Replacing a propane fridge with electric

[TomC]

The unique thing I like about the NovaKool 9cu/ft is the compressor is on the bottom venting out the front. This means no rear or roof venting needed. Can build it in tight conserving space. I replaced my Norcold compressor type (that required rear venting) with the NovaKool and love it. I like it so much, I'm also using the 9 in my truck conversion. Now if it was self defrosting....Good Luck, TomC

[Fred Mc]

How big of an inverter would be required to run JUST the fridge.
Length of time, of course, would depend on the battery bank.

Fred.

[Oonrahnjay]

How big of an inverter would be required to run JUST the fridge.
Length of time, of course, would depend on the battery bank.

Fred.

    If it's 12V, no inverter needed.  I was afraid that 12V wouldn't give the punch needed -- no worry, it's fine.

[Geom]

We just replaced our fridge, as our old one was quite a pain with the freezer constantly frosting over and requiring defrost. And it wasn't really keeping stuff cold enough.

We went with a Danby 7.2 cuft, two door, apartment fridge from Amazon (Best Buy has them too).
That was primarily due to the space we had available. Slightly larger ones are available.
It was ~$400 shipped.
It works pretty well (sometimes too well as it can freeze stuff in the fridge if set too high).
It sips electricity (using ~1amp AC when running) and holds temp pretty well.
It did require a full run cycle when we first got it, requiring ~12-18 hours while set at highest setting.
After that, I'd say it comes on 3-5 times a day for about 15 minutes.
And we're constantly opening and closing it.
I have a wireless thermometer in there to give me fridge temp. On a setting of 4 it keeps the warmest part of the fridge to about 40 degrees. Which is sufficient to keep the other areas plenty cold, without freezing stuff.

I love having a separate freezer. And it's cold enough to actually store ice cream.
And it does not frost like the old one did. It'll collect some ice on the fridge side, but it's supposed to defrost that on its own.
The freezer requires manual defrost, but that has not been an issue so far (likely because it's opened and closed so much less now being a separate door).

[Fred Mc]

I was planing on a 110v apt sized fridge so if I want to run it off batteries how large should the inverter be. I see Harbor FReight has a 750W inverter for $40.Would that handle the fridge?

Thx

Fred

[Geom]

I was planing on a 110v apt sized fridge so if I want to run it off batteries how large should the inverter be. I see Harbor FReight has a 750W inverter for $40.Would that handle the fridge?

You want to make sure that it's a pure sinewave inverter.
It doesn't have to be especially large (1 amp = 120 watts) for this fridge.
Of course that depends on the power draw for a different fridge.
But you don't want to buy one that's underpowered either.

So min 500w if you want to run this fridge and maybe a laptop.
I don't think something that size and that cost, will work. While it might (unlikely) be able to power it, it will be he** on the compressor (or any other regulated power device).

[somewhereinusa]

You want to make sure that it's a pure sinewave inverter.

I don't think it's all that necessary, I ran a cheap 120V fridge on a modified inverter for 10 years in my semi with no problems. Until I switched my bus over for other reasons the fridge ran just fine on a modified. My toyhauler trailer has a 120V fridge that runs fine on a modified.

[eagle19952]

I don't think it's all that necessary, I ran a cheap 120V fridge on a modified inverter for 10 years in my semi with no problems. Until I switched my bus over for other reasons the fridge ran just fine on a modified. My toyhauler trailer has a 120V fridge that runs fine on a modified.

me too. except 14 years.

if the refer is bluetooth and orders butter and eggs and sends text messages, you probably need the PSW 

[Fred Mc]

 The Danby 7.3 Apt. fridge has an energy consumption of 343KWh per year.

How does that translate into what size generator you would need to run it?

Thx.

Fred

[Geom]

The Danby 7.3 Apt. fridge has an energy consumption of 343KWh per year.

How does that translate into what size generator you would need to run it?

There's really no linear relationship between those numbers.
The consumption rating is an aggregate average of power usage over an entire year.
When sizing a generator, however, your primary concern is its point in time output as related to an equivalent required  load.

A 1000 watt generator can produce a max 1000 watts of power over a one hour period (most things in electricity consumption are based upon an hour's worth of use).
Respectively a 1 amp rated device will consume one amp of current in an hour.
To get watts from amps, you multiply amps by the line voltage.
In the case of US house line AC current, that is 120V.
So a 1 amp AC device consumes 120 watts of power in an hour.

As you can see, even the smallest generator has plenty of room to run a fridge of this size (as it is rated at 1 amp. For some reason danby makes finding this number a pain).
Keep in mind that motors do use more power on initial startup than when running.
So you would not want to have a fridge that is rated at 500 watts on a 500 watt generator, for example.
Also a generator running at full power will consume substantially more fuel than at 1/2 power.

...or in short, your average 1000 watt Honda generator would be perfect for running this, charging a small battery bank, and perhaps a operating light or two.

[thomasinnv]

Somewhere on the fridge should be a sticker or plate of some kind with the power usage listed. Look for locked rotor amps. That is the maximum current that the compressor will pull in full locked rotor. The startup current usually will be equal to or less than this rating. I would take that number into consideration when sizing a generator or inverter for the surge capacity. I have a 10.1 cuft refer that draws around 65 watts. Locked rotor is rated at 8 amps. When it starts it will surge right to 8 amps for a fraction of a second, so pretty accurate.

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[chessie4905]

Curious why you are contemplating replacing your propane refer. I always heard they keep food good and cold and use little or no electric.

[thomasinnv]

Rv refers (propane/electric) can sometimes be problematic, especially in hotter climates. I got tired of fuddle farting around with them years ago and replaced it with an electric house style refer. No comparison, i would never go back.

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[Lee Bradley]

I have a Summit bottom freezer.  It is pretty tall but a small foot print. I think it has been discontinued but this one is close.

https://www.ajmadison.com/cgi-bin/ajmadison/FFBF191SSX.html

[Zephod]

Curious why you are contemplating replacing your propane refer. I always heard they keep food good and cold and use little or no electric.

My parents were donated one, many years ago and that ran with an electric heater element. It ran for years and years and they replaced the element once. I'm not quite sure why they didn't replace it with another when it stopped working the last time. Bear in mind, they had it for close to 30 years and it was probably just as old when they were given it.


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