Waeco haven't been around as long as Engel so haven't proven themselves to be as long lasting as yet. Engel has much better (not more efficient but more robust) compressor.
Additional information
| Capacity | 60 Litre |
|---|
| DC Power Consumption | Variable from 0.5 – 4.2 AMPS |
| Power | Built-in 240V AC/12V/24V DC |
| Warranty | 5 Year Warranty |
| Voltage Selector | Automatic |
Under ideal conditions your Engel 12-Volt Refrigerator Freezer could be run for many hours on just battery power. Under the worst combination of conditions, accessories could potentially deplete the battery in 10 to 20 minutes. Some vans have 10 or 12 bulbs lighted when the interior lights are on.
Fridges might look like Waeco, might even be the same factory making them, or both Waeco and Kings source the the outside plastics from a supplier, but they arent a cheap Waeco IMO. However, regardless of what they say, or try to avoid you have avenues available to you if youre prepared to follow it through.
Featuring a fridge or freezer capacity of 40 litres. Features include: DC Power Consumption: Variable from 0.5 – 2.6 AMPS. Power: Built-in 240V AC/12V/24V DC.
Generally, a fridge uses about 6 or 7 amps, but triple that for the start-up surge, so a dedicated power outlet with 15 to 20 amps is required for a fridge. It should be the sole appliance plugged into that outlet. Once you know the refrigerator amps and volts, you can figure out the watts.
As a general rule, the more protected the interior of your mini fridge is from the hot air outside, the less energy is required in order to keep the food and drinks inside cold. In general, the power wattage of most mini fridges ranges between 50 watts and 65 watts, depending on size and insulation levels.
Depending on their wattage output, generators will run anything from a small lamp to a number of large appliances. For example: running a 100 watt light bulb, a 200 watt slow cooker, a 1,200 watt refrigerator with a startup wattage of 2,900 watts and a 750 watt TV would require 3,950 watts.
Since the rated peak output of the Honda EU2000 is 2000 watts, you should be able to run your fridge with no problems. A 2000 watt generator could power a 500 watt deep freezer and one element of the electric stove. Or you could run the freezer, cook with a 650 watt microwave (using 1000 watts) and a few lights.
Will a 100w solar panel run a fridge? No, your solar panels will not keep up with your fridge. If you have 200Ah of batteries and abide by the 50% rule you have about 100Ah of usable power, but this depends on your charging system. If you have a good smart charger then you can fully charge your batteries.
An inverter is an electrical device that converts DC battery power into 120-volt AC household power to run appliances such as a refrigerator. Inverters are available in different power capacities and some are powerful enough to operate refrigerators.
At home, even if you've got a smaller Energy Star fridge, the refrigerator wattage likely won't be covered by a 1,000-watt load at start-up despite easily running on a fraction of that at optimum operation. It won't run a 1,000-watt microwave either because its running load is more like 1,500 watts.
Don't overload your generator. Keep in mind that if your refrigerator runs on 800 watts it might need 1,600 at startup when the compressor kicks in. Overloading a generator could damage your appliances.
The amount of electricity consumed by a 5-star 250litre frost-free fridge is 199.22kwh. When you calculate your bill, you will find a major decrease in your expenses.
Continuous Power (or running watts) is the wattage required for operation of your appliances under normal load. running at their highest levels of power consumption. An average size home requires from 5000 to 7000 watts to power essential items.
Best Overall: Dometic CFX-Series Fridge/Freezers. We think the Dometic CFX line of portable 12V fridge/freezers is the top choice for a vanlife fridge. Dometic (or Waeco, as they're also known) has always made solid fridges, but their newest models are setting the bar for portable refrigeration.
A very small user of power is a 1.2 watt LED light running on a 12 volt power source will use 1.2W / 12V = 0.1 amps. Therefore a 100ah (amp hour) battery will last for 1000 hours. A slightly different example is a 60 watt fridge running on a 12 volt power source uses 60 /12 = 5 amps, but only while the motor runs.
Look for anything thats less than 20 watts. It should say something like <20 watts power usage on the back. Be careful as some are as much as 40 watts and this going to drain the battery much faster.
As a guide, if your fridge draws 5A (60Watts), lighting 2A (24watts) and tv 2A, total current = 9A. Therefore your battery will be flat in 6 hrs. Most modern vans won't let you run the fridge off the battery unless the van its plugged into the towcar, as the consumption is too high.
Really the only way you can run a 12v fridge off a 110Ah Battery, topping up that battery with a Solar Panel, is to have a 12v fridge (compressor type) that is specifically designed to do that. There are ones around but they are expensive.
Amperage (Amps)Luckily, 12v water pumps tend to be very efficient. They only draw power when they're turned on and running. High volume water pumps will draw up to 15 amps.
Domestic fridge power consumption is typically between 100 and 250 watts. Over a full day, a fridge is likely to use between 1 to 2 kilowatt-hours (kWh). This translates into a running cost of about $150 per year per fridge.
You can back calculate from the wattage of the fridge. Keeping leisure battery over 20% (battery care) means you have 80% of the battery's Wh run time available: eg 500Ah battery will give you (500*. 8)/50 hours total run time.
For a 12V system, if you need to replace 100A/h of charge to your batteries each day, and you have 8 sunlight hours in each day you will need 1200WH / 8H = 150W of solar panels. In reality it is recommended that you always overrate your requirements by at least 20%, therefore you would need 180W of solar panels.
The most common equipment to power with a solar setup include 12v compressor fridges (which will account for upwards of 60% of your total power draw), camping lights, air compressors and inverters, which would then be responsible for charging 12v appliances such as laptops and televisions.
Charging your battery at 12 volts and 20 amps will take five hours to charge a 100 amp hour battery. By multiplying 20 amps by 12 volts, 240 watts is how big of a panel you would need, so we'd recommend using a 300w solar panel or 3 100 watt solar panels. What are the best conditions to charge a battery?
So for 50W you need 20 to 25Ah or more. When connecting a solar panel directly to an inverter without a battery, what should I consider most, volts or amps? How many Ah batteries should I buy for a 50-watt solar panel?
A single 100-Watt Solar Panel can power up several small devices which include cell phones, lamps, fans on ceilings, router of wifi, laptops and other small devices. Bigger appliances such as heaters, TVs, air conditioning systems, and others similar to these require more than one 100-Watt Solar Panel.
Minimum Power Needed for a Residential FridgeThe minimum power for running solely the residential fridge for 24 hours is six AGM batteries totaling 600 amp hours (300 ah usable). PLUS you need 600 watts of solar power on the roof to replenish the batteries during the daylight hours.
Typically, charge controllers come in 12, 24 and 48 volts. Amperage ratings can be between one and 60 amps and voltage ratings from six to 60 volts. If your solar system's volts were 12 and your amps were 14, you would need a solar charge controller that had at least 14 amps.
