12v fridge to buy or not ?

[MtB]

4 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

 I was waiting to see who would be first lol. Worse than that!! I like proper beer served COLD 

 

 

OMG you'll be telling us you like WIDEBEAMS next!

 

The nightmare never ends....

 

 

 

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

11 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

An even more terrifying thought, if you turn the fridge off at night and forget to switch it back on in the morning, you would end up with warm beer 

You need to cram between 25 to 30 cans of lager in the fridge. Get them proper proper cold and they’ll stay well cold with the fridge off for 12 hrs easy peasy. 
You must empty the fridge of food stuffs for maximum room. 👍

[mrsmelly]

1 minute ago, Goliath said:

You need to cram between 25 to 30 cans of lager in the fridge. Get them proper proper cold and they’ll stay well cold with the fridge off for 12 hrs easy peasy. 
You must empty the fridge of food stuffs for maximum room. 👍

Yeah, whats that all about!! wasting precious fridge space with food 

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

2 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

Yeah, whats that all about!! wasting precious fridge space with food 

Crisps, nuts and scratchings don’t go in fridge anyway. 👍

 

[MtB]

8 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

Yeah, whats that all about!! wasting precious fridge space with food 

 

This is reminding me of those yummy mummies on telly cooking stuff and going on about using up "left over wine".

 

Um..... 'Left over wine' ... ????? 

[Alan de Enfield]

47 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

An even more terrifying thought, if you turn the fridge off at night and forget to switch it back on in the morning, you would end up with warm beer

 

 

Guiness was the only supplier who actually came around and tested our serving temperatures - not the theoretical temperature coming thru the chiller, but the ACTUAL served temperature in the glass.

[mrsmelly]

4 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

 

Guiness was the only supplier who actually came around and tested our serving temperatures - not the theoretical temperature coming thru the chiller, but the ACTUAL served temperature in the glass.

Indeed. I have had that, guinness are very protective of their brand and do monitor such things. I have also been visited at two different pubs with Mr weights and measures, have you ever had them descend on you?

[Tony1]

 

If you are pricing out a 12v fridge, maybe add in the cost of getting a spark to wire it, if you can't/won't DIY it. 

I have a 240v fridge, and to replace it with a 12v model I would've had to make a bit of a mess to get a 12v supply across to the fridge location, and so I didnt bother in the end. 

When the 240v model dies I'll rethink the 12v option, but at the moment I don't feel it makes sense to splash £600 or so on a 12v fridge, when the energy saving even over 5 years might not be that great.

 

As others have said, if you have an inverter that draws more than an amp or two when at rest, and if the fridge is the only reason you run that inverter 24/7, that could also be a factor in your decision. My inverter only draws 0.6 amps at rest, so that's 14Ah over a full day. In summer the sheer amount of solar makes that 14Ah wastage irrelevant, but in winter it means I have to run the engine for an extra 10 minutes or so to replace the wastage from the inverter, so I can live with that for 3 or 4 months of the year, if the alternative is spending £600 plus installation and hassle. 

 

I will say that I can't vouch for this, but I did hear that not all 12v fridges are of equal quality, and a few are pretty poor.

One chap in a discussion I read said he found very little insulation within the casing of a 12v fridge that he 'examined'. So try to establish if the one on offer is a decent one. 

Its worth remembering that the energy saving regulations that apply to domestic mains fridges mean that you can tell how efficient and well insulated it is from the star rating they have. I guess that doesn't guarantee the reliability of the compressor etc, but hey. 

 

So in short, a decent quality and efficient 240v fridge paired with a frugal inverter and a decent solar setup means a12v fridge at £600 or more might not always offer massive cost savings, unless taken over 5 or 10 years. 

 

 

Edited November 21, 2022 by Tony1

[LadyG]

I think the OP already has a fridge and is going to be on shore power in a marina, so discussions about mains v 12v fridges are for others  Regarding efficiency ratings I think they were recently found to be fantastic, like diesel car ratings 

I think fridges produce heat in the surround, so removing this air might be a good idea. Cold air from bilges, hot air out using convection ie hot air rises.

 

 

 

 

[GUMPY]

I had a 12v fridge that was really inefficient so I removed it. I now run 230v larder fridge, 

power is 45watts, inverter power is 2  watts in standby and its 92% efficient

Inverter uses 4ah a day in standby, and since its 92% efficient that translates as the fridge needs 49watts at 12.5volts

Using the manufacturers yearly consumption 113kWh that equates to the fridge being on for just under 7hrs a day 

49watts is 3.92amps at 12.5v so if its on for 7hrs a day that's 27.5Ah a day plus the 3Ah for the time its in standby 

gives a total of just over 30Ah a day, which for me is very acceptable on a nominal 350Ah battery bank.

 

Would I go back to 12v not a chance.

If I was looking for an ultra efficient fridge as I have said before I would use an upright freezer with an separate thermostat.

 

 

[rusty69]

54 minutes ago, Loddon said:

I had a 12v fridge that was really inefficient so I removed it. I now run 230v larder fridge, 

power is 45watts, inverter power is 2  watts in standby and its 92% efficient

Inverter uses 4ah a day in standby, and since its 92% efficient that translates as the fridge needs 49watts at 12.5volts

Using the manufacturers yearly consumption 113kWh that equates to the fridge being on for just under 7hrs a day 

49watts is 3.92amps at 12.5v so if its on for 7hrs a day that's 27.5Ah a day plus the 3Ah for the time its in standby 

gives a total of just over 30Ah a day, which for me is very acceptable on a nominal 350Ah battery bank.

 

Would I go back to 12v not a chance.

If I was looking for an ultra efficient fridge as I have said before I would use an upright freezer with an separate thermostat.

 

 

We have used an upright chest freezer as a fridge for many years. I wouldn't call  it ultra efficient, but it is quite an old style freezer. I have heard about using an external device to trigger the inverter to switch on to save a bit of power, but have never got around to fitting one.

 

The fridge reverts to a freezer in the winter months, with ice packs put in a cold box to act as a fridge.

Edited November 21, 2022 by rusty69

[Tony1]

1 hour ago, Loddon said:

I had a 12v fridge that was really inefficient so I removed it. I now run 230v larder fridge, 

power is 45watts, inverter power is 2  watts in standby and its 92% efficient

Inverter uses 4ah a day in standby, and since its 92% efficient that translates as the fridge needs 49watts at 12.5volts

Using the manufacturers yearly consumption 113kWh that equates to the fridge being on for just under 7hrs a day 

49watts is 3.92amps at 12.5v so if its on for 7hrs a day that's 27.5Ah a day plus the 3Ah for the time its in standby 

gives a total of just over 30Ah a day, which for me is very acceptable on a nominal 350Ah battery bank.

 

Would I go back to 12v not a chance.

If I was looking for an ultra efficient fridge as I have said before I would use an upright freezer with an separate thermostat.

 

 

 

Apologies for my lack of electrical savvy, but does that mean your inverter draws around 0.2 amps in standby?

What make/model is that? 

Mine is a 2000w continuous model (amazon cheapo). I got it to be sure it ran the 100 watt kettle, and I was pleased to see it only used 0.6 amps for itself.  

0.2 amps is very frugal indeed.

 

 

 

[David Mack]

10 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

Having been in the 'food trade' (as we have) you will be fully aware that Fridge and Freezer temperature daily records are one of the most checked items by the 'food inspectors'.

 

It is understabdable that those who do not have their 'Food safety Certificates' will be ignorant of the problems of temperature changes and will make these odd suggestions.

But equally, if you are providing food for the general public in a commercial environment, you have to take all reasonable precautions as you don't know how robust all your customers are against food poisoning etc. Whereas if you are only storing and preparing food for yourself, and you are pretty sure you have a robust constitution, you can view the risks differently.

[David Mack]

4 hours ago, MtB said:

 

This is reminding me of those yummy mummies on telly cooking stuff and going on about using up "left over wine".

 

Um..... 'Left over wine' ... ????? 

I thought the same when I first saw reusable stoppers for half empty bottles of wine being advertised.

[LadyG]

4 minutes ago, David Mack said:

But equally, if you are providing food for the general public in a commercial environment, you have to take all reasonable precautions as you don't know how robust all your customers are against food poisoning etc. Whereas if you are only storing and preparing food for yourself, and you are pretty sure you have a robust constitution, you can view the risks differently.

Pointless. You will have more food wastage if you don't keep food cool, and if you get the trots a cassette will be your friend, but not for long!

[MtB]

22 minutes ago, David Mack said:

I thought the same when I first saw reusable stoppers for half empty bottles of wine being advertised.

 

Wine deteriorates rapidly once opened and needs drinking immediately.

 

That's what I find anyway. 

 

I've experimented with those stoppers and air pumps to suck out some of the air and they make no difference IME. 

[GUMPY]

52 minutes ago, Tony1 said:

 

Apologies for my lack of electrical savvy, but does that mean your inverter draws around 0.2 amps in standby?

What make/model is that? 

Mine is a 2000w continuous model (amazon cheapo). I got it to be sure it ran the 100 watt kettle, and I was pleased to see it only used 0.6 amps for itself.  

0.2 amps is very frugal indeed.

 

 

 

Its a Victron Multiplus compact combi  12 / 1600 / 70-16 230v

I have it set in search mode so it checks for loads every 10 seconds or so and then goes  ack into hibernation.

It draws 2 watts 0.16A in that mode or 8 watts 0.64A in normal standby mode.

Not cheap but it does the job.