220volts vs 12volts

[St Andrew]

Im looking to put a fridge in my cat..... nothing big say 60lt. I need advice, should I put a 220v fridge with power inverter or get a 12 volt fridge? all advice appreciated..

[robert sailor]

Get the 12 volt one

[foggysail]

Cost for many is important.

My Norcold turned into poop a few years ago. Replacement was over $1400+ whereas a new, larger Summit was only $500 or so delivered. The Summit fit almost exactly into the vacant hole left by the Norcold. Note, the Summit's compressor is located under the cabinet while Norcold's is behind the cabinet. The Summit featured an interior light (most marine fridges do not) plus automatic defrost.... a huge benefit. I purchased the Summit along with a 1KW truesine wave inverter (Xantrex) for an installation total savings over $600!

If I was doing it again, I would use a slightly larger inverter although the Xantrex has worked fine. I also would search EBay for an inverter at 1/3 the cost of the Xantrex.

This passing season I purchased a 2KW pseudo sinewave inverter new, delivered for $86.00 using the bidding process. All my future purchases will also be cheapies from EBay.

But to each his own--

[Badsanta]

Do you only use shore power or generator? What is your charging system? How large is your battery bank? If you are unsure the differance between 12 and 220 you need more than an inverter

[foggysail]

Originally Posted by Badsanta

Do you only use shore power or generator? What is your charging system? How large is your battery bank? If you are unsure the differance between 12 and 220 you need more than an inverter

True although the difference between 12 and 220 will not significantly impact the power consumption his fridge will demand. If he adds a fridge, it will require a power source of some type be generator, solar, wind, or shore power. Battery bank size only determines the time interval between required recharging while operating on batteries.

Often overlooked is the ability of both the charger to recharge and the batteries ability to accept rapid recharging. I found that even with my Xantrex 3 stage 50 ampere charger, it took hours to recharge, more than I was willing to run the genny. Now couple that with the risk of damage resulting from sulfation.

Yes--- he needs to put more thought into the total system!

[Badsanta]

Yes I know that. But the OP did not state or ask about power replacement. Some will add huge alternators or inverters and have tiny battery banks then get mad because nothing works well or long. Its always more than should I use 12 or 220 volt it depends on how you replace your power. How much you need and how long you want it to last. It is never simple. Its a boat its always something.

[foggysail]

Originally Posted by Badsanta

Yes I know that. But the OP did not state or ask about power replacement. Some will add huge alternators or inverters and have tiny battery banks then get mad because nothing works well or long. Its always more than should I use 12 or 220 volt it depends on how you replace your power. How much you need and how long you want it to last. It is never simple. Its a boat its always something.

We are power pigs on consumption! At anchor I can barely keep my dual bank consisting of 230 ampere golf carts charged. And that is by running my genny needed for my 50 ampere charger at a minimum 1 hour in the morning and evening plus charging with almost 600 watts of solar.


And when its cloudy, I am forced to run the genny hours longer.

[Dod42]

I purchased an EvaKool 60 ltr fridge freezer. They use a BD35 compressor. We did order a bigger plate so it can be all freezer. It is currently just fridge. For the last week I have been monitoring the power consumption. It is plugged into 12 volt. Is about half full but also doesn't get opened alot. It is set to economy mode.

I have been monitoring for 5 days. Some days fairly hot.

It seems to cycle for average 18 minutes per hour. It draws 3.3 amps on start-up then drops to 2.8 while running, then drops to 0 for the remaining 42 minutes of each hour. It has done this consistently for the last 5 days. So even if I allow for an average of 3 amps while running I get .9 AH or about 22 AH per day.

Here is a graph of what it is using. This is a 24 hour period of data use.

[djmarchand]

Some of the new home refrigerators are very efficient. Reportedly the Samsung uses a higher frequency, medium voltage compressor with electronics to convert the 120 or 240 V to run them. You can run it from 12 V with an inverter. You do suffer a bit of inefficiency from the inverter, maybe 10%, but overall amphours (12 V) to run a big refrigerator should be nearly the same as a big Dometic 12 V fridge.

David

[44'cruisingcat]

I had the same choice to make a few years back. Pay nearly $2000 for a 12 volt fridge, or $300 for a 240 volt fridge, and another $300 for an inverter to run it. Went with the 240 volt, and invested in more solar panels to run it.

Haven't regretted it. Friends have had their marine fridges require repairs, costing around $1000. (One couple has spent over $1000 and their fridge still doesn't work!)

I figure solar panels are more reliable than marine fridges, and a better long term investment.

If my 240 volt fridge gives trouble, I'll just toss it and buy another for around $300.

[downunder]

Originally Posted by 44'cruisingcat

I had the same choice to make a few years back. Pay nearly $2000 for a 12 volt fridge, or $300 for a 240 volt fridge, and another $300 for an inverter to run it. Went with the 240 volt, and invested in more solar panels to run it.

Haven't regretted it. Friends have had their marine fridges require repairs, costing around $1000. (One couple has spent over $1000 and their fridge still doesn't work!)

I figure solar panels are more reliable than marine fridges, and a better long term investment.

If my 240 volt fridge gives trouble, I'll just toss it and buy another for around $300.

What 240 volt fridge are you using. Photo It has done 2 years now?

[44'cruisingcat]

It's a Whirlpool, stainless steel door, (roughly) 90 litres capacity. Been running more than four years now. (I had it running a fair while when the boat was still in the backyard.) We also have a 90 litre Westinghouse freezer.

[44'cruisingcat]

There's a site where you can check out the power consumption of domestic fridges. Didn't know about it when I got the fridge, but the freezer choice was helped by it:

Refrigerator/Freezer - AS/NZS 4474.2

[downunder]

Originally Posted by 44'cruisingcat

It's a Whirlpool, stainless steel door, (roughly) 90 litres capacity. Been running more than four years now. (I had it running a fair while when the boat was still in the backyard.) We also have a 90 litre Westinghouse freezer.

Thanks. Good info.

[smac999]

the inverter way would be a big loss. not only losing efficiently during the fridge running. but since the inverter would be left on 24/7 it's aways in standby mode probably drawing a couple amps. even though the fridge will only run maybe a couple hours a day.