I guess I've committed to getting solar

[MrNoodly]

I found this at Amazon for about half price.<br><br>

 

[greybeard23]

Congratulations!<br><br>Lot better than constantly buying ice.

 

[wrcsixeight]

Sweet. &nbsp;That unit is an energy miser. &nbsp;Be sure to have a dedicated ciggy plug outlet for it wired with 12 or 10 awg, and mount it so that it cannot be knocked, or wiggle loose.<br><br> &nbsp;The compressor (Danfoss/Secop) directions say to not share wiring with any other device but to run a separate lead right to the battery. &nbsp;<a href="http://www.ra.danfoss.com/Technical...nit_101n0600_12-24vdc_08-2011_dehc100m602.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.ra.danfoss.com/Technical...nit_101n0600_12-24vdc_08-2011_dehc100m602.pdf<br><br></a>I'm sure you can get away with using existing outlets with little issue, but the less voltage drop, the better.<br><br>I got solar pretty much solely for the fridge, but together solar and the fridge are by far the best addition to my van. <br>&nbsp;I despised the need to get ice every 5 days, emptying the cooler, emptying cooler water from zip lock baggies... <br><br>&nbsp;Throwing out food.<br><br>The Fridge pays for itself in ice pretty quickly, especially if one includes the gas required to go get more.

 

[VanLifeCrisis]

The price difference between those and AC dorm fridges, or the thermo electric coolers, is just too staggering.&nbsp; The cheapest ive seen on amazon was $411 for a small cooler type.&nbsp; You can buy 4 household dorm fridges for that.&nbsp; I wonder if they are so much harder to make or is it just gouging the truckers kinda deal.

 

[wrcsixeight]

Most residential dorm fridges are made as cheaply as possible without care for efficiency. &nbsp;<br><br>Thermoelectric coolers are a joke for this lifestyle.<br><br>Running a residential fridge in a Van full time is a false economy. &nbsp;You need more solar, more battery, and a big noisy wasteful inverter running 24/7 to handle the start up surge.<br><br>A residential 120v fridge in a larger RV which gets used seldom and is hooked to the grid often, is another story.

 

[David]

Right now I have the typical 3 type frig/freezer set up in my van but with my next soon to come build, I'd really like to go&nbsp;straight&nbsp;up 12 volt being I have a solar system. The problem I have is pretty much all of the 12 vot frig/freezer set ups are the top lid style that makes it so you can't really build it into your&nbsp;cabinets.&nbsp;<br><br>Anyone know of a good compressor 12 vot frig/freezer that is a upright with a front door? Would also be great if it didn't cost a grand or more.. <img src="/images/boards/smilies/biggrin.gif" class="emoticon bbc_img">&nbsp;

 

[highdesertranger]

engel makes replacement refers for rv's.&nbsp; last I looked they only made the smaller ones not the huge ones.&nbsp; highdesertranger

 

[highdesertranger]

o btw mr noodly congrats you will not regret your choice.&nbsp; in fact after using for a while you might wonder why it took so long.&nbsp; highdesertranger

 

[wrcsixeight]

Engel and Norcold use a sawafuji "swing" compressor. &nbsp;I found my Norcold intolerably loud and prone to vibrate the whole Van. &nbsp;I expended tremendous effort to dampen noise and vibration from it.<br><br>12v fridges with Danfoss/secop compressors are much quieter. &nbsp;My Vitrifrigo is more efficient than my Failed Norcold was.<br><br>The following manufacturers make 12 volt front loading fridges with danfoss/secop compressors<br><br>Vitrifrigo<br>Truckfridge<br>NovaKool<br>Isotherm<br>Dometic/Waeco/Tundra<br><br>Some of these will have a DC only version, others will have a AC/DC compressor controller.<br><br>The AC option was another C-note on my Vitrifrigo. &nbsp;I decided to put that C note toward a real Converter, which can power all DC loads while 3 stage recharging the battery bank, I just have not done so yet.<br><br>I bought my Vitrifrigo &nbsp;c51is from here:<br><a href="http://www.westyventures.com/parts.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.westyventures.com/parts.html</a><a href="http://www.ra.danfoss.com/Technical...nit_101n0600_12-24vdc_08-2011_dehc100m602.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><br><br></a>It was 35$ cheaper back in October, free shipping.<br><br><br>

 

[leftcoastadv]

ARB also makes a good small chest style fridge/freezer similar to the Engel. I have the 40 something quart model.... sips on the electricity.

 

[Willy]

&nbsp;I have both a (Waeco) CF-50 &amp; a CR-50, the latter being a front loading fridge. Anyone who figures on saving money by buying a 'dorm fridge' or one of those cheap Peltier junction coolers/warmers will find out right quick what a BIG mistake they have made. They'll give ya absolutely lousy performance while sucking your batteries dry. I've tried both, luckily having been given them, so this is first hand experience talking.. but figure me for a fool and go ahead and use either one and see who's laughing in the end.<br>&nbsp;I picked up my fridge for $220 off Craigslist, barely used, and I've seen them going for considerably less than a grand new; all depends on where you shop.<br>&nbsp;One other thing I'd like to mention is that those 'dorm fridges' are meant for stationary use, not mobile, and quite possibly might fail ya when most needed. Remember, quality pays for itself many times over, buying cheap often being a false economy. ..Willy.

 

[David]

After searching around looking at the names&nbsp;suggested, this one&nbsp;<a href="http://www.truckfridge.com/tf130.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.truckfridge.com/tf130.html</a>&nbsp;seems like a pretty decent option. It's just too bad all these RV/boat style fridges have such tiny freezer sections. Honestly I use my freezer more than I use my frig at home and I assume I'd be the same way on the road.&nbsp;<br><br>I guess being&nbsp;mobile&nbsp;it's easy enough to stop by a&nbsp;grocery&nbsp;store to pick up a bit of fresh meat, but it would be nice to have a bit more freezer room for extended boondocking..

 

[wrcsixeight]

I find I don't use my freezer at all for food storage. I do keep some flexible ice packs up there that I put on my shoulder or neck after surfing, and once, I have put some cubed ice in a drink, but honestly, if they sold my fridge without an enclosed freezer but with an extra shelf, I would have chosen that option.<br><br>I don't think it is safe to assume you will use the freezer more than the fridge section when vandwelling as you do in a stick and brick.<br><br>But if you really want a freezer, a small chest style dometic/waeco like in the first post can deep freeze items the most efficiently. &nbsp;<br><br>I keep my Vitrifrigo on a setting around 2 of 7 to keep sub 38f interior temps. &nbsp;3 of 7 starts freezing things after 12 hours. &nbsp;4 of 7 is unnecessary. &nbsp;Never used any higher settings but suspect I could use it as a freezer. &nbsp;I have added a tiny interior fan which lowers the setting I need to use to hold these temps. The fan itself does not make the fridge consume any less battery power, it just allows more even interior temperatures and quicker cool downs. &nbsp;I removed the freezer door and have the 40mm fan in the freezer blowing out toward the door as this position showed the best results.<br><br>The cooling unit on the exterior of these front loading fridges need to be vented adequately within the cabinet. &nbsp;I made mine so the condenser fan cannot recycle any preheated air. &nbsp;I also replaced the condenser fan with a quieter more efficient one.<br><br>TruckFridge is the cheapest option out there for a 12v compressor fridge (with danfoss compressor) but are assembled in China. &nbsp;I paid another C note for the Italian assembled Vitrifrigo. &nbsp;From pictures and reports of others on 'The Samba'. The TF's appear to use smaller 92mm fans on a different condenser and are held to it with plastic Zip ties. &nbsp;The VF use a 120mm fan which is the same size as the condenser and is held to it with Stainless steel sheet metal screws. &nbsp;There are a couple other differences how the Danfoss/secop compressor is plumbed to the condenser and evaporator. &nbsp;The VF allowed me to use the fan to push Air through the condenser(quieter). &nbsp;Not possible with the TF. &nbsp;The condenser and fan on a TF are mounted directly to the fridge body. &nbsp;On the VF they are mounted on the same rubber footed plate as the compressor.<br><br>I am very glad I spent the extra for the the VF as I feel its cooling unit design is superior, and allowed me to improve it further by increasing efficiency of heat transfer.<br><br>Members in Canada should look into NovaKool products to avoid duty costs and extra shipping hassles. NovaKool uses passive condensers, meaning no condenser fan.<br><br><br>

 

[James AKA Lynx]

If you want to use the frig as a freezer, I suggest that you get a small one. After the things freeze, the contents will last for a few days, depending on what you have and outside temps. Nice option, However, it may be hard to find things frozen.<br><br>James AKA Lynx

 

[highdesertranger]

when I used ice chest I would freeze allot of things before hand this would extend the time food would last in an ice chest.&nbsp; when I first got my 12v I did the same thing and set the refer on 2 thinking it would defrost slowly.&nbsp; ha ha ha had to put it on standby and it still took days to defrost.&nbsp; now I just use it normally.&nbsp; on another note if you freeze a jug of water and put it in the refer it greatly reduces the power usage this also works in absorption refers.&nbsp; highdesertranger

 

[MrNoodly]

It would be interesting to do the science to find out if the energy saved by putting a frozen jug in the fridge is less, the same or greater than the energy it took to freeze the jug in the first place.

 

[ontheroadagain]

Does anyone know specific compressor type details for the ARB chest cool/freezer?

 

[wrcsixeight]

I believe ARB uses Danfoss compressors.