Udate on the Everchill Fridge

[luvrbus]

A friend installed one of these 12 v fridges about a month ago,He replaced his propane Dometic with 110v small fridge from Lowes he was never happy with it.So he got this Everchill 12v and is one happy camper says it will run 3 days on 2 6-volt golf cart batteries and his 150w solar panel supplies more than enough to run the fridge it could be a good option for some people   

[richard5933]

We've been using a 12vdc compressor fridge for a few years now, and agree that they do the job quite well.

[Van]

I'm seeing prices of $1100 and up.

[richard5933]

Not saying it's the cheapest way to go. The choice depends on more than price for many. I particularly like the ability to run for a long time on battery.

[luvrbus]

George paid $949.00 for his ,all stainless with glass shelfs

[chessie4905]

90 to 100 degree outside temps will tell the tale on how good they are.

[luvrbus]

90 to 100 degree outside temps will tell the tale on how good they are.

LOL 100 degrees it has been working like a champ in 110 degrees here,the test will come next week they are forecasting 112 to 124 degrees here next week, he is on his own with the testing next week I going to get my @$# out of Dodge 

[richard5933]

During a portion of our current trip from Wisconsin to Santa Fe and back again, we were at my cousin's place in Kansas. We stayed in a guest room at their place instead of in the bus, and just left a ceiling vent going to provide for some air circulation.

Even with the ventilation and all the windows covered with insulating covers, the interior temps were over 100 degrees for the three days. The solar panels kept the batteries charged, and the 12vdc fridge kept working away doing its thing. The fridge stayed cold and the freezer kept things hard.

Not sure that I would have been so lucky with a propane fridge in this situation.

[dtcerrato]

Our original Instamatic absorption propane/120V fridge waned with age trying to keep things cool in hot weather but the current Dometic absorption replacement fridge does a fine job in high heat situations. What helps a great deal is a small computer fan on the back of the unit's hot coils blowing air upward in the vented area. It seems to help a bunch when temps get over a 100F.

[TomC]

I have the 9cu/ft NovaKool 12v/120v in my bus. I like it so much, I put the same in my truck conversion. Not cheap, and does require defrosting in humid weather. But all I do is turn it off, put a beach towel below the cooling coils and by the end of the day, all defrosted, but the food is still cold. Not cheap, but only pulls 5.5 amps at 12vdc. Very quiet, and doesn't require any venting since the condenser vents out the front of the refer.
For extra freezing I have a 2.1 cu/ft chest freezer. Good Luck, TomC

[luvrbus]

I have the 9cu/ft NovaKool 12v/120v in my bus. I like it so much, I put the same in my truck conversion. Not cheap, and does require defrosting in humid weather. But all I do is turn it off, put a beach towel below the cooling coils and by the end of the day, all defrosted, but the food is still cold. Not cheap, but only pulls 5.5 amps at 12vdc. Very quiet, and doesn't require any venting since the condenser vents out the front of the refer.
For extra freezing I have a 2.1 cu/ft chest freezer. Good Luck, TomC

The Everchill is self defrosting that it is a good feature .Like Dan we had a newer Norcold in our Trek and the heat didn't seem to bother it like the older propane fridges,ice cream would soften on a 100F plus day

[oltrunt]

Like Dan I aimed a small computer fan at the compressor on my enclosed dorm frig and also a temperature actuated larger fan to pull the hot air from the frig cabinet to the outside.  I ran some tests on the fan application and found the frig run time lowered about 25%  Jack

.

[Dave5Cs]

Our Norcold keeps up and it was 115 yesterday and 105 today. Its on 110ac now when parked and gas when traveling. When on inverter and batteries its on 110ac too.
We found that if there are any space between stuff inside it will frost up but not bad, so we fill plastic bags with water and freeze them and then use them to take up space and wa la no frost.

[luvrbus]

Our Norcold keeps up and it was 115 yesterday and 105 today. Its on 110ac now when parked and gas when traveling. When on inverter and batteries its on 110ac too.
We found that if there are any space between stuff inside it will frost up but not bad, so we fill plastic bags with water and freeze them and then use them to take up space and wa la no frost.

You go from AZ heat to New Mexico heat ?

[richard5933]

Like Dan I aimed a small computer fan at the compressor on my enclosed dorm frig and also a temperature actuated larger fan to pull the hot air from the frig cabinet to the outside.  I ran some tests on the fan application and found the frig run time lowered about 25%  Jack

.

The only modification we made on our 12vdc compressor unit was to add a second fan at the compressor/coil. The built-in fan comes on whenever the compressor runs. The fan I added (which draws nearly nothing) runs continuously whenever there is power to the fridge helping to keep the coils cooler. The built-in fan didn't stay on long enough after the compressor shut off to ever fully bring them back to ambient temp.