Compressor fridge any benefits?

CazPaul

CazPaul

Joined
Jun 30, 2011
Posts
8,426
Likes collected
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Location
Barnard Castle, UK
Funster No
17,128
MH
Concorde Concerto
Exp
Since 2007
Seen a nice Globecar van abroad, but it has a compressor fridge.

We have never had a compressor one, only absorption ones, they hardly use any gas.

I can't myself see the value of a compressor one, I can understand if you want a gas van free coupled with diesel heating etc or only use the van in summer and have plenty of solar.

Are there ant benefits of a compressor fridge that I am missing, we like to wild camp or camp without EHU and use all year round.

How much power do they use?

Paul.
 
Hi Paul,

Just sold a VW t5 that we did 30000 miles in with a compressor fridge. We like to wild camp too.Yes it did what a fridge is supposed to do but it was VERY power hungry. Even running at low temp it would kill a 110amp battery in two days. They are quiet and only run for short periods but we needed an ehu every two days. We usually had two free nights then paid for camping to charge the battery back up. Don't even think about running it from solar would take a massive panel just to try and keep up.
 
locsuna said:
Hi Paul,

Just sold a VW t5 that we did 30000 miles in with a compressor fridge. We like to wild camp too.Yes it did what a fridge is supposed to do but it was VERY power hungry. Even running at low temp it would kill a 110amp battery in two days. They are quiet and only run for short periods but we needed an ehu every two days. We usually had two free nights then paid for camping to charge the battery back up. Don't even think about running it from solar would take a massive panel just to try and keep up.
Click to expand...


Many thanks.

Well that van is out of the question then after your reply, gas 3 way one for us.

What a ridiculous fridge invention then. The thing is, the van in question has gas heating so you need gas bottles anyway and the fridge hardly uses any. So its gas heating and a gas fridge for us.
 
Our new Campscout has compressor fridge fitted and it's a bonus to us as we have a steep drive, and have never been able to load the fridge up the night before we go off with our other vans fitted with absorbsion fridges. I have also fitted a second agm battery and 200 watt of solar and we are alright for electricity now, using heating, tv, fridge, CPAP machine and lights.
Plus no large vents through the side, for water ingress.

John.
 
Last edited:
Some of the reasons I like my compressor fridge are:
  • It gets down to temperature in around 15 minutes from switch on
  • It keeps cool even in hot weather when absorbtion models struggle
  • There are no holes in the side of the van which need different covers for the winter
  • There is no faffing about with alternate fuel sources between driving/parked up
  • There are no annual safety checks needed or flue cleaning
  • Probably less to go wrong (although some might argue that point!)
I did design my van to use compressor from the start and my batteries and solar are therefore sized accordingly. We love it!

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been using house hold 240v fridges for the last 15yrs . best bit of kit around . yes i do have 6x80wt panels and 500amp of batteries plus 1kw inverter but at home i run a lead into the house and work my house fridge and sometimes a big freezer for free. but on slopes etc compressor fine and in hot climates always keeps going . my olf fridge in the camper was about 20yr old when i got given it . shame it finally went wrong at about 30yr old .
 
Neckender said:
Our new Campscout has compressor fridge fitted and it's a bonus to us as we have a steep drive, and have never been able to load the fridge up the night before we go off with our other vans fitted with absorbsion fridges. I have also fitted a second agm battery and 200 watt of solar and we are alright for electricity now, using heating, tv, fridge, CPAP machine and lights.

John.
Click to expand...


Its no good in autumn/winter though without EHU, which is what we like to do. Solar is next to useless at times when you really need it.
 
ericroy said:
Some of the reasons I like my compressor fridge are:
  • It gets down to temperature in around 15 minutes from switch on
  • It keeps cool even in hot weather when absorbtion models struggle
  • There are no holes in the side of the van which need different covers for the winter
  • There is no faffing about with alternate fuel sources between driving/parked up
  • There are no annual safety checks needed or flue cleaning
  • Probably less to go wrong (although some might argue that point!)
I did design my van to use compressor from the start and my batteries and solar are therefore sized accordingly. We love it!
Click to expand...


Some good plus points there, thanks for that.
 
I went 9 months fulltiming without hookup with my compressor fridge. 3 x 80 watt solar panel and 500ah battery.

Compressor fridges are
more efficient,
better in hot climates
no holes in van to let the cold in during winter season.

If you are going to be on hookup then compressor fridges are a no brainer. If off hookup a lot then get decent battery bank and solar.

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Our t5 had a pop top, I don't think it would have lifted with 200w worth of ordinary panels. i know flexi panels work but I never felt happy with the cable run on a pop top that was always up and down.
 
Phoenix fit them to all their vans as standard, talked to and English guy in Spain last year and asked him about it? he also commented it was power hungry.

Martin
 
We were thinking about changing our van, and the one we were after had a compressor fridge. :rolleyes: But speaking to a german 2 days ago he put us off them, his globecar had one and with 2 x solar panels and 200 ah batteries he sometime has to use campsites after 3 days because he runs out of power :eek: Gas rules. :LOL: Bob
 
Both my vans have had compressor fridges. Had no problems they have been efficient
 
I think they are easier to live with, no switching to different fuels or beeping when pulled up for a break. If you have room for a big battery bank and a large wattage of panels I think they are the way to go.

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Gromett said:
I went 9 months fulltiming without hookup with my compressor fridge. 3 x 80 watt solar panel and 500ah battery.

Compressor fridges are
more efficient,
better in hot climates
no holes in van to let the cold in during winter season.

If you are going to be on hookup then compressor fridges are a no brainer. If off hookup a lot then get decent battery bank and solar.
Click to expand...


500ah battery, good heavens, no wonder you were ok.
 
locsuna said:
I think they are easier to live with, no switching to different fuels or beeping when pulled up for a break. If you have room for a big battery bank and a large wattage of panels I think they are the way to go.
Click to expand...


Not in autumn/winter early spring though, summer yes.

I like the idea of no holes in the side of the van though
 
some small table top ones seem the noisiest.
i hardly hear my fridge .
sometimes the inverter shrieks as it comes on but hardly notice it .
i do live in my trailer 6 months of the year. usually in winter . but in spain /portugal/ morocco.
i found three way fridges packed up in africa and very often in spain if it was hot.
with the compressor fridges we make icecream and lollies when sat out in the sahara .
we are only children at heart anyway.

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locsuna said:
Our t5 had a pop top, I don't think it would have lifted with 200w worth of ordinary panels. i know flexi panels work but I never felt happy with the cable run on a pop top that was always up and down.
Click to expand...
my son has 120 of flexi panel on his pop top and a 110ah leisure battey we did 4 days at chester with minimal sun and he was running a compressor fridge all the time and a eberspacher each night and morning
how much other power were you using led light?tv?
 
Ours is very quiet don't notice that it's on at all, my wife who is a very light sleeper doesn't notice running but a small battery alarm clock that I use keeps her awake.

John.
 
Waeco 90 Ltd fridge uses just under 3 ah/per hour depending on outside temp
Terry
 
I can't answer re the amount of battery life they use but I have been on several rallies of 4 or 5 days with no EHU and not had a problem. My set up is 2 x 110amp batteries and 2 x 100 wt solar panels. I much prefer my compressor fridge as it just seems to work so well with no maintenance.
 
I have a compressor fridge, a 110ah battery and an 80w solar (on a pop top).
I can easily do 4 or 5 days aided by using freezer blocks and turning the fridge off overnight.
Totally silent at night - I take my hearing aids out :-)

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Looked into compressor fridge or not at length & would choose it but with at least 100w solar panel & 2 batteries. Freezing ice packs during the day then putting them in the fridge overnight so it can be turned off works well for all types of fridge to conserve electric or gas (y)
 
CazPaul said:
How much power do they use roughly?
Click to expand...

This is my next fridge.


It uses about 1Ah an hour on average. So over 24 hours that is 24AH (probably a little less)

If you have a 100AH battery and use it for nothing else and have no solar at all then it will last 2 days realistically.

If you have solar panel you can increase this but then decrease that figure by how much you use the battery for other stuff.

The reason I had a big battery bank was for my mobile office as I worked from the van. It also served the purpose of getting me over periods of time where I didn't see the sun for 5-10 days at a time. I believe the year I did 9 months off hookup I used my generator twice that year.

I would suggest 200 Watts of solar and 220AH of battery should be enough for most people providing you don't go nuts on inverters and TV's. This will be fine for April/May through till Sep/Oct would be my guess.

However it all depends on your usage levels for other stuff and the weather.
 
You will not get anything more efficient than a compressor fridge for a MH. Problem is, they are as stated power hungry. Noisy when you sleep next to them. The noise of the refrigerant boiling off and changing state from a liquid to a vapour, through the capillary into the evaporator. Plus the noise from the motor within the compressor .

LPG Fridges can use 250 grams plus a day. With a 6kG cylinder using it for water, some heat and the fridge. It aint going to last long. But they are whisper quiet.

Go for 12v compressor for efficiency
gas for convenience
 
I have had our Waeco 70L compressor fridge in our Globecar running 24/7 non-stop since January with the van in the drive, not on H/U - only with Solar from a 150w panel and 2x95Ah leisure batteries - the fridge draws 8Ah overnight from my victron bmv700 battery monitor and the battery bank is fully recharged by early morning
 
I installed a 2nd hand shoreline compressor fridge in my Hymer S650 (2 vans ago), this was to replace a tempermental 3 way AES dometic fridge.
I had 2 x 75 watt panels on the roof, 2 x 110amh LB's, and in 3 months of winter sun in Spain, never on ehu, the batteries never dropped below 12.2 volts...and that's with sat tv and the usual 12v appliances.
I could barely hear the fridge start up, and it never disturbed us sleeping.

Allen

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