Why have a 12v refrigerator

[COReflection]

Did you purchase the 12v fridge to replace an absorption or was it factory?
If factory.......You have a little more solar than what it came with I'm thinking?

Yes it came from the factory with that and a 165w solar panel. I used it that way for a bit with (2) lead acid batteries but I had major upgrades planned anyway. I swapped out the LA batteries for (3) LiPO4 batteries now at 560aH and I added (4) Renogy 100w panels to my existing 165 Furrion panel and now have 565 watts of solar. It works amazing....we are not frugal now at all with our battery use. I have an ATS wired in and all the outlets are hot and useable. Everything works through the batteries and 2K inverter except for both AC units and the fireplace.

[Strider]

I have been Rving for about 40 years and have always been disappointed with the performance of the absorption refrigerators in my 3 trailers. They were not keeping things cold enough and I had to travel with the propane on, which I did not like, not to mention the 24 hr cool down. My current trailer had a 6 cu ft fridge and I upgraded to a 10 cu ft Norcold 12v compressor model. I love the increase in space, cold, not cool drinks and frozen not barely frozen foods. I don't boondock, I did enough of that as a scout leader, so this new fridge works very good for me. My trip to FL this past September everything was kept cold and I did not have to quickly open then close the fridge to keep the contents cold.

[guest2]

The 12 old compressor refers are much cheaper too.

But. My 2021 has the Norcold 12 cu ft ammonia fridge. And it works great. Nice and cold even on those 100 degree days in Arizona.

My previous rv hav a domestic ammonia fridge. Nice and cold on a 109 degree day in Texas.

plus they don’t need any fancy battery stuff.

That is one data point.

but if it ever quits. The $5000 price tag will likely force a change to the compressor fridge.

I agree. 30 years of RVing and have only had absorption fridges. Same experience as above. No problem staying below 40* in 100* plus temps. No need for mega batteries off grid either.

[guest2]

The bigger issues have been with the large 4-door absorption version. Smaller units seem to do okay. My old 8 CF Norcold did an adequate job other than the slow start up and recovery times.

Jim

I disagree. I’ve had 2 RVs with 4 door 13cu ft absorption fridges. We travel in the SW desert in 100* plus temps and the fridges stayed 35-36* with no problem. They weren’t on the coldest setting either.
Rich

[TucsonJim]

I disagree. I’ve had 2 RVs with 4 door 13cu ft absorption fridges. We travel in the SW desert in 100* plus temps and the fridges stayed 35-36* with no problem. They weren’t on the coldest setting either.
Rich

We need to camp together side by side some time and have an ice cream and beer temperature challenge. Once the beer and ice cream temp data are recorded, we get to consume the experiment.

Jim

[guest2]

We need to camp together side by side some time and have an ice cream and beer temperature challenge. Once the beer and ice cream temp data are recorded, we get to consume the experiment.

Jim

Sure thing.
BTW, I’m not against 12v fridges. Just don’t lump all absorption fridges into one category. Some are better than others. Same with 12v fridges.
Rich

[Country Campers]

guest2

There is plenty of documentation here and other Forums about the poor performance of absorption fridges, both 4 door and 2 door. One of the main contributing factors to this is that manufacturers decided to make RV's with opposing slide outs which puts the fridge in a slide out. Having the vents for the fridge on a side wall is less than ideal, heat travels up not out. With that owners have tried all kinds of things with adding fans to force the hot air out of the top vent. This led some to change out for a 12 v dc residential style fridge, I did and would never go back. Lots of reading to do on this so please take a little time and gather some more insight.

Brian

[COReflection]

After having several campers with absorption fridges and now my new Reflection with the 12v DC fridge....I would never go back to the absorption. The DC fridges run circles around the old style. I had the 13 cu ft double door in my last Keystone Montana and it did not perform as good as the new 16 cu ft double door in my Reflection. The DC fridges are so much faster to get cold, they bring warm food to the colder temps much quicker and they are unaffected by the external temps unlike the absorption. I had to run my absorption over night to bring it down to temp before adding food. The new 12v fridges are cold in just a few hours or less. Sure they use battery power to run, but that can easily be accounted for. To each his own....but I give a huge thumbs up for the new style refrigerators. My wife feels the same way every time she removes food from the new fridge.

[Kathy&Jim_Imagine]

Our 2022 has a 12v GE refrigerator. So far, so good.

[TravelHabit]

What I'd really like to see is a compressor type refrigerator that can be powered by propane. Anybody know if something like that exists? Since it would essentially have to be a tiny engine I'm guessing it would have to be very expensive.

My concern with just 12V or AC is the power usage while boondocking. Currently with ~400 kWh of battery storage and 700W of rated solar, several days is the comfortable limit with our absorption refrigerator on propane (many time the actual output of our solar is very limited by trees, orientation, etc.). I assume a 12V refrigerator would cut that dramatically. Propane has a very high energy density which makes it well suited for high energy consumption ...

On the other hand, a compressor design is clearly going to be superior for cooling power (which is one reason why one doesn't see absorption refrigerators in residential homes). If power is not an issue, 12V is going to be superior over a much wider range of operating environments and usage scenarios (i.e. how often the door is opened).

[guest2]

guest2

There is plenty of documentation here and other Forums about the poor performance of absorption fridges, both 4 door and 2 door. One of the main contributing factors to this is that manufacturers decided to make RV's with opposing slide outs which puts the fridge in a slide out. Having the vents for the fridge on a side wall is less than ideal, heat travels up not out. With that owners have tried all kinds of things with adding fans to force the hot air out of the top vent. This led some to change out for a 12 v dc residential style fridge, I did and would never go back. Lots of reading to do on this so please take a little time and gather some more insight.

Brian

Not all absorption fridges are in a slide out.
However, our prior fifth wheel’s 4 door fridge was in a slide out and easily maintained 35-36* in 100* plus temps.
I stand by my statement that some are better than others, just like some 12v fridges are better than others.

Maybe you should be a little more open minded and realize that 12v fridges are not for everyone.
Rich

[guest2]

What I'd really like to see is a compressor type refrigerator that can be powered by propane. Anybody know if something like that exists? Since it would essentially have to be a tiny engine I'm guessing it would have to be very expensive.

My concern with just 12V or AC is the power usage while boondocking. Currently with ~400 kWh of battery storage and 700W of rated solar, several days is the comfortable limit with our absorption refrigerator on propane (many time the actual output of our solar is very limited by trees, orientation, etc.). I assume a 12V refrigerator would cut that dramatically. Propane has a very high energy density which makes it well suited for high energy consumption ...

On the other hand, a compressor design is clearly going to be superior for cooling power (which is one reason why one doesn't see absorption refrigerators in residential homes). If power is not an issue, 12V is going to be superior over a much wider range of operating environments and usage scenarios (i.e. how often the door is opened).

^^^^^ I agree.
Rich

[COReflection]

What I'd really like to see is a compressor type refrigerator that can be powered by propane. Anybody know if something like that exists? Since it would essentially have to be a tiny engine I'm guessing it would have to be very expensive.

My concern with just 12V or AC is the power usage while boondocking. Currently with ~400 kWh of battery storage and 700W of rated solar, several days is the comfortable limit with our absorption refrigerator on propane (many time the actual output of our solar is very limited by trees, orientation, etc.). I assume a 12V refrigerator would cut that dramatically. Propane has a very high energy density which makes it well suited for high energy consumption ...

On the other hand, a compressor design is clearly going to be superior for cooling power (which is one reason why one doesn't see absorption refrigerators in residential homes). If power is not an issue, 12V is going to be superior over a much wider range of operating environments and usage scenarios (i.e. how often the door is opened).

We only boondock and never go places with full hookups. Our 12v DC fridge averages ~75 aH a day but we have nearly 600 aH of LiPO4 batteries and 565 watts of solar. When we have less sun exposure.....we use our portable solar panels. Works great. No regrets for us.

[50ST8R]

Ya, my Norcold 12cuft absorption fridge works great. Wonder why others don't?

My Norcold has always worked until it didn’t. Thankfully only a new control board did the trick. 4 years and counting. I cringe at the cost of replacement when it comes but took advantage of extended warranty that paid all but $100 of RV tech visit, buying new control board and paying for food replacement that spoiled.

[steveluannj]

So far for me the biggest difference has been the noise. The old absorption fridge was just a light whoosh, mainly on the outside. This new DC fridge is whirring and humming right inside the RV. I assume when it gets how I will also notice that all of the heat is exhausted inside the RV instead of outside, so when boondocking the camper will be hotter, but we will see how much hotter.