Freezer to fridge conversion

[surfmore72]

I have told this story many times but will tell it once more.  I too wanted to save money,  I needed to get off ice it was killing me I am often a long way from ice so between the price of ice and the trips to go buy it was killing me.  so first I tried an RV propane refer.  it worked ok but now instead of needing to go to town for ice I needed to go for propane.  so I tried one of those peltier coolers waste of money and it sucked power.  then I tried a dorm refer,  to keep stuff cold I had to turn it way up,  it to was an energy hog.  no were near what the label said.  I attributed this to the fact that it wasn't in a controlled environment like an apartment or a dorm room.  so finally in 2010 I said screw it and bought a 12v Engel.  boy what a world of difference,  to this day I wish I would have bought the Engel in the first place.  I would be dollars ahead.  the next year I bought another,  those 2 Engels use less power then the dorm fridge.  I will buy one more to use as a dedicated freezer.  the lessen from this story is,  sometimes trying to save a buck costs you more in the long run.  highdesertranger

I wish I knew what dorm fridge you used.   Do you remember any attributes?   Brand, size,  advertised energy specs,  year of purchase... Etc... It would be helpful to my cause.

 

[highdesertranger]

I don't know anything more then I bought it in the 08-09 time frame. cheap dorm fridge from home depot. energy specs were way low for the time, like a 9v battery would run it for a year. just kidding but compared to the others it was way low. after this I kinda looked at the energy usage label like the MPG ratings on car stickers. like they drove the car downhill with a strong tailwind to get those numbers. you have to remember those numbers on the label come under controlled conditions. I don't think they tested it in the 90 degree ambient like I was trying to use it. sorry for not having any hard data. but I can tell you this the 2 Engels draw way less power. in fact I have the same solar panels and batteries today as I had then. back then I was not worried about details, only results. highdesertranger

 

[ccbreder]

I think every one should re-read highdesertranger's last couple of posts. 12 volt compressor type coolers/fridges/freezers are the way to go. Except for the adventure of rediscovering that fact, there is no profit in trying to operate a household refrigerator through an inverter from 12 volt batteries.

 

[jimindenver]

For the capacity vs power consumption, a cube fridge can't compete with a 12v fridge of the same capacity. They are built to be cheap and almost all of them pull 15a at 12v. You can find 9 foot two doors that pull just 3 amps more.

One the other hand once you get up to the larger 12v fridges, you can find energy efficient mini fridges that can get close to the same power consumption. YOu pay a extra $100 for the efficiency but at 3.1 foot, it uses less than half the power of a cube sized fridge.

 

[ArtW]

RE MPG numbers, the EPA gets them from running the vehicles on a 'test loop' on a dynamometer type thing
for the city cycle, they accelerate to 30 MPH, stay there for a set time, then stop, repeatedly
for the HWY #s, they accelerate the vehicle up to highway speed (this used to be 55, not sure if it still is) for a set time with no stops
That said, I typically beat EPA estimates while driving my cars in real world conditions, so long as they are in good repair, because I drive gently
My 93 Caprice, amazingly, got near 30 MPG on a trip from Austin to Coushatta, and while i rolled up to speed nice and gradual, I didn't spare the top speed at all
I consider that car to have been exceptional for it's make / model, as others who owned one got pretty bad MPG with them

 

[surfmore72]

I know I know... Beating a dead horse here... but per the EPA milage... Since 2014 the EPA has required independent 3rd party testing of all energy star devices. In 2008 that was not the case.

 

[highdesertranger]

the EPA doesn't do the actual testing. a bunch of car companies got in trouble a few years back for fudging the numbers. yes you can beat the numbers, in fact driving habits is the single most important contributor to fuel economy. highdesertranger

 

[TrainChaser]

I don't know what any of these posts mean. I don't know anything about freezers or refrigerators except how to use them. I know even less about electricity, which is on par with magic, to me.

That said, I was wondering if the information at the following link is useful to anyone here. I don't understand any of it, either, but a lot of people think it's brilliant -- *scratches head*. I'm just tossing it out here because I can.

This Aussie converted a regular chest freezer to a refrigerator: "My chest fridge (Vestfrost freezer turned into a fridge) consumes about 0.1 kWh a day. It works only about 2 minutes per hour. At all other times it is perfectly quiet and consumes no power whatsoever. My wind/solar system batteries and power-demand-sensing inverter simply love it."
http://mtbest.net/chest_fridge.html

 

[jimindenver]

The concept is viable but you can't find small chest freezers for mobile use. This is a convertible fridge/freezer. You would get the advantage of the extra insulation while in fridge mode. Just wrapping 3 inches of high density foam around a mini fridge helps considerably.

http://www.compactappliance.com/CRF...nless-Steel-Freezer-With-Lock/CRF150SS-1.html