Compression Fridge?

[Cliffdale]

We have seen a PVC we like but it comes with an electric fridge. Is this likely to suck the life out of the battery, (200Ah), if we go wild camping.

If anyone has experience of compression type fridges, I will appreciate comments on battery drain.
Thanks

 

[ontheroadagain]

We have one and we think it is great.
Cools down quickly and you can leave it turned on on ferries, tunnel etc.
It is slightly noisy at night, but you soon get used to it.
We don't do a lot of wild camping, but we did 4 nights last Sept with no ehu and had no issues.
(We had two 100ah batteries and 115W of solar).
However, the weather was good so were were getting quite a lot of sun.
I have since added another 110W of solar so that should help further.

 

[seasideBill]

Yes, same dilemma here. Currently have a 3 way, but just about all the new PVCs at NEC were fitted with 2 way. I don’t suppose the new vans feature the plumbing for gas so retrofit expensive?
We occasionally use ours on gas for 3 or 4 days at a time in hot places, not sure how well a compressor would cope? Don’t like the idea of listening to it at night either.

 

[ontheroadagain]

We occasionally use ours on gas for 3 or 4 days at a time in hot places, not sure how well a compressor would cope? Don’t like the idea of listening to it at night either.

I would say that the compressor fridge would work better in hot places, plus you would be getting good input from your solar.
Most have a night setting which reduces the noise level.
However, we no longer use the night setting as we found that after a few nights we didn't notice the noise.
If I had a choice between a three way or compressor, I would now choose a compressor fridge.

 

[chesterfield hooligan]

We've just done 6 weeks in Portugal with a Halfords compressor fridge freezer to be honest it was sunny most of the time 340w of solar it did freeze everything when asked but seamed to use a lot of power although when down in Portugal I set to 3 degrees and everything was fine we never use ehu

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Bobby-gg]

I'm guessing you now know it's not a compression fridge!

Anyway, that's all we had in our old VW, a 50litre waeco one, running for a 65ah battery and 200w solar and it worked fine, and I wouldn't worry about getting one in a new pvc

 

[Kannon Fodda]

With the likely challenges increasing of getting gas for your van in the UK, whether refillable or in suitable sized bottles, I'd opt for a compression based fridge. Increasing the battery and / or solar power to better cope off grid would be easier than traipsing half way round the UK to find gas refilling and during summer the amount of gas used by my 3 way is quite high.

 

[donkey]

We have seen a PVC we like but it comes with an electric fridge. Is this likely to suck the life out of the battery, (200Ah), if we go wild camping.

If anyone has experience of compression type fridges, I will appreciate comments on battery drain.
Thanks

Hi.
First thing is, do you have solar charging, if not you will need to be driving around a lot to keep the batteries topped up.
Our Waeco compressor fridge is good, but yes it uses a fare bit of power. However, you will soon learn to use it more efficiently. When travelling turn it to a colder setting while you have plenty of battery power. On site set to lowest setting which will still maintain temperature, in other words don't set it to low as it will be going for longer.
Remember, they are much more efficient than absorption fridges, so spend a lot of the time off, therefore using no power.

Geoff

 

[SpeedyDux]

Compressor fridges have 3 other advantages -

More reliable than 3-way absorbtion ones

No need for servicing

More tolerant of levelling (lack of)

 

[Howard B]

Are these an easy retrofit?

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[pjay]

Compressor fridges have 3 other advantages -

More reliable than 3-way absorbtion ones

No need for servicing

More tolerant of levelling (lack of)

...and, no need for big holes in the side of the van.

Pete

 

[seasideBill]

Seems the industry has decided for me, but I’m encouraged by the comments here. I’ll have a 150w solar panel but don’t really have the space (or payload) for a 2nd leisure battery and not wealthy enough for lithium. At least I won’t need to bother with fridge vent covers blowing off!
Night mode sounds good (if it works) just need to ensure I incorporate that feature as I guess it’s not on all LV compressor fridges?

 

[GMLS]

Are these an easy retrofit?

Yup Just fitted one to our classic vw.Found one the right size and only the 12v to connect up via a fuse but that was already in place from the 3 way.30 mins tops

 

[Raul]

We have seen a PVC we like but it comes with an electric fridge. Is this likely to suck the life out of the battery, (200Ah), if we go wild camping.

If anyone has experience of compression type fridges, I will appreciate comments on battery drain.
Thanks

Hi, given the 200ah is lead, you have a decent 100ah to use every day, providing you have the means to charge back up.
Compressor will consume approximately 1/3 of your reserve in 24hr period; about 30-33ah. With a 100w panel you can be off grid indefinitely in the summer. In winter you will need EHU.

 

[Cliffdale]

Excellent feedback! Thanks. I'll stick with going electric.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[kingmid]

We changed our coachbuilt for a PVC with a compressor fridge last year and had the same worries. Admittedly we haven’t done much wild camping since getting the new van, but have no concerns about the fridge. Recently, enroute to Spain, using fridge, heating, lights, pump (no TV) we used about 25% of the capacity each day. We have a 200ah lithium battery, there was no sun to speak of and the battery was charged the following day with the B2B.

As for noise, it is difficult to hear it and I certainly don’t notice it at night. So after 6 months no regrets about the fridge.

 

[SpeedyDux]

Seems the industry has decided for me, but I’m encouraged by the comments here. I’ll have a 150w solar panel but don’t really have the space (or payload) for a 2nd leisure battery and not wealthy enough for lithium. At least I won’t need to bother with fridge vent covers blowing off!
Night mode sounds good (if it works) just need to ensure I incorporate that feature as I guess it’s not on all LV compressor fridges?

My Vitrifrigo fridge doesn't have a night mode. It is far more noisy every time the compressor kicks in than the top loading Waeco fridge in my previous campervan, which was totally inaudible when running.

Last thing before I go to bed is switch the fridge off, and back on again as soon as I wake up. That works for me.

 

[PeterCarole29]

...and, no need for big holes in the side of the van.

Pete

Hi Pete i have found from experience that outside ventilation would be required to be economical.
The better the ventilation the better it works.

 

[pjay]

Mine (85ltr Isotherm) is vented to the inside via the rear of the seat base and works fine, in fact I sometimes have to turn it down because it works so well.

Pete

 

[donkey]

Hi Pete i have found from experience that outside ventilation would be required to be economical.
The better the ventilation the better it works.

Mine vents internally via a floor level opening and a grill to the wardrobe. I enhanced the air flow with a 120mm computer fan, works a treat. As for noise, I can't hear mine at all.

Geoff

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[hja]

Our pvc had 120 w solar, 100 ah lead acid battery and a compressor fridge. Arrived at Canterbury aire with a fully charged battery, in the afternoon. Van sat rest of the day, all the following day and by the next morning battery was below 12v. We had forgotten to put it on to night mode which might have saved a bit. The full day it sat was wet for a lot of the day and very little solar.
As a fridge we find it works well and we have now installed lithium.

 

[Howard B]

Yup Just fitted one to our classic vw.Found one the right size and only the 12v to connect up via a fuse but that was already in place from the 3 way.30 mins tops

Thanks

Maybe something to look at in the future

 

[davidroxburgh]

Another compressor fridge supporter here. In our case we also have a diesel water and heating system. We changed to lithium (another whole issue!) and with a B2B as well we have absolutely no issues. We have used mains perhaps 4 times in almost 18 months and given the upwards pressure on the cost of EHU feel quite up to date.

Before long gas for cooking only may be the way the majority of news vans are set up?

Apologies for thread drift into lithium and EHU!

 

[Minxy]

Our last PVC had a compressor fridge ... hated it! It was quite noisy even on night-mode (located at high level and next to the bed) and was power hungry - we had 2 x 100w solar and 2 x 90ah gels and being off-gridders we were reliant on our solar and batteries and despite not watching more than an hour's TV each night (if we bothered at all) we were always conscious that of battery level dropping lower than we liked which caused concern; it wasn't limited to winter either, this was also a concern in summer too.

If I had to have a compressor fridge I'd certainly be wanting as much solar as I could fit and also have a big battery bank - probably lithium 200ah or more - to ensure there was sufficient input/energy stored to power it and everything else without causing anxiety.

 

[Lenny HB]

With most of them fitted without ventilation to the outside world don't you get a lot of heat in the van in hot weather?
I would have thought that's the last thing you when the temperature is in the 30's. The cabinet next to our fridge/freezer at home gets quite hot OK the fridge is a lot bigger but it's not in a small area like inside a van.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[EuroTrotters]

We have a 3-way that is not great.

So I have fitted a Small freezer into the old CRT TV Cupboard,

Took of the cheap Chinese compressor and fitted a more efficient Austrian compressor. I also added an extension to the condenser coil and fitted a small computer fan,

Redundant Hymer TV Cupboard Now a Freezer

So, the Old CRT TV Cupboard, with turntable and up and over door. No longer required. Fridge is small, not great and the freezer even more useless. Turntable removed, door modified and hey presto, better use with refrigeration. TM So, the Old CRT TV Cupboard, with turntable and up and...

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

 

[Orion]

Our Adria came with a Thetford T2000 Model A compressor fridge and it works very well. Can’t say that it bothers either of us in normal or night modes as it doesn’t run for long before switching off anyway. Power consumption also isn’t excessive - the manual quotes 0.35kWh/24hr - as it doesn’t appear to take too big a bite out of our 200amps of leisure batteries. With some decent solar up top (we had 115watts, now trebled but not used in anger yet), we found that 3 nights away even with the weak winter sun were more than manageable.

 

[rod_vw]

When we bought our first VW T5 for self-build I decreed that I wouldn't cut any big holes in the side for the vents and exhaust of a three way fridge so we went for a 65litre Waeco compressor fridge. Two more T5s and a T6 later our ideas haven't changed and the forthcoming LWB MAN TGE will be similarly equipped although a larger size.
We've always camped wild or Aires whenever possible all over Europe with 100w of solar and at most 220Ah of AGM leisure battery and never had any problem with the fridge.