably uses absorption to cool instead of a compressor? If that's the case it's not going to be very efficient running off of 12 volts. Usually in a motorhome you would run it off of propane because it uses flame to heat an element that causes cooling thru science. I know when you run those off of 120 volts they use a heater element in place of the flame. I would think 12 volts would use some sort of heating element too. This equals big battery drain and not an efficient was of cooling.

If thats the case maybe start saving for an ARB or something of the sorts.

Not trying to be a downer but by the time you get enough power to run that thing you could have purchased something that would work better.

Maybe post a pic or 2 of the fridge you got.

 

[James Baxandall]

Hey thanks for everyone's replys I will have a look into buying a arb fridge



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[ArkansasDon]

when I think of overlanding, I think of portability. I agree on 12v. & solar as others suggested. I run Engel 12v. on my solar system & power several other 12v. gear. Having a solar system that gives you enough power to power your 12v. gear, charge your battery\batteries & have some for reserve is important. Better to go over-board than under IMO. I like the ability to move my solar panels around to follow the sun, starting with the east & ending facing the west. It's very important to get as much sun exposure you can which only equals more wattage to your system so you will have that reserve during the night time use when you need power. I went with 2 100 watt Renogy suit case panels were I can run them together parallel using a branch connector or just one 100 watt when I decide to run less 12v. gear. A good solid AGM battery IMO is the best for overlanding because of it's ability to handle below freezing weather conditions, extreme hot weather conditions & they are less likely to loose charge while in storage. I also run a Renogy 30amp Charge Controller with 20ft awg cable to my panels & a battery temperature sensor to the battery which gives me careful monitoring of my battery for extended life.

Running a 30 amp charge controller gives me the option to run more panels if I need, up to 4 100 watt panels. Each panel produces between 70 to 60 watts a day 5 1\2 amp. Both panels connected in parallel will double that which gives me more than enough power to run my Engel MR040 40 qt 12v\110 fridg\freez, 12v. Endless Breeze Fan, charging a cell phone, the LED light strip inside the RTT & still have a reserve.

The late winter camping the wife & I do not even take my Engel, I will use K2 70qt roto-molded cooler w\ a divider & use 1 100watt portable suit case panel. That will power my Proplex H2000 tent furnace (the 12v. thermostat) powered off propane, my RTT LED light strip, charging cell phone & my 2 green filtered LED tent rack lights (shown in my 1st photo). Fall, Winter & early Spring days in hours is less than the rest of the year. This is were you need to know available sun light per day & the hours needed. Cloudy days your power for charging is reduced by 25% or more depending on cloud cover or over casted days which can give you even less.

All my electrical & most of my solar is housed into my front tongue box of my trailer. The battery I prefer is VMax Tank, it's a 12v. AGM 125 amp hour battery solar battery. (shown in my 2nd photo) VMax has a 8 to 10 yr life span as long as you do not run it below the recommended draw in this case 50%. I rather spend the money for a good solar system & battery that will continuously give me enough reliable power to charge, run my 12v. gear & plus gives me that reserve I need. I gave all this in a serious though prior before I started build on my trailer. I done over 6 months of research on solar & battery's, I settled with Renogy as my choice of solar & the VMax Tank.

 

[Rujack]

I use lpg for my fridge. It’s also 12v and 110, but I haven’t wired it up for 12v, yet. It does blow out occasionally, but not often enough to bother me. Maybe once every few days.

I have a 20lb tank which will run the fridge at 35 degrees for about 30 days in the summer.

 

[Overland_Serenity]

Check out a solar setup. Fixed panel or flexible fold up panels. They can keep up with a fridge if you make sure to park at the right angle or get your portable panel setup.

Mine is fixed, I use it as a wind fairing on my rack, to block wind from my cases. It uses some 20lb gas struts to hold it up/down.

Auxiliary battery, (dual battery system) and a solar charge controller.

Those gas struts are awesome! I've been looking into doing something like that too. Two questions. Do you find that using you panel as a fairing helps with drag/mpg, and do the struts provide enough force to hold against the wind?

 

[Mike W]

Those gas struts are awesome! I've been looking into doing something like that too. Two questions. Do you find that using you panel as a fairing helps with drag/mpg, and do the struts provide enough force to hold against the wind?

They do just fine at interstate speeds. I can't give you much data about MPG. The only times I have run it up, i've also been fully loaded, so its hard to compare. I am sure it does help, I just can't say how much.