Additional solar system & B2B for compressor fridge

Yes my fridge is a compressor fridge, Waeco 110ltr, probably owned by Dometic now though. Rae recently fitted a compressor fridge but I don’t recall what make it was, maybe he will post here if he reads the thread.

12v compressor fridges certainly make you keep on top of your power, think the manufacturers quoted 45amps per day max and I am seeing around 4.5 amps draw when it kicks in. I can’t praise it enough for operation though, one day last summer mrs turned it up to 5 and it froze the milk in the bottom of the fridge solid (goes to 7) and that was in hot weather. A mate had a new Hymer with a fancy 3 way that would cost more than my fridge and power set up and he couldn’t keep ice cream lol

I am always in the van so use the freezer part to extend shopping trips, usually packed with meat and chicken. If/when I need to replace I think I will be looking closely at domestic fridge freezers but it would need to be no more power than I use now lol
 
For anyone else looking to do this in a Hymer (under bench install) - I may have found the perfect fridge for this, unfortunately only in Germany! Can't find a reasonably priced way to get one to the UK.

Beko TSE 1284 Kühlschrank / A+++ / 93 kWh/Jahr / 101 L Kühlteil / 13 L Gefrierteil / weiß / Automatische Abtauung / Unterbaufähig - abnehmbare Arbeitsplatte: Amazon.de: Elektro-Großgeräte

Beko TSE 1284 Kühlschrank / A+++ / 93 kWh/Jahr / 101 L Kühlteil / 13 L Gefrierteil / weiß / Automatische Abtauung / Unterbaufähig - abnehmbare Arbeitsplatte günstig auf Amazon.de - Große Auswahl von Top-Marken
www.amazon.de

Beko Hausgeräte | Home

Europas beliebteste Marke für Haushaltsgeräte. Benutzerfreundliche Produkte & innovative Technologien für die ganze Familie. Jetzt entdecken!
www.beko-hausgeraete.de www.beko-hausgeraete.de

Perfect dimensions - requires 60cm depth, but 5.5cm of that is the air space behind so I reckon its exactly the size of my existing RM6405 fridge. Uber quiet at 38db (though some of the reviews question that) & decent power use at A+++ 93kwh/year (0.254 kwh/day). 101/13 litre fridge freezer size. More than the Inventor at €260-280 (plus delivery if you can get it). NT climate class (16-43 celcius).

In the manual it looks to have a cooling grid on the back which I think would suit an enclosed, rear vented installation better than those that don't have it - I'm presuming those ones need the air space all around for cooling.


Another one €185-245:

Bomann KS 2198 Kühlschrank / EEK A+++ / 97 L Kühlen / 12 L Gefrieren / 90 kWh/Jahr / Weiß: Amazon.de: Elektro-Großgeräte

Bomann KS 2198 Kühlschrank / EEK A+++ / 97 L Kühlen / 12 L Gefrieren / 90 kWh/Jahr / Weiß günstig auf Amazon.de - Große Auswahl von Top-Marken
www.amazon.de

Similar size, though it doesn't mention under counter installation in the manual like the Beko doses. Only ST climate class (18-38 degrees), 90kwh/year A+++. 97/12 litres
 
That Beko looks very good.
I wonder if German Kitchens typically are a couple of CMs lower than British ones hnce the slightly shorter undercounter fridges?
The price of the Inventor Fridge has always been very competitive for an A++ unit, so the Beko at around £250 for an A+++ unit is pretty good anyway I think.
Pretty sure I used to have a Beko kitchen product that I got from Comet so brand was certainly sold in the UK.
 
Yes, but no freezer at all. That's why it's only rated A+ despite the low power use, so the rating definitely is a balance of features, volume & power use.

I really fancy that Beko as it's exactly the same size as the existing fridge. They had a lot of slightly taller ones of amazon.de so I'd say it's just s a fluke that it will fit - actually says in the manual that minimum height for an under counter install is 820mm, so I make it with a whole 1 mm to spare.

One thing I'm wondering - the fridge I have has bars to stop stuff falling off the shelves. How do you manage that?
 
wfdTamar said:
Yes, but no freezer at all. That's why it's only rated A+ despite the low power use, so the rating definitely is a balance of features, volume & power use.

I really fancy that Beko as it's exactly the same size as the existing fridge. They had a lot of slightly taller ones of amazon.de so I'd say it's just s a fluke that it will fit - actually says in the manual that minimum height for an under counter install is 820mm, so I make it with a whole 1 mm to spare.

One thing I'm wondering - the fridge I have has bars to stop stuff falling off the shelves. How do you manage that?
Click to expand...
Not really a problem as don't tend to have that much cornering speed in a 4.6t van :) In YOUR case it would be a bit trickier as the fridge faces forwards, not sideways.
But what I do is use these baskets in my fridge

1576316435367.png
25cm Silver Plastic Handy Basket Storage Basket - Set Of 6

I would think would work in that situation as well?

I find those very handy for keeping stuff together in the fridge and lets you take out groups of food and close the fridge door again quickly for best efficiency (if you are going to get containers, ones like the ones shown work best as they allow full airflow - closed side baskets are not effective in a fridge. I tried with those and didn't get even cooling)
 
Ha ha Dave, you would be horrified if you looked in my fridge mate. After a shop I start off putting stuff in some kind of order but by the time I have got everything away it’s. Pushed into whatever space I can fit it.
Organisation and me aren’t natural bedmates :)
 
I have a small 230v fridge £50 sh never used and tested it with a cheap inverter which has a low standby,it ran for two days on 2 90ah batterys no bother,max draw on s/up 3ah

soft start inverter.pngfridge freezer.png
 
trevskoda said:
I have a small 230v fridge £50 sh never used and tested it with a cheap inverter which has a low standby,it ran for two days on 2 90ah batterys no bother,max draw on s/up 3ah
Click to expand...
Got a lock and key?? not seen that on a fridge before. dead handy :)
 
Thanks. They'll ship it for €100 (£83) or pickup in Frankfurt. Best shipping price so far.
 
Ta. Actually £245 (5% off) now plus shipping (£284 total). It’s the same company as through the skinflint link above. I had looked on eBay, but that’s new.

Just need somewhere to send it and store it until I get back next year. Anyone in the mid-England area willing to receive and store some deliveries for me until about May? :)
 
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Boy, don't you love the internet. Someone off here offered to store it for me (thanks Max). Just bought it on ebay UK, German seller, all done from Tasmania!

BTW had a few ridiculous shipping quotes from Shiply - £188, £201 & £448!
 
wfdTamar said:
Boy, don't you love the internet. Someone off here offered to store it for me (thanks Max). Just bought it on ebay UK, German seller, all done from Tasmania!

BTW had a few ridiculous shipping quotes from Shiply - £188, £201 & £448!
Click to expand...
Good result. Ask Max to unbox and check it out when it arrives though :) Don't want to find a problem after 6 months and too late to replace as a DOA.
 
Rightyo, next question is battery(s) for this. I'm thinking I might want to go for somewhere in the usable range of 50-100Ah (so 100-200Ah) and given that my current leisure battery is a Yuasa EFB-L36 and it seems ok, I was thinking of them for this fridge setup. Drawbacks (if I go for two) are cost, weight and space taken up. It may not be suited to the higher regular discharge in a fridge application too (but hopefully only to 50%).

Then I saw the Leoch GTP12110 gel battery. Good specs - it has a large cycle number (2000) and could go down under 50% discharge in rubbish weather without affecting that too much, but i wonder about two things - can it tolerate heat and a 30A B2B charge rate given what AandN say about gel batteries (below)?

www.alpha-batteries.co.uk

12V 110AH Leoch Powabloc Tubular Gel Leisure Battery (GTP12110) NCC CLASS A - Alpha Batteries

Now Discontinued by the Manufacturer – Please see modern direct replacement here Features Capacity ratings: 110Ah (100hr), 95Ah (20hr), […]
www.alpha-batteries.co.uk www.alpha-batteries.co.uk


2. They can take twice as long to charge up which can be self defeating as any battery taking longer to charge may only be up to 'Half charge' from any charger Alternator/Mains/Solar/etc. by the time it is next required.

So while they can be ultra Deep discharged to 80% DOD, if they then only slowly charge back up to 40% DOD, that will be all you will be able to draw on the next discharge, about 30Ah.

A Yuasa L36-EFB will probably be back to full charge in the same time frame, therefore able to release 50Ah before it hits 50% DOD. The Yuasa has more 'usable' energy because it maximises every milliamp from Solar, Alternator, etc.

3. Gel's also need a special charge profile for Solar and mains chargers.

4. Gel batteries won't reach anywhere near their expected life if operated at higher temperatures (above 20 degrees) or at higher discharge current which will also raise the temperature. Literally half the life can be lost if the Plate temperature rises by 10 degrees. A 20 degree rise will cut life by 75%. when most people use their batteries on hot days in hot climes, you can see it may deliver less than 25% of it's potential.

5. Gel's will be a very poor match when paired with the high heat, high current draw some Inverters might impose. Because the acid in a Gel battery is literally a Gel, it's mobility is severely restricted, as is heat transfer. So when you start drawing high currents, the chemical reaction at the Plates exhausts the Gel acid closest to the Plate and cool, fresh acid is slow to replace the exhausted, hot acid. As a result the power able to be produced drops off rapidly, sometimes so far an Inverter might shutdown through low voltage/current.
 
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