I tested the 12V compressor refrigerators for a major RV manufacturer seven years ago. Here's some data: - A 10 cubic foot 12V refrigerator will fit in the space of an 8 CF gas/electric. - The 10 CF 12V reefers would get down to -19°F in the Freezer, and 28°F in the refrigerator on a 100°F day in Arizona. - A typical 10 CF 12V unit draw approximately 75 amp hours per day. I'd recommend two 100aH LiFePO4 batteries and 400 watts of solar to run the refrigerator and 12V items like lights and the furnace fan - Remember, if you're boondocking and run out of propane, you lose refrigeration.
I know I’m late to the ballgame, but I can’t believe someone agrees with my position on absorption propane frig while boondocking. I’m showing this to my beach fishing camping buddies who swear by the compressor frigs and thousands of dollars of panels and batteries.
12v all the way. It keeps our food cold no matter what the temps are and it cools down quickly. Overnight it will use about 20% of your battery if you are in a parking lot, after about 3 hours of driving, the battery is back up to 100% while driving and no worries. We love our 12v fridge. It's amazing!!
We have a 12v & it meets our needs. The closest we do to boondocking is a few hours at a rest stop or a meal in a parking lot. We like the extra space, the quick cooling, & the ability to cool while we drive.
We opted for the 12v and couldn't be happier. We upgraded to 200Ah lithium and 600W solar and we don't even have to unload the fridge in between trips. We don't even plug in at home. Endless free power. We mostly boondock.
When you boondock are you usually in the sun or mostly sun? I currently have a 12 volt fridge, 200 watt solar and two lead acid batteries. We generally camp in partial shade and our batteries will drop to below 50%. - which I know is bad for the batteries. A 200ah lithium battery may get us by since you can draw down to almost nothing.
@@aronk7412 Anything from full sun to 75% leafy dappled shade. Even been through a couple of cloudy, rainy days that took us down to 25% but topped up as soon as it cleared. We stopped bringing the genny for insurance and now only bring it if we think we may need AC. If it gets REAL dire, we have DC-DC from tow vehicle we can always hook up. So we're prepared for the worst. But it's worked out better than we thought.
That's exactly my goal, we leave our camper set up all year even at home and having something I can park anywhere in the yard and be completely self sufficient makes propane not even an option. The price of solar and lithium is so low now as long as you can install it yourself that it's not much more than a good Honda generator!
IMO the 12v refers have made the propane/electric refers obsolete, but the RV industry still pushes them. Today I brought home a brand new R-POD trailer and it has a propane/electric refrig. True to form, the dealer sent me home with propane on and running. The frig had a red failure indicator light when I got home. Oh, I will work around and have everything in working order soon enough, but I know my journey with this obsolete refrig is just beginning. There will be problems. My last camper had a 12v compressor frig. Never a problem, and it was great for boondocking
My 23 year old gas/electric fridge just died and I have to make this decision now. I have 420AH of lithium batteries, 500W of solar, 3000W inverter and a 50A DC to DC charger from my truck alternator so I have plenty of power. I am a retried electrical engineer so I understand power better than most. We boondock a lot and like everyone else... we need our refrigerator running all the time. BUT... If I went 4 or 5 days in low/no sun weather and I was not driving anywhere, then just the 12VDC fridge by itself, would drain my 420Ah's of battery from 100% down to 10% and I would be out of power. And this is without considering the microwave, coffeemaker, induction stovetop power draw... So for me sticking with absorption fridge is a no brainer. I DO WISH that you and others would stop saying that it is illegal for RV's to drive with the propane on. Google it! This is total misinformation and over 90% of RV'ers have been doing it for the past 75 years and there has been no problem with RV's burning up all over the place. Yes, there are some states that require propane turned off in tunnels/bridges/service stations. But telling your viewers it is illegal in all states for all driving is not correct or honest...
What about a residential refrigerator? I had 2019 trailer that the propane fridge went out so I replaced with a residential unit for 600$ and I absolutely love it it’s WAY superior to the original pos that the trailer came with. I also replaced the house batteries with a 300ah lithium battery ,installed a 800watt Victron inverter and added solar panels for about 600 watts total and the system basically runs itself boondocking for 2 days if it’s cloudy or more .I can start the generator for a few hours when needed. Thinking about wiring in a larger charger so I can charge quicker but it actually works fine so far for short boondocking that we do. I could have spent comparable amount of money as a 12 volt fridge would cost but that’s the direction I went. And the refrigerator is just like in your house it’s great. Also found it pretty efficient it pulls about 150watts when the compressor is running but idles at about half that most of the time. I’m sure there’s plenty of You Tube videos on this mod.
I’d look into just a 12v fridge and I 99.9 percent of the time am plugged in (permanent location) but I do like the option of propane backup just in case we loose power. Just like I haven’t gotten rid of my propane stove. But these are good points you make.
I just bought a new 2024 RPod by Forest River. I’ve owned 3 other RVs. One class A and the other were 20 ft Rpods. They all had two way /propane/electric fridges. When I bought my new bigger Rpod I found out it was only electric. I was sooo bummed out. I only boondock when I’m headed north and south in the winter and summer. I stop at Cracker Barrel’s, harvest hosts etc but just for a night or two then head to a new place. But I do love Boondocking. I was super worried about battery consumption so I bought a small predator 1400w to keep my battery charged. Plus I can watch tv in the bedroom at night, so bonus. The tv in the living room is 12v but my bedroom tv is not. I’m actually at a Cracker Barrel tonight in Alabama as I head to Florida. As you guessed it I full time. People on the forum were telling me the new 12v fridges don’t use as much power as they use to. It does have an “off grid” mode. I’ll be staying the next two nights at Jackson lake island. So more boondocking. I do have a 200w solar panel on top. So in the day I should be good as long as I don’t park under trees. I’ll run my generator at night while I watch tv. Soon I’ll upgrade to one or maybe two lithium batteries. I think I’ll be ok. Having more room in the fridge is huge!!!! Love that. In Florida I’m at Rv resorts every day. I rarely boondock there. I hope I don’t regret it. I was worried at first.
We have a 1995 40 ft HMC DP that is still going strong and boondock 50% of the time. Our Dometic side by side fridge still works but it's been getting harder finding parts. We've considered going to a 12v fridge but haven't made the switch for various reasons. We cannot run Lithium batteries without upgrading various other electronics in the coach, battery compartment to shallow to fit the taller lithium batteries, not enough roof area to fit all the solar panels we would need to keep the batteries charged boondocking if the fridge was added to the equation. One day we may need to go that route but propane still is the best option for us.
One correction: most new absorption fridges by the major manufacturers are 3-way-propane, 12v, and 120v-not just propane or 120v 2-way. 2-way fridges were common years ago, but not now. So when in transit, it’s normal to run them on 12v. What is important then is to make sure it’s changed to propane when you stop, or to 120v when you plug into shore power, because running it on 12v without the engine running will deplete even large capacity batteries in a very few hours. It would be great if the manufacturers could learn to create compressor fridges that require much less power than they do, so that several days of operation could occur without monstrous battery systems. If my 3-way fails someday, I’ll probably replace it with a compressor, but I’m hoping by then they will be more efficient than today’s versions.
Yes agree. Owned three RVs in the past 30 years. All of which have had automatic switching between propane, and shore power as available. Propane while driving no problem. A lot of people nowadays are going to residential 120V fridge in RVs which creates a load on the battery, alternator and inverter while underway. Can't see adding additional load on engine while driving. People think 12V battery power is free somehow.
@@freedomrvcentre you may be correct today, but 2 years ago when we were buying another trailer; 3 of the major builders were charging more.The one we bought did not even offer it as an option. I wanted one and was will to pay the upcharge. It was not a lot for the ones that offered it as an option. The one we bought would have to be done at the dealership and it was a hefty upcharge ($2k) for a 10 cu.ft. We could sell the other one but I figured we wouldn't get much for it. This is our 5th or 6th evap fridge over the last 40+ years. We've had excellent luch with all of them. Since we boondock a majority of time it suits us fine for now... Thank you for your reply.
I just replaced the original 3-way refrigerator in my '91 Foretravel last year. Personally, I don't undeerstand why that would not be the preferred system setup. From my experience, propane cools the fastest/coldest, followed by 120V AC, and then 12V DC. A cold refrigerator and zero freezer ia a great thing to have when traveling, and the 12V system works great while rolling down the road. Ir a hookup is available, then we go with the shore power and run 110. When the propane system kicks on, it's because the other two are not getting the job done, or it is ultimatelyt a lot cheaper?
The 12vdc fridges discussed in this video are a compressor style fridge. The 3-way fridge you have is an "absorption" style fridge. They operate on completely different principles. A 12vdc compressor fridge is far more energy efficient than the 12v mode of your absorption style fridge.
So Hey, I have a gas/electric one. We are 60/40 to 65/35 ... or so, plug in vs boon dock. My thing is we buy several days worth of meat and fixings and want to drive 8 hours +/- on any given days. We have 400w solar and plan a lithium upgrade at some point and are considering a 12v fridge so our foods can be kept fresh during travel time. We are a class A with a generator on-board and have run the generator while driving... usually the last couple of hours as that's when the temp starts to rise inside the fridge. We have even considered a regular low watt draw residential style. Any thoughts... anyone?
When camping in a forest campground that doesn't have electric hookups, you can always spot the RVs that have a 12v refrigerator. They are the ones running their annoying generators. There is currently a lot of talk about banning generator use in California. When that happens, the RVs with 12v refrigerators will need to buy about 800 AH ($4,000-$700) of lithium batteries if they want to keep visiting those beautiful shaded forest campgrounds.
Agreed. I have 920 amp hours of LiFePO4 batteries and can run for 5-6 days with my 20 cubic foot 12V refrigerator and no sun. It's not cheap, but it's quiet. Of course the guy with the gas electric reefer and one group 24 lead acid battery won't be running very long either.
Agreed except on the price of lithium. I just bought 560Ah for ~$1000 USD. Proper BMS with low temp protection, etc. The prices have REALLY come down in the last several years.
12v fridges suck. You need way too much money invested in solar panels and lithium batteries, and even still a bad storm can knock you out of the game. Propane is cheap and lasts a very long time. Just say no to 12v fridges.
Absolutely 100% erroneous information. For example, Furrion specifically states the refrigerator is designed to be used during travel. The only prohibition is to turn it off if you are doing extreme 4x4 climbing or descending.
Putting 12 volt refers in an RV is seriously stupid. No excuse to have one. The propane Electric is the only way to go. My local state park is becoming generator hell. One reason is most RVs have battery tenders not chargers. So the batterys never get very far charged up. This winter has been over cast a lot. So the stupid people that bought 12v refers are running there generators almost all night and if they turn them off for an hour or 2 they are back on before the sun is up. Running that generator is way more expensive than a propane refer. I was going to buy a brand new Toy Hauler and it had a 12v refer in it. Just how stupid is the RV industry? Toy haulers Boondock. I dont believe in man made global warming but I cant stand noise pollution. NDR
I tested the 12V compressor refrigerators for a major RV manufacturer seven years ago. Here's some data:
- A 10 cubic foot 12V refrigerator will fit in the space of an 8 CF gas/electric.
- The 10 CF 12V reefers would get down to -19°F in the Freezer, and 28°F in the refrigerator on a 100°F day in Arizona.
- A typical 10 CF 12V unit draw approximately 75 amp hours per day. I'd recommend two 100aH LiFePO4 batteries and 400 watts of solar to run the refrigerator and 12V items like lights and the furnace fan
- Remember, if you're boondocking and run out of propane, you lose refrigeration.
Still can run electric or battery. Mine will run three or four days a propane and I have two tanks…one is a backup
I know I’m late to the ballgame, but I can’t believe someone agrees with my position on absorption propane frig while boondocking. I’m showing this to my beach fishing camping buddies who swear by the compressor frigs and thousands of dollars of panels and batteries.
12v all the way. It keeps our food cold no matter what the temps are and it cools down quickly. Overnight it will use about 20% of your battery if you are in a parking lot, after about 3 hours of driving, the battery is back up to 100% while driving and no worries. We love our 12v fridge. It's amazing!!
I have a 40+ years old truck camper (Okanagan) with a 3 way fridge. Works great for boondocking or anywhere.
We have a 12v & it meets our needs. The closest we do to boondocking is a few hours at a rest stop or a meal in a parking lot. We like the extra space, the quick cooling, & the ability to cool while we drive.
We opted for the 12v and couldn't be happier. We upgraded to 200Ah lithium and 600W solar and we don't even have to unload the fridge in between trips. We don't even plug in at home. Endless free power. We mostly boondock.
When you boondock are you usually in the sun or mostly sun? I currently have a 12 volt fridge, 200 watt solar and two lead acid batteries. We generally camp in partial shade and our batteries will drop to below 50%. - which I know is bad for the batteries. A 200ah lithium battery may get us by since you can draw down to almost nothing.
@@aronk7412 Anything from full sun to 75% leafy dappled shade. Even been through a couple of cloudy, rainy days that took us down to 25% but topped up as soon as it cleared. We stopped bringing the genny for insurance and now only bring it if we think we may need AC. If it gets REAL dire, we have DC-DC from tow vehicle we can always hook up. So we're prepared for the worst. But it's worked out better than we thought.
That's exactly my goal, we leave our camper set up all year even at home and having something I can park anywhere in the yard and be completely self sufficient makes propane not even an option. The price of solar and lithium is so low now as long as you can install it yourself that it's not much more than a good Honda generator!
12v keep ice cream just as hard a your home one .
IMO the 12v refers have made the propane/electric refers obsolete, but the RV industry still pushes them. Today I brought home a brand new R-POD trailer and it has a propane/electric refrig. True to form, the dealer sent me home with propane on and running. The frig had a red failure indicator light when I got home. Oh, I will work around and have everything in working order soon enough, but I know my journey with this obsolete refrig is just beginning. There will be problems. My last camper had a 12v compressor frig. Never a problem, and it was great for boondocking
My 23 year old gas/electric fridge just died and I have to make this decision now. I have 420AH of lithium batteries, 500W of solar, 3000W inverter and a 50A DC to DC charger from my truck alternator so I have plenty of power. I am a retried electrical engineer so I understand power better than most. We boondock a lot and like everyone else... we need our refrigerator running all the time. BUT... If I went 4 or 5 days in low/no sun weather and I was not driving anywhere, then just the 12VDC fridge by itself, would drain my 420Ah's of battery from 100% down to 10% and I would be out of power. And this is without considering the microwave, coffeemaker, induction stovetop power draw...
So for me sticking with absorption fridge is a no brainer. I DO WISH that you and others would stop saying that it is illegal for RV's to drive with the propane on. Google it! This is total misinformation and over 90% of RV'ers have been doing it for the past 75 years and there has been no problem with RV's burning up all over the place. Yes, there are some states that require propane turned off in tunnels/bridges/service stations. But telling your viewers it is illegal in all states for all driving is not correct or honest...
What about a residential refrigerator? I had 2019 trailer that the propane fridge went out so I replaced with a residential unit for 600$ and I absolutely love it it’s WAY superior to the original pos that the trailer came with. I also replaced the house batteries with a 300ah lithium battery ,installed a 800watt Victron inverter and added solar panels for about 600 watts total and the system basically runs itself boondocking for 2 days if it’s cloudy or more .I can start the generator for a few hours when needed. Thinking about wiring in a larger charger so I can charge quicker but it actually works fine so far for short boondocking that we do. I could have spent comparable amount of money as a 12 volt fridge would cost but that’s the direction I went. And the refrigerator is just like in your house it’s great. Also found it pretty efficient it pulls about 150watts when the compressor is running but idles at about half that most of the time. I’m sure there’s plenty of You Tube videos on this mod.
It is not illegal to drive with the gas/electric fridge on.
I did it for over 30 years.
It seems maybe in some states it is… just don’t go there😂
Great information and teaching...thanks
I don't know where you live, but other than a few exceptions, there aren't any laws restricting the use of LP refrigerators.
I heard that also. It's mainly a recommendation from the manufacturers but certainly not illegal
My rv propane/12 volt never gives me any problems.
I’d look into just a 12v fridge and I 99.9 percent of the time am plugged in (permanent location) but I do like the option of propane backup just in case we loose power. Just like I haven’t gotten rid of my propane stove. But these are good points you make.
I just bought a new 2024 RPod by Forest River. I’ve owned 3 other RVs. One class A and the other were 20 ft Rpods. They all had two way /propane/electric fridges. When I bought my new bigger Rpod I found out it was only electric. I was sooo bummed out. I only boondock when I’m headed north and south in the winter and summer. I stop at Cracker Barrel’s, harvest hosts etc but just for a night or two then head to a new place. But I do love Boondocking. I was super worried about battery consumption so I bought a small predator 1400w to keep my battery charged. Plus I can watch tv in the bedroom at night, so bonus. The tv in the living room is 12v but my bedroom tv is not. I’m actually at a Cracker Barrel tonight in Alabama as I head to Florida. As you guessed it I full time.
People on the forum were telling me the new 12v fridges don’t use as much power as they use to. It does have an “off grid” mode. I’ll be staying the next two nights at Jackson lake island. So more boondocking. I do have a 200w solar panel on top. So in the day I should be good as long as I don’t park under trees. I’ll run my generator at night while I watch tv. Soon I’ll upgrade to one or maybe two lithium batteries. I think I’ll be ok. Having more room in the fridge is huge!!!! Love that. In Florida I’m at Rv resorts every day. I rarely boondock there. I hope I don’t regret it. I was worried at first.
We have a 1995 40 ft HMC DP that is still going strong and boondock 50% of the time. Our Dometic side by side fridge still works but it's been getting harder finding parts. We've considered going to a 12v fridge but haven't made the switch for various reasons. We cannot run Lithium batteries without upgrading various other electronics in the coach, battery compartment to shallow to fit the taller lithium batteries, not enough roof area to fit all the solar panels we would need to keep the batteries charged boondocking if the fridge was added to the equation. One day we may need to go that route but propane still is the best option for us.
One correction: most new absorption fridges by the major manufacturers are 3-way-propane, 12v, and 120v-not just propane or 120v 2-way. 2-way fridges were common years ago, but not now. So when in transit, it’s normal to run them on 12v. What is important then is to make sure it’s changed to propane when you stop, or to 120v when you plug into shore power, because running it on 12v without the engine running will deplete even large capacity batteries in a very few hours.
It would be great if the manufacturers could learn to create compressor fridges that require much less power than they do, so that several days of operation could occur without monstrous battery systems. If my 3-way fails someday, I’ll probably replace it with a compressor, but I’m hoping by then they will be more efficient than today’s versions.
Yes agree. Owned three RVs in the past 30 years. All of which have had automatic switching between propane, and shore power as available. Propane while driving no problem. A lot of people nowadays are going to residential 120V fridge in RVs which creates a load on the battery, alternator and inverter while underway. Can't see adding additional load on engine while driving. People think 12V battery power is free somehow.
If as you stated that the gas/electric fridge costs 2x more, then why is it an upcharge to opt for the electric when purchasing a new RV ?
I can't speak for other dealerships but that is not the case here. If anything it's the other way around.
@@freedomrvcentre you may be correct today, but 2 years ago when we were buying another trailer; 3 of the major builders were charging more.The one we bought did not even offer it as an option. I wanted one and was will to pay the upcharge. It was not a lot for the ones that offered it as an option. The one we bought would have to be done at the dealership and it was a hefty upcharge ($2k) for a 10 cu.ft. We could sell the other one but I figured we wouldn't get much for it. This is our 5th or 6th evap fridge over the last 40+ years. We've had excellent luch with all of them. Since we boondock a majority of time it suits us fine for now... Thank you for your reply.
I just replaced the original 3-way refrigerator in my '91 Foretravel last year. Personally, I don't undeerstand why that would not be the preferred system setup. From my experience, propane cools the fastest/coldest, followed by 120V AC, and then 12V DC. A cold refrigerator and zero freezer ia a great thing to have when traveling, and the 12V system works great while rolling down the road. Ir a hookup is available, then we go with the shore power and run 110. When the propane system kicks on, it's because the other two are not getting the job done, or it is ultimatelyt a lot cheaper?
The 12vdc fridges discussed in this video are a compressor style fridge. The 3-way fridge you have is an "absorption" style fridge. They operate on completely different principles.
A 12vdc compressor fridge is far more energy efficient than the 12v mode of your absorption style fridge.
So Hey, I have a gas/electric one. We are 60/40 to 65/35 ... or so, plug in vs boon dock. My thing is we buy several days worth of meat and fixings and want to drive 8 hours +/- on any given days. We have 400w solar and plan a lithium upgrade at some point and are considering a 12v fridge so our foods can be kept fresh during travel time. We are a class A with a generator on-board and have run the generator while driving... usually the last couple of hours as that's when the temp starts to rise inside the fridge.
We have even considered a regular low watt draw residential style.
Any thoughts... anyone?
I have an inverter so yes I can drive with refrig running. I also have a dc to dc charger charging my house battery as I drive.
So a 3-way is best.
Harbor freight has very good scissors for. 99 cents us.
If your plugged in all the time then you won’t be using the 12v system it will revert back to 120 short power lol so what’s the big deal.
When camping in a forest campground that doesn't have electric hookups, you can always spot the RVs that have a 12v refrigerator. They are the ones running their annoying generators. There is currently a lot of talk about banning generator use in California. When that happens, the RVs with 12v refrigerators will need to buy about 800 AH ($4,000-$700) of lithium batteries if they want to keep visiting those beautiful shaded forest campgrounds.
Agreed. I have 920 amp hours of LiFePO4 batteries and can run for 5-6 days with my 20 cubic foot 12V refrigerator and no sun. It's not cheap, but it's quiet. Of course the guy with the gas electric reefer and one group 24 lead acid battery won't be running very long either.
Agreed except on the price of lithium. I just bought 560Ah for ~$1000 USD. Proper BMS with low temp protection, etc. The prices have REALLY come down in the last several years.
12v fridges suck. You need way too much money invested in solar panels and lithium batteries, and even still a bad storm can knock you out of the game. Propane is cheap and lasts a very long time. Just say no to 12v fridges.
peeps that defend propane fridges don't mind warm milk. The majority wants cold milk.
I've owned three campers non of the gas electric refers have worked when I bought them.
Why
OK, why?
It’s all the same. A 12 volt will heat an element which then boils water and ammonia.
Rv techs will tell you its not good to drive with the 12 volt refrigerator running because it can damage it if its not level.
Brian that is wrong. Our RV tech showed us that the best reason to have 12v. It will run at almost every angle, something like 25 degrees tilt'
Absolutely 100% erroneous information. For example, Furrion specifically states the refrigerator is designed to be used during travel. The only prohibition is to turn it off if you are doing extreme 4x4 climbing or descending.
Putting 12 volt refers in an RV is seriously stupid. No excuse to have one. The propane Electric is the only way to go. My local state park is becoming generator hell. One reason is most RVs have battery tenders not chargers. So the batterys never get very far charged up. This winter has been over cast a lot. So the stupid people that bought 12v refers are running there generators almost all night and if they turn them off for an hour or 2 they are back on before the sun is up. Running that generator is way more expensive than a propane refer. I was going to buy a brand new Toy Hauler and it had a 12v refer in it. Just how stupid is the RV industry? Toy haulers Boondock. I dont believe in man made global warming but I cant stand noise pollution.
NDR
Daddy chill
By far your best option is an electric refrigerator and not a 12 volt or absorption! 12 volt is useless and absorption is worthless .
WRONG
My 3-way absorption fridge works awesome and wouldn't have it any other way. All bases covered!
I would agree but only if/when ample electricity supply is available