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Old 06-04-2021, 04:09 PM   #1
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Dry camping with a 12 volt fridge

I've been doing some research on 12 volt fridges. They seem to use relatively little power to operate. I'm thinking that when it's time to upgrade I would get a RV with a 12 volt fridge. I currently run 2 - group 27 batteries and a couple of portable solar panels. I usually also run a small generator for 1 or 2 hours a day. I'm very conservative with the power I use. I can go days without hookups.
The 12 volt fridge with an Overlander roof solar panel looks like a good option for dry camping.
Does anyone have experience with this setup?
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Old 06-04-2021, 04:44 PM   #2
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Don't have one. There have been a few posts on the subject in the last year. Well worth spending some time doing some searches on the site. The last one I recall, the gentleman was inquiring how long he should expect the battery to last, as it was dead, by morning. As I recall he had a full charge in the evening.

I would recommend downloading the owner's manual for the one your interested in. Both of the brands I looked at had a small comment on power usage in the specification section.
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Old 06-04-2021, 04:57 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by grampscamper View Post
I've been doing some research on 12 volt fridges. They seem to use relatively little power to operate. I'm thinking that when it's time to upgrade I would get a RV with a 12 volt fridge. I currently run 2 - group 27 batteries and a couple of portable solar panels. I usually also run a small generator for 1 or 2 hours a day. I'm very conservative with the power I use. I can go days without hookups.
The 12 volt fridge with an Overlander roof solar panel looks like a good option for dry camping.
Does anyone have experience with this setup?
In 2010 I converted a utility trailer to a “camping support” trailer. I put in a 12 volt DC compressor refrigerator/freezer, 2 - 255 Ah batteries and 473 watts of solar panels. I haven’t used it in a while but my recollection is that in the morning the battery bank would be down to the 80-85% range, so maybe 75 to 100 Ah used overnight.

If your 2 group 27 batteries are around 100 Ah each then you would be around 50% overnight which is as low as you should go to preserve the batteries. The 473 watts of solar would recharge my battery bank by around noon on a sunny day so around 200 to 250 watts of solar would probably be good.

Just some quick thoughts off the top of my head.
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Old 06-04-2021, 06:11 PM   #4
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Looks like I have to give this more thought. Looks like it draws down the batteries more than I thought.

Thanks for the replies.
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Old 06-04-2021, 06:34 PM   #5
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Looks like I have to give this more thought. Looks like it draws down the batteries more than I thought.

Thanks for the replies.
Somebody just posted in another thread that they went down overnight.
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