Refrigerator/Solar

[Captain Larry-DH]

I also have a basic converter which attaches to a battery and then has a standard three prong plug I could use as ac however I would imagine that would drain the battery even with solar. Any thought guys?

Many of us have taken this journey, and if you would post the following info we could offer better advice to save you a lot of time and expense of trial/error:
Type of house batteries and capacity.
Age of house batteries
Type of refrigerator (if we know the make/model we can probably look up its rated power consumption and whether it has the option to run on 12VDC).

 

[kappykaplan]

Type of house batteries and capacity.
Age of house batteries
Type of refrigerator (if we know the make/model we can probably look up its rated power consumption and whether it has the option to run on 12VDC).

 

[Hello Below]

AC/DC are not your only choices…There are fridges that run off of propane…

Check with your insurance company before researching this option first. This is one of the express warranties (ie I must warrant that) in my policy:

“There are to be no propane or CNG refrigerators aboard the Insured Vessel unless approved by a surveyor and accepted by underwriters. All propane powered installations with a continuous burning pilot light must have the gas supply turned off when the vessel is left unattended for over 24 hours.”

 

[william24424]

This cooler fridge/freezer 12v unit will run off a Jackery 500 & a 100 watt solar panel. I had this set up and it always worked., never ran out of juice. And was completely separate from boat system. I used the Jackery for camping, power outages, and to jump start truck/boat ect.

Good luck, this choice is good for being off dock/off grid.


ICECO GO20 Dual Zone Portable Refrigerator with Danfoss Compressor, 20 Liter/21 Quart, DC 12/24V, AC 100-240V, 0℉ to 50℉, Mini Fridge Cooler Refrigerator for Outdoor, Home Use, Driving, Gray
Sold by: ICECO
Return and product support eligibility
$449.00

 

[east coaster]

In my case I have the three prong 500 controller which alternates between ac/DC with AC being first choice. I have 4 Trojan 105 deep cycle batteries in series/parallel giving 450 amps. They are at least 6 years old. A 100 watt solar panel, to which will be added 2 115 watt panels going to individual victron controllers seems to take care of the load. The unit itself is a BD 50 as original on the boat. That is my setup as the boat originally came with a 200 amp single big battery, a D if I recall correctly. Coastal Climate Control advises that for the BD50 a 200 amp battery is minimal and 400 amps would be better. It looks like in my case they are correct.

 

[DArcy]

It would be good to know the brand and model of fridge. There are some that run on either 110v AC or 12v DC.

Rather than spending bucks on an inverter, you may want to just buy a portable fridge which may end up being cheaper and more efficient.

Camco Marine

Camco Marine

www.camcomarine.com

 

[Timm R Oday25]

The Camco's offering looks tempting . I am not finding any amperage draw rating..