Battery or Gas for fridge ???

[Gina M]

Hi everyone. We are going to be staying on a field for 3 days with no EHU. I was wondering if it is best to put the fridge on gas or run it off the battery? We have solar panels on the roof of the van. Sorry if it's a stupid question, Steve says to run the fridge on gas but I am not sure.

 

[Captain Yoghurtpot]

We have always rallied away from electric hook up, even long before solar panels were cheap enough. We could go 10 days on one battery and longer with a 6kg cylinder (up to 14 days). Now with solar, indefinitely on 12v but gas remains limited

Was the battery a lead acid or lithium or AGM?
Curious as I am considering inly running with 1 x 95amh lead acid, 2 x 6kg gas bottles, possible portable solar panel as the bare minimum when possibly using non EHU sires.
Cant fit lithium as cost to upgrade everything, controllers, chargers etc is uneconomical on age of van.
Usage off grid, so to speak, will be no more than 4 days and 12v tv will not be used, but gas fridge and heating will.
All lighting changed to led’s.
Just asking

 

[RedFrame]

Hi everyone. We are going to be staying on a field for 3 days with no EHU. I was wondering if it is best to put the fridge on gas or run it off the battery? We have solar panels on the roof of the van. Sorry if it's a stupid question, Steve says to run the fridge on gas but I am not sure.

As has been stated, run it on Gas. As long as you have a decent amount of Gas in your 6Kg bottle, at this time of year, you will have more than enough to run your Fridge/Freezer and cooker and heating (if you really need) for way more than 3 days.

Again, as has been stated, it is possible to run a Fridge/Freezer off 12v when off grid, but if you are inexperienced, do not have the battery/solar monitoring equipment and/or timer relays in place I would strongly advise that you do not go down this route as it is likely that you will end up damaging your batteries.

Cheers
Red.

 

[RedFrame]

We have always rallied away from electric hook up, even long before solar panels were cheap enough. We could go 10 days on one battery and longer with a 6kg cylinder (up to 14 days). Now with solar, indefinitely on 12v but gas remains limited

Maybe I read this wrong... You ran an absorbtion fridge on 12v for 10 days without solar on how many Ah?

Cheers
Red.

 

[pampam]

Perhaps its just the “thought “ of running a fridge on gas that is worrying you?
whilst you are asleep etc, but they do work,in fact i found that my fridge/freezers seemed to work better ,and its so nice not having to plug in to that electric point,you give more thought to what you cook/eat and shower etc,i always freeze my milk at home then pop it in fridge to travel.
good luck and enjoy,
sadly my 30 year old 3 way fridge is kaput in my old little caravan and was leaking gasses so had to be removed…………hasnt been replaced yet.
so im a bit jealous of you being able to go off grid as i cant

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[Reallyretired]

As with Lenny HB ours will run on 12v if switched to 12v but gas if switched to auto, possibly a German thing as our Rapido didn't.
Running off a 100Ah battery will effectively flatten it in about 4 hours.
Gas is the only way, most fridges work best on this anyway. As previously stated do not turn up to full as it will not make it colder, often the opposite and will use more gas. You can expect to use around 1-2kg gas a week to run the fridge, though more if its very hot.

 

[Spriddler]

I run my fridge on hook up before leaving home with freezer packs in ice box.

Rather than freezer packs taking up space I freeze two one litre bottles of milk before setting off driving with the fridge on 12v and they've still been frozen in the fridge door shelf 6 hours later, including four hours on the ferry with the fridge turned off.

Perhaps its just the “thought “ of running a fridge on gas that is worrying you?

Back in the 60's our fridge at home ran (only) on gas.

 

[Gina M]

Well it went really well. 3 nights and 3 days on gas only. We had the fridge on set mid temp, hot water and all cooking and heating Only thing I missed was the telly box as no signal for it and no Wi Fi. We educated ourselves by binge watching Chernobyl on DVD (which was brilliant) and more education by watching His Darkest Hour. Would I do it again, YES. Lovely evening walk to the local pub, 20 minutes walk there and 5 mins back after two pints each we were desperate for the loo Edited to add that we sat in the dark on our first night, then thought what the heck we have to trust the hab battery so we had all lights on for the next two nights

 

[Toady]

Rather than freezer packs taking up space I freeze two one litre bottles of milk before setting off driving with the fridge on 12v and they've still been frozen in the fridge door shelf 6 hours later, including four hours on the ferry with the fridge turned off.

Back in the 60's our fridge at home ran (only) on gas.

I rotate the ice packs. Freeze them at night and then place them in the main fridge during the day. I find this lowers the temperature of the fridge especially when hot outside. Works for us but I take your point.

 

[Gina M]

I rotate the ice packs. Freeze them at night and then place them in the main fridge during the day. I find this lowers the temperature of the fridge especially when hot outside. Works for us but I take your point.

I am going to to this when we are in Spain and Portugal this summer. Thanks for the tip

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[Landy Andy]

Glad it all went ok. We have no solar and just the a pair leisure batteries. We can easily do 4 days off hookup, off grid. The toilet cassette is what expires first.

 

[RedFrame]

Well it went really well. 3 nights and 3 days on gas only. We had the fridge on set mid temp, hot water and all cooking and heating Only thing I missed was the telly box as no signal for it and no Wi Fi. We educated ourselves by binge watching Chernobyl on DVD (which was brilliant) and more education by watching His Darkest Hour. Would I do it again, YES. Lovely evening walk to the local pub, 20 minutes walk there and 5 mins back after two pints each we were desperate for the loo Edited to add that we sat in the dark on our first night, then thought what the heck we have to trust the hab battery so we had all lights on for the next two nights

Sweet, glad it all went well! Look forward to hearing of more "Wild Camping" exploits!

Chernobyl is definitely an enjoyable binge watch... many orbits ago, while enduring endless drizzle in bonnie Scotland, we binged Prison Break... somewhat of a marathon...

A 4g router and half decent fixed omnidirectional ariel will sort out any 4g reception issues for most locations, as will a decent book, board game or game of cards...

Have fun!

Cheers
Red, Chris and Bannock.

 

[Gina M]

Sweet, glad it all went well! Look forward to hearing of more "Wild Camping" exploits!

Chernobyl is definitely an enjoyable binge watch... many orbits ago, while enduring endless drizzle in bonnie Scotland, we binged Prison Break... somewhat of a marathon...

A 4g router and half decent fixed omnidirectional ariel will sort out any 4g reception issues for most locations, as will a decent book, board game or game of cards...

Have fun!

Cheers
Red, Chris and Bannock.

Thanks, I have told Steve I am happy to go wild (ooooh Matron!!!) so long as I have Wi Fi and TV. He's looking into it. He is so chuffed I was Ok with it as it is so much cheaper to go without EHU we have had the van for 5 years and I have always refused Wild camping until this trip. PS, we have board games, scrabble, dominoes and my Kindle (which I forgot to pack !!) Sudoku and crossword books and sometimes we just talk to each other

 

[Spriddler]

Thanks, I have told Steve I am happy to go wild (ooooh Matron!!!) so long as I have Wi Fi and TV. He's looking into it. He is so chuffed I was Ok with it as it is so much cheaper to go without EHU we have had the van for 5 years and I have always refused Wild camping until this trip. PS, we have board games, scrabble, dominoes and my Kindle (which I forgot to pack !!) Sudoku and crossword books and sometimes we just talk to each other

Great! Especially the freedom to use inexpensive aires and Stellplätzen when abroad.
I've always carried a single burner stove for an emergency since basic speech doesn't return until I've had my first brew, but I haven't had to use it in 11 years.

 

[Larafach]

I prefer running my fridge on gas, I’ve found the sweet spot. Not so lucky on EHU, managed to freeze a 1/2 tin of soup once