Compressor Fridges

[TSFDevon]

Hi,
We are completely new to this, and after months of researching various layouts we are about to place a deposit on a Bailey Alora.
However, I notice it has a compressor fridge which would appear to use more energy in a day than can be stored in the leisure battery, and so would no be much use for ‘off grid’ camping.
Is my assumption correct, or is there something I’m missing?
Any hello would be appreciated!

 

[TSFDevon]

Hi,
We are completely new to this, and after months of researching various layouts we are about to place a deposit on a Bailey Alora.
However, I notice it has a compressor fridge which would appear to use more energy in a day than can be stored in the leisure battery, and so would no be much use for ‘off grid’ camping.
Is my assumption correct, or is there something I’m missing?
Any hello would be appreciated!

*Help

 

[Lee Fryer]

 

[Tombola]

Compressor fridges are less power hungry than absorption, but if you are planning on a lot of wild camping, you need to.look at....

The battery, Lithium is ideal
Solar to replenish it
And a b2b to add charge from the engine if driving.

If you tell us the specs in more detail we can advise.more.

 

[Brize]

If it has a compressor fridge then it most likely has a lithium leisure battery, possibly 100ah, and you don't say whether the van has solar panels (and if so what size).

The spec for the fridge will give a power consumption figure, but this assumes it is running all the time, which it won't be. My compressor fridge is probably going 30-40% of the time, but a lot will depend on what setting you have it on, how full the fridge/freezer is, and inside/outside temperatures. As an example, we have a Dometic compressor fridge which we run on setting 3 (out of 5), have a single 100ah lithium leisure battery, a 100w solar panel, and with a pretty full fridge we can do 3-4 days off grid in the summer provided the batteries are full to start with - less in the winter.

I too was a bit concerned when we went to compressor from absorbtion, but I needn't have worried. It's a bit noisier but you get used to it, and I wouldn't change back now.

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[kingmid]

We have a compressor fridge and it runs fine on 200ah lithium battery with a solar panel that tops up the battery in summer and a B2b that charges when driving. We can easily manage 3-4 days off grid in summer and 2-3 days in winter with the heating on. We don’t watch much TV and don’t have an inverter. Like Brize we were concerned when changing to a compressor fridge but now find it works very efficiently with little noise.

 

[TSFDevon]

Compressor fridges are less power hungry than absorption, but if you are planning on a lot of wild camping, you need to.look at....

The battery, Lithium is ideal
Solar to replenish it
And a b2b to add charge from the engine if driving.

If you tell us the specs in more detail we can advise.more.

Thanks so much for the prompt reply!

The fridge draws approx 40amp hours / day
The leisure battery is 105ah AGM
And there is a Trauma 100 watt solar panel

This doesn’t mean much to me so any comment on the suitability would be great
For context, I doubt we would be parked up, off grid for much more than a couple of nights.
Thank you!

 

[oldiesontour]

My compressor fridge freezer draws around 2ah when running this time varies with ambient temperatures so hot day more running but hot day more solar so it's not really possible to say how much power it consumes from the battery as an everyday figure.I personally would not be happy with 110agm and 100w over spec you won't be disappointed under spec you'll regret it.I would have as much solar as you can fit/afford.Make sure all onboard charging is lithium ready swop the AGM for lithium and then you can add more batteries easily if needed

 

[gus-lopez]

I have a compressor fridge, I have just installed. I have 180Ah of lead acid batteries, soon to be changed to 280Ah of lithium,fed by 200w of solar ,soon to be changed to 390W of biafacial,(all they had in width I wanted), & living here in spain it copes.BUT the last week or two with cloudier skies I can see the lower battery voltage each day as i have left it running permanently.

 

[PaulW2]

Thanks so much for the prompt reply!

The fridge draws approx 40amp hours / day
The leisure battery is 105ah AGM
And there is a Trauma 100 watt solar panel

This doesn’t mean much to me so any comment on the suitability would be great
For context, I doubt we would be parked up, off grid for much more than a couple of nights.
Thank you!

You may be right in that the fridge would draw a fairly large percentage of available power.

You shouldn't draw your battery down much below 50% too often, I think. So with say 50ah available the fridge will use a fair chunk of it.

As others have said the fridge won't run all the time but the argument would stand that the fridge is a large drain on your available energy supply.

Compressor fridges are, I think, quite popular in this parish (I don't have one), because they are inherently more efficient, less temperamental and better at maintaining temperatures. And with the advent of light, powerful, long lasting lithium batteries that can be drawn down to about 20% without fear the balance has shifted somewhat in their favour.

But you may be ok for a couple of nights, especially if your solar panel makes a contribution.

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[hja]

When we got our van, new, in 2021 it had a compressor fridge 120 w solar and 90 or 100 AGM battery. It was our first compressor fridge. We quickly discovered that we could not do two nights and one day off grid in the rain.
We changed to 230 lithium and a better solar controller which allows more of the solar energy to be stored in the battery. The van already had a b2 b and everything else needed, just needed adjusting. Now no problems.
Don’t know where you are but we had ours installed by Oaktree Motorhomes/Ecotree in Nottingham.

 

[cyberyacht]

If you are looking at off-grid, check the gas locker size. Some Baileys are stupidly small, particularly the door so that you you can only get 6Kg bottles in.

 

[Steve and Denise]

I think maybe twice the battery size (lithium) twice the solar and you will manage 4-5days ours uses around 40amps per day but way better than a 3 way fridge

 

[pappajohn]

A 3 way fridge may use around 10 amps per hour on 12v......constantly.
That's why they have gas and hookup as well.

 

[PaulW2]

A 3 way fridge may use around 10 amps per hour on 12v......constantly.
That's why they have gas and hookup as well.

Mind you, they are pretty efficient on gas

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[PaulW2]

Mind you, they are pretty efficient on gas

Just by way of illustration I have no solar and a single 150ah lithium battery. I can do 3-4 days off grid.

 

[Pausim]

We have a compressor fridge and are really pleased with it. We have done off grid nights without any problem. I have now had the batteries changed from Gel to a single 230Ah lithium, no solar but bigger B2B to make sure the power used is replaced as we drive. I don’t foresee any problems.

 

[berni109]

100 amp AGM died after 18hrs with a compressor fridge.

 

[oldiesontour]

100 amp AGM died after 18hrs with a compressor fridge.

Was that only the fridge? Was battery fully charged ? Was left in battery when fridge died ..just curious as if 70/80 ah in 18hrs was it running continuously (hot day)

 

[Pausim]

100 amp AGM died after 18hrs with a compressor fridge.

Not totally surprised, some AGM batteries can be really fussy about how they are charged. This guide from Alpha Batteries explains it.

A Detailed Guide to AGM Batteries - Alpha Batteries

With AGM products becoming more widespread in their use, knowing when you can or should use one and how to look after it properly is all the more important - our guide is here to help.

www.alpha-batteries.co.uk

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[RV-AL]

Hi,
We are completely new to this, and after months of researching various layouts we are about to place a deposit on a Bailey Alora.
However, I notice it has a compressor fridge which would appear to use more energy in a day than can be stored in the leisure battery, and so would no be much use for ‘off grid’ camping.
Is my assumption correct, or is there something I’m missing?
Any hello would be appreciated!

I don’t think this will be a very popular view on this site, but despite having 200ah lithium and 420 watt solar i much prefer a three way fridge. Having multiple fuel types give you much more flexibility if something does go wrong. No sun, very low temps so can’t charge batteries etc.

 

[StillGoing]

Having had a 3-way (which died after 4 years) and replaced it with a compressor, I would never, ever go back to a 3-way and would never, ever have a Dometic. However, your battery won’t have enough capacity to last 2 days off grid. My compressor uses about 30-45Ah in 24 hours (depending how I use it) and I have 210Ah of lithium battery so I can last 3-4 days off grid even if there is no sunshine to power the solar.

 

[PaulW2]

I also enjoy the flexibility of a 3-way fridge.

However, the advantages are really not that stark.

Imagine I only had my 150ah lithium (no solar) and my B2B charger, and a compressor fridge rather than 3-way.

Well, I could go for 2 days, then commit a crime against humanity by idling my engine for 40 minutes as if I was at a music festival and I'd be good for another 2.

 

[oldiesontour]

True a 3 way gives more options
1. Eat battery amps
2.Eat mains amps
3.Run equally as inefficiently on gas.
But is consistent it doesn't get very cold on any of them without help in high ambient temperatures

 

[fishplug]

As already mentioned, that setup is probably fine for a weekend away but not much else.

If you want to extend the time you can run the fridge off grid then you need to either generate more power to charge the battery (more solar input, DC-DC charger to power while while driving, or a petrol generator) or to be able to store more power in a bigger battery (I do have a 200Ah up for sale at a good price but it's realistically too far from Devon unless you ever come over Cambs way?)

The budget option is to pop a load of freezer blocks in the fridge as it will help keep the temperature low which means the compressor won't have to kick in as often, which means you'll use less power..... but it's not going to give you more than maybe an extra day at best. If it's a chest style fridge then you can also put some insulation round it which will also help (especially on hot days).

If you don't have room on the roof for more solar panels then you could consider getting some folding ones that you put out when you're parked up.