3 way fridges v 2 way fridges and what brands are best
gitsho said
04:29 PM Mar 29, 2009
Anybody out there that has any ideas, experience with caravan fridges can you help,. The time has come to replace our 150 litre fridge (3 way) to a two door 175 litre (approx). We are non caravan park campers and prefer to get off the beaten track. rgds Gitsho
dave06 said
04:46 PM Mar 29, 2009
well only one fridge for me and that has ENGEL written all over it, but many use waeco and swear by them and some use the cheaper chinese ones that are emerging onto the market
I would personally steer clear of the three way if you want a fridge that can be relied on in ALL temps and ALL regions
but for me I would have the engel built in
take a squizz here
http://www.engelaustralia.com.au/
in particular here for built ins
http://www.engelaustralia.com.au/cgi-bin/products.cgi?category=Upright Fridge / Freezers
not sure if you can get a larger two door jobbie but maybe someone else will have an idea
I would have a large "two zone" engel
Wombat 280 said
04:37 PM Mar 30, 2009
Have to agree the Engel has a good rep and I believe has a tropical rating . If going off road get one with swing mounted compressor they are certainly built to take it rough.
bill12 said
08:17 AM Nov 17, 2009
I have a waeco and am happy with it except for battery draw. I have just come back from a trip around oz via Burketown to Boralloola, the Gibb R rd and the tanamini TRACK and it worked well as long as you have the battery power . I am thinking of getting a dual (freezer and fridge)as you can,t have both at the same time on my present one.If it was going to break down it would have as the dirt roads are horendous at times.destroyed a set of rear shocks, had one flat tire and a hole in the radiater in 14500ks. Hiluxs are reliably vehicles. Am going again as soon as I sell my business.
PeterD said
05:56 PM Nov 17, 2009
Gitsho - There is nothing wrong with absorption fridges in the larger sizes, provide they are installed correctly. For these fridges to work properly you must provide the correct convection path for the cooling air (this includes the path being to large and allowing the air to bypass the fins and not passing through them.)
One of the things for you to watch is the capacity of the van to carry the solar system necessary to power a large compressor fridge. To be self sufficient with solar you will probably find the system will weigh over 100 kg. If you have 2, 9 kg gas bottles you will have sufficient gas for quite a few weeks. An extensive solar system will only power your fridge for a couple of days, you will also need to carrying a generator and volatile fuel to cater for overcast and wet periods.
Have you weighed your van in touring trim to see if it is capable of carrying the extra weight?
Aus-Kiwi said
08:42 PM May 7, 2019
Pete our solar keeps our two fridges going and batteries charged by 10AM
. 400 watt solar I guess you could get away with 250
- 300 watt . Solar .. both compressor 220 Vitrigo and 50l Waeco . Had 1803 way . Must say going compressor fridge is the best thing we did . Upgraded solar to suit . LPG bottles are over $60 out west ., Some didnt seem
To be filled also only lasting a week !!
Radar said
10:18 PM May 7, 2019
gitsho wrote:
Anybody out there that has any ideas, experience with caravan fridges can you help,. The time has come to replace our 150 litre fridge (3 way) to a two door 175 litre (approx). We are non caravan park campers and prefer to get off the beaten track. rgds Gitsho
Easiest is to replace with what you have but make sure it is "T" rated 3 way with there no moving parts. Great.
2nd easest would be go to 185 litre 3 way, once again must be "T" rated with auto select for power supply, ours is awesome, on gas it cuts in and out and owers the running cost some what.
Wife loves the 2 door, good size freezer storage, frig maintain good cold temps.
I have read where 3 way friges are much lighter, no moving parts over 12 volt compressor frig.
I don't want your problem but good luck sorting it out.
blaze said
02:48 AM May 8, 2019
near 10 year old post
cheers
blaze
Radar said
07:29 AM May 8, 2019
blaze wrote:
near 10 year old post cheers blaze
Darn! I did not read the whole post but followed that Aus Kiwi bloke.
I wonder what he did with the caravan?
It would be interesting to learn of the out come to his expensive problem.
yobarr said
09:08 AM May 8, 2019
gitsho wrote:
Anybody out there that has any ideas, experience with caravan fridges can you help,. The time has come to replace our 150 litre fridge (3 way) to a two door 175 litre (approx). We are non caravan park campers and prefer to get off the beaten track. rgds Gitsho
Evakool 175
T1 Terry said
05:13 PM May 10, 2019
The 21st century method is to buy a 240vac inverter type fridge freezer and a 375 Victron inverter dedicated to only running the fridge/freezer. The savings between buying a 12v compressor fridge or 3 way fridge and this combination will buy you enough solar and lithium batteries to power it and energy to spare. The combo uses less than a 12v compressor fridge, will work in any climate, auto defrost and if it has a problem, the fridgie bloke in any town can fix it or at least tell you how much it will cost to fix it. If it's more than $400, push it out the door and buy another one so you get a few yrs warranty. They are tougher than any 12v compressor or 3 way fridge so no worries about the rough roads killing it, just look for ones that have decent shelves and door inserts, they are the bits that fall to pieces, not the fridge itself.
T1 Terry
Craig1 said
08:58 PM May 16, 2019
G;day TI, could you post a specific model fridge freezer that meets your criteria please?
T1 Terry said
04:04 PM May 17, 2019
There are a lot of them available, need the dimensions or where you want to fit it to narrow down the field a bit.
T1 Terry
Craig1 said
05:38 PM May 19, 2019
T I, Thetford N504.3 , climate class T. 600 wide, 1100 high and 660 deep. Could go a bit higher with some cabinet work. The label says 12 volts = 14.2 amps, 170 watts.
On 230/240 VAC it says 1 amp and 240 watts, so would it run on your 300a inverter and for how long on a fully charged 120 a h agm Full River battery ?.
I was also trying to get some brand names out there for all of us, for future reference as well. Thanks mate.
T1 Terry said
12:00 PM May 22, 2019
Craig1 wrote:
T I, Thetford N504.3 , climate class T. 600 wide, 1100 high and 660 deep. Could go a bit higher with some cabinet work. The label says 12 volts = 14.2 amps, 170 watts. On 230/240 VAC it says 1 amp and 240 watts, so would it run on your 300a inverter and for how long on a fully charged 120 a h agm Full River battery ?.
I was also trying to get some brand names out there for all of us, for future reference as well. Thanks mate.
170w @ 14.2v and 240w on 240vac, not a terribly efficient 240vac power supply eh.
Samsung was very popular 12mths or so back, but there are so many players in the game now it really comes down to size and looks/features. Hi Sense has recently climbed to prominence along with LG, but there are so many makers out there now that offer similar performance/energy use that it really is a buyers market.
T1 Terry
T1 Terry said
12:09 PM May 22, 2019
To calculate how much battery any of the fridges would use, look up the kWh/annum in the Energy star rating site, multiply by 1.1 to allow for the very worst inverter losses, x 1,000 to get Wh, divide by 365 to get Wh per 24hrs, divide by 12v to get Ah per 24 hrs. This figure can be taken as the high end, all that we have installed have used considerably less than the figure calculated using this formula.
T1 Terry
Whenarewethere said
12:25 PM May 22, 2019
28 litre fridge per hour, ambient 35°C, fridge set at +2°C 0.0140 kW/h The uncovered fridge. 0.0132 kW/h Standard cover. 0.0116 kW/h 30mm XPS foam. 0.0082 kW/h 60mm XPS foam.
If your fridge does not have the condenser coil in the fridge walls, add additional insulation, also cover the door & underneath the fridge.
. 400 watt solar I guess you could get away with 250
- 300 watt . Solar .. both compressor 220 Vitrigo and 50l Waeco . Had 1803 way . Must say going compressor fridge is the best thing we did . Upgraded solar to suit . LPG bottles are over $60 out west ., Some didnt seem
To be filled also only lasting a week !!
Easiest is to replace with what you have but make sure it is "T" rated 3 way with there no moving parts. Great.
2nd easest would be go to 185 litre 3 way, once again must be "T" rated with auto select for power supply, ours is awesome, on gas it cuts in and out and owers the running cost some what.
Wife loves the 2 door, good size freezer storage, frig maintain good cold temps.
I have read where 3 way friges are much lighter, no moving parts over 12 volt compressor frig.
I don't want your problem but good luck sorting it out.
cheers
blaze
Darn! I did not read the whole post but followed that Aus Kiwi bloke.
I wonder what he did with the caravan?
It would be interesting to learn of the out come to his expensive problem.
Evakool 175
T1 Terry
T1 Terry
On 230/240 VAC it says 1 amp and 240 watts, so would it run on your 300a inverter and for how long on a fully charged 120 a h agm Full River battery ?.
I was also trying to get some brand names out there for all of us, for future reference as well. Thanks mate.
170w @ 14.2v and 240w on 240vac, not a terribly efficient 240vac power supply eh.
Armed with the size space you have and allowing 50mm each side, look through these units https://reg.energyrating.gov.au/comparator/product_types/28/search/?wrapper_search=&model_number=&machine_type=Two+Door+Fridge%2FFreezer&capacity=200to300 find one that you might be interested in, copy the model number to a Google search and see if it will fit. An example, the first one listed after a Google search https://www.lg.com/au/fridges/lg-GT-223MWL The lettering after the model usually means the colour and which way the door swings. Appliance on line is another good spot to look https://www.appliancesonline.com.au/category/refrigeration/
Samsung was very popular 12mths or so back, but there are so many players in the game now it really comes down to size and looks/features. Hi Sense has recently climbed to prominence along with LG, but there are so many makers out there now that offer similar performance/energy use that it really is a buyers market.
T1 Terry
T1 Terry
28 litre fridge per hour, ambient 35°C, fridge set at +2°C
0.0140 kW/h The uncovered fridge.
0.0132 kW/h Standard cover.
0.0116 kW/h 30mm XPS foam.
0.0082 kW/h 60mm XPS foam.
If your fridge does not have the condenser coil in the fridge walls, add additional insulation, also cover the door & underneath the fridge.