Powering my fridge

[Boatman Al]

The boat ive just bought has a 240v fridge in. Generally ill be mooring in a marina so its not a problem to power. When i clear off for a week or 2, how is best to keep this fridge working for me?

 

I have a 1800w sterling inverter and 3 110amp leisures. I need to run a tv, lights and pumps off leisure's when moored. So could i power the fridge off off inverter aswell? or would be best to power it when cruising, then switch it off when engines off?

 

Any advice on this would be great.

 

thanks

[mrsmelly]

The boat ive just bought has a 240v fridge in. Generally ill be mooring in a marina so its not a problem to power. When i clear off for a week or 2, how is best to keep this fridge working for me?

 

I have a 1800w sterling inverter and 3 110amp leisures. I need to run a tv, lights and pumps off leisure's when moored. So could i power the fridge off off inverter aswell? or would be best to power it when cruising, then switch it off when engines off?

 

Any advice on this would be great.

 

thanks

 

Hi

 

My last boat was all mains, including fridge, telly etc. I had 3 x 110 amp hour batteries and my fridge was never switched off and my inverter was never switched off and I never had any power problems I simply cruised or charged for about 3/4 hours per day max. I will say though I had a mastervolt inverter whih are much superior inverter to the sterling which is fair enough as they are much more expensive. The sterling I have on this boat is no where near as efficient but your 1800 unit may well be ok. The usual problem is just how much does the unit actualy draw when running an appliance.

 

Tim

[Ex- Member]

The boat ive just bought has a 240v fridge in. Generally ill be mooring in a marina so its not a problem to power. When i clear off for a week or 2, how is best to keep this fridge working for me?

 

I have a 1800w sterling inverter and 3 110amp leisures. I need to run a tv, lights and pumps off leisure's when moored. So could i power the fridge off off inverter aswell? or would be best to power it when cruising, then switch it off when engines off?

 

Any advice on this would be great.

 

thanks

 

I think you would be ok as I assume you would be cruising anyway so charging batteries. The only thing I would look out for would be the rating of the fridge, some older fridges can be quite juicy although I'm sure you would still be able to run it, an A or A+ rated fridge though would ease the load and probably save a few quid on your mooring leccy too. Just a thought if it's an old fridge.

[Robbo]

I would look at the size of your alternator, just to make sure your putting enough back in the batteries after a cruise.

[steelaway]

Hi

 

My last boat was all mains, including fridge, telly etc. I had 3 x 110 amp hour batteries and my fridge was never switched off and my inverter was never switched off and I never had any power problems I simply cruised or charged for about 3/4 hours per day max. I will say though I had a mastervolt inverter whih are much superior inverter to the sterling which is fair enough as they are much more expensive. The sterling I have on this boat is no where near as efficient but your 1800 unit may well be ok. The usual problem is just how much does the unit actualy draw when running an appliance.

 

Tim

 

 

 

Ditto - same set up. My fridge pulls about 6A including the Sterling inverter loss's at about 1A

 

Alex

[ditchcrawler]

The boat ive just bought has a 240v fridge in. Generally ill be mooring in a marina so its not a problem to power. When i clear off for a week or 2, how is best to keep this fridge working for me?

 

I have a 1800w sterling inverter and 3 110amp leisures. I need to run a tv, lights and pumps off leisure's when moored. So could i power the fridge off off inverter aswell? or would be best to power it when cruising, then switch it off when engines off?

 

Any advice on this would be great.

 

thanks

Your only problem will come if you want to moor up for more than a couple of days without running your engine.

[Chalky]

I would look at the size of your alternator, just to make sure your putting enough back in the batteries after a cruise.

 

Agreed. Do the load balance calculations and work out how much you'll use and put back. Also look at the size of your battery bank. The inverter isn't 100% efficient and that also needs to be added into your calculations. It will work, but if you've got a lot of 240V kit you'll pull a lot of power from the batteries and you'll have to factor in the time and diesel you'll need to use to put it back.

[Tesla]

Hi

 

My last boat was all mains, including fridge, telly etc. I had 3 x 110 amp hour batteries and my fridge was never switched off and my inverter was never switched off and I never had any power problems I simply cruised or charged for about 3/4 hours per day max. I will say though I had a mastervolt inverter whih are much superior inverter to the sterling which is fair enough as they are much more expensive. The sterling I have on this boat is no where near as efficient but your 1800 unit may well be ok. The usual problem is just how much does the unit actualy draw when running an appliance.

 

Tim

 

Is it best to have a smart gauge or similar to measure the draw and to ensure the batteries don't discharge over 50%? I am in the process of buying a boat with a similar set up but I am concerned that I will knacker the batteries. Once I get aboard I intend to do a power audit but I would like to have some ongoing evidence that we are not taking too much out of the batteries?

[grahame r]

Hi

 

My last boat was all mains, including fridge, telly etc. I had 3 x 110 amp hour batteries and my fridge was never switched off and my inverter was never switched off and I never had any power problems I simply cruised or charged for about 3/4 hours per day max. I will say though I had a mastervolt inverter whih are much superior inverter to the sterling which is fair enough as they are much more expensive. The sterling I have on this boat is no where near as efficient but your 1800 unit may well be ok. The usual problem is just how much does the unit actualy draw when running an appliance.

 

Tim

 

I can't see that 3/4 hours a day from an alternator would be nearly enough to replace the power used by a fridge/telly etc. Were you away from shore power for extended periods? Just thought is that three quarters or three to four?

[mrsmelly]

I can't see that 3/4 hours a day from an alternator would be nearly enough to replace the power used by a fridge/telly etc. Were you away from shore power for extended periods? Just thought is that three quarters or three to four?

 

Hi Grahame

 

Yes my fault it does look like threequarters and I did mean 3 or 4 hours a day.

 

Tim

 

Is it best to have a smart gauge or similar to measure the draw and to ensure the batteries don't discharge over 50%? I am in the process of buying a boat with a similar set up but I am concerned that I will knacker the batteries. Once I get aboard I intend to do a power audit but I would like to have some ongoing evidence that we are not taking too much out of the batteries?

 

Hi

 

Yes its is. I personaly dont use a smartgauge as it doesnt give me enough information. I use a victron thingy which tells me how much any appliance is taking at any one time and also how much charge my alternator is wassing in. A smartgauge is usefull as a petrol gauge type thing but I find victron etc are of more use to me. The soc part is not accurate but neither is it necessary. I think you will find that Gibbo and his company have deduced this and believe they are adding amp counting/discharging to their new unit being developed at the moment. I am quite sure Gibbo will berate me if that is not the case

 

Tim

[Tesla]

 

Yes its is. I personaly dont use a smartgauge as it doesnt give me enough information. I use a victron thingy which tells me how much any appliance is taking at any one time and also how much charge my alternator is wassing in. A smartgauge is usefull as a petrol gauge type thing but I find victron etc are of more use to me. The soc part is not accurate but neither is it necessary. I think you will find that Gibbo and his company have deduced this and believe they are adding amp counting/discharging to their new unit being developed at the moment. I am quite sure Gibbo will berate me if that is not the case

 

Tim

 

Thanks Tim, that would be a BMV-600s or 602s I guess, looks good and I assume wouldn't take a great deal to install (or get installed I expect).

[nb Innisfree]

We have to remember though that the 50% thing is not a fixed rule, it's just a rule of thumb i.e. a compromise between cost of batteries and generating fuel. You could go to 40% SoC, say, and save some fuel but expect shorter batt life. I think some people consider that 50% discharge is good but 51% is bad, any discharge is damaging.

It all depends on individual factors and so as to make things least complicated a 50% 'rule' is a reasonablly best compromise.

[mrsmelly]

We have to remember though that the 50% thing is not a fixed rule, it's just a rule of thumb i.e. a compromise between cost of batteries and generating fuel. You could go to 40% SoC, say, and save some fuel but expect shorter batt life. I think some people consider that 50% discharge is good but 51% is bad, any discharge is damaging.

It all depends on individual factors and so as to make things least complicated a 50% 'rule' is a reasonablly best compromise.

 

Very, very true. I never have taken my batts below about 60/70 percent but i wouldnt care if I did. Being too anal about battery life can ruin your enjoyment of boating. I buy the cheapest batts and dispose of them every couple of years or so and have done this for well over twenty years without problem.

 

Tim

 

Thanks Tim, that would be a BMV-600s or 602s I guess, looks good and I assume wouldn't take a great deal to install (or get installed I expect).

 

Hi

 

Its a 600s a great bit of kit and a 3 year old could fit it in a matter of minutes. £130.20 inc vat and delivery last summer from tinternet, I have the company details if you want them.

 

Tim

[Tesla]

Hi

 

Its a 600s a great bit of kit and a 3 year old could fit it in a matter of minutes. £130.20 inc vat and delivery last summer from tinternet, I have the company details if you want them.

 

Tim

 

Yes please, now I just need to find a 3 year old....

[mrsmelly]

Yes please, now I just need to find a 3 year old....

 

www.energy-solutions.co.uk that should be them. If you cant find em I have a tel number. Same price as last year, I just checked

 

Tim

[ditchcrawler]

Yes please, now I just need to find a 3 year old....

I'll send him round when he has finished setting up our DVD recorder

[Tesla]

I'll send him round when he has finished setting up our DVD recorder

 

Ta

[Alf27]

I run a 240v fridge, with a Stirling 1800w semi-sinewave inverter, 0.6 A on inverter without load, 8.0 (ish) A when fridge running.

Hope this helps.

[steelaway]

I run a 240v fridge, with a Stirling 1800w semi-sinewave inverter, 0.6 A on inverter without load, 8.0 (ish) A when fridge running.

Hope this helps.

 

Approximately ditto

 

Alex