Frig on Solar

[grizwilson]

Can anyone give me an idea how long the fridge 10cu ft 12v will run with the 400i with 2 100ah lithium batteries run? We boondock much of the time. Thanks
2023 KEYSTONE COUGAR 24RDS

[chuckster57]

Welcome to the forum

That’s difficult question to answer as it depends on how much sun you get, what else is using 12V from the battery and if you have an inverter and watch TV or use the microwave or any other 120V appliances.

[grizwilson]

Originally Posted by chuckster57

Welcome to the forum

That’s difficult question to answer as it depends on how much sun you get, what else is using 12V from the battery and if you have an inverter and watch TV or use the microwave or any other 120V appliances.

That is why the word "idea" is in my post......left off furnace..

[chuckster57]

Originally Posted by grizwilson

That is why the word "idea" is in my post......left off furnace..

Well if its cloudy/rainy and you have an inverter and watch TV because you dont want to be in the rain, I would GUESS maybe a day or 2.

IS that better?

[grizwilson]

Originally Posted by chuckster57

Well if its cloudy/rainy and you have an inverter and watch TV because you dont want to be in the rain, I would GUESS maybe a day or 2.

IS that better?

Thanks, tv is not an option where we go, we can run generator to run microwave and recharge batteries if needed hate the noise. I understand your thought, we drive an hour or better into town if rain or wet snow. No experience with 12v frig. always had gas/electric. Would just be frig and furnace some limited lights.

[chuckster57]

Your welcome. A question with lots of variables makes it hard to give an answer with any accuracy. Not knowing what you have/had makes a huge difference.

[travelin texans]

Originally Posted by grizwilson

Thanks, tv is not an option where we go, we can run generator to run microwave and recharge batteries if needed hate the noise. I understand your thought, we drive an hour or better into town if rain or wet snow. No experience with 12v frig. always had gas/electric. Would just be frig and furnace some limited lights.

You must be using an open frame contractor type generator as most of the inverter generators are very quiet & barely heard 50' away.

[fjr vfr]

A lot has to do with where to boondock. If you spend most of your time in the Southwest you should not have a problem. But if most of your boondocking is in the Northwest...problem?
How many watts/amps does the fridge draw? I run a Magic chef 10.1 cf 120v fridge bought at Home Depot. I have a separate 700w inverter just for the fridge and 2000w for every thing else. The inverter for the fridge stays on all the time and the other as needed. We have 340ah of lithium battery and 1000 watts on the roof. We have not run a generator in 2 years of heavy use.
If you have a 12v fridge I would assume it uses less power than my 120v fridge. Btw, we also have a 12v chest fridge/freezer we use for overflow. It sips power. I would give you more specifics, but we are in Hawaii and my trailer is currently in SoCal in storage.
But, think about where you use it and crunch the numbers. !2v fridges usually don't draw much power.

[grizwilson]

Thanks, we boondock Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Wisconsin, Missouri and Arkansas Ozarks mostly cool spots in Mountains for summer Midwest spring and fall. Not sure what the fridge in the KEYSTONE COUGAR 24RDS draws, salesman says 4-5 days.... that and $5 will get a good cup of coffee.....

[jxnbbl]

I have used 2 170W panels with 2 AGM batteries, not inverter use, for 7 days...and it would have run longer. It was parked in the middle of a field with sunny days as well as overcast days.

[jxnbbl]

Originally Posted by jxnbbl

I have used 2 170W panels with 2 AGM batteries, not inverter use, for 7 days...and it would have run longer. It was parked in the middle of a field with sunny days as well as overcast days.

Batteries: Go Solar NRG Life batteries specifically - GP-AGM-100-12V

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by grizwilson

Thanks, we boondock Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Wisconsin, Missouri and Arkansas Ozarks mostly cool spots in Mountains for summer Midwest spring and fall. Not sure what the fridge in the KEYSTONE COUGAR 24RDS draws, salesman says 4-5 days.... that and $5 will get a good cup of coffee.....

Go to your refrigerator owner's manual, look at the specifications page and it will give you either a voltage and amperage requirement or a wattage requirement. With the voltage/amperage, just multiply the two figures to calculate wattage.

Then go to your "trailer estimated consumption list" (composed by you with your best guess power consumption for everything from lights to furnace to refrigerator) and add up all the wattage requirements.

That will give you a "fairly accurate starting point" for the amount of energy you'll use.

THEN figure in the cloudy days, hours of direct sunlight, angle of the solar panels and you can "do some WAG's" to sort of guess how much energy your solar panels will provide to resupply the energy you use.

Power consumption has so many variables that it's impossible to "compare mine to yours" .... Just setting your thermostat 2 degrees higher or lower than mine or camping where your trailer sidewall is exposed to the sun vs my trailer nose facing the sun will make enough difference to completely alter any "accurate comparison"... And that doesn't account for any altitude differences (ambient temperature and reduced clouds the higher you go)...

So, "good ideas of how much" become "WAG's" real quick.

[jxnbbl]

I believe his has the 'std' GE 12V fridge that keystone started putting into the solar 200/400 units. It runs 13.5 amps (from my research/calculations).

Where I thought I could get away with one panel on my initial trip (170W) I put on the second to protect my precious cargo (300 bottles of home brew that would need to be cooled down over 2-3 days prior to our son's wedding). Now with 3 panels I don't even think about my (normal) usage.

[grizwilson]

Pulled the trigger on a 24RDS. Pick it up Monday have the pickup check list printed. Went with camping world, was leery of them and Keystone. Our local CW has good reviews, and the set up of the 24rds was what we wanted. The initial quality looks better than our other considerations hopefully that continues.

Any other suggestions from you all? Thanks
g

[JRTJH]

Griz,

If your dealer installs a GP24 "hybrid" battery in your new trailer, it probably won't be adequate to tow your trailer long distances if it's equipped with a 12 volt DC refrigerator. So, I'd recommend you ask about what the dealer plans to install. Some dealers do a good job, other dealers just stick the cheapest little battery they can buy at wholesale pricing.... CW is a big organization, each dealership tends to set their own rules on what they install, so the consumer has to ask before agreeing to the sale or "wind up stuck with what they give you".... Informed is better .....

[chuckster57]

John: if his charge line is working, I would think the TV might provide enough charge for an extended drive. Just thinking out loud

[RollaMo]

Originally Posted by JRTJH

Griz,

If your dealer installs a GP24 "hybrid" battery in your new trailer, it probably won't be adequate to tow your trailer long distances if it's equipped with a 12 volt DC refrigerator. So, I'd recommend you ask about what the dealer plans to install. Some dealers do a good job, other dealers just stick the cheapest little battery they can buy at wholesale pricing.... CW is a big organization, each dealership tends to set their own rules on what they install, so the consumer has to ask before agreeing to the sale or "wind up stuck with what they give you".... Informed is better .....

Very good point!

Our dealer (local mom & pop dealer) at least installed 2 Group 24 batteries in our 24RDS
Still a Marine Deep Cycle battery, but at least there are 2 of them.
We also have the SolarFlex 400i system with a 12V refrigerator.

[grizwilson]

It comes with 400i solar and two 100 ah lithium batteries but thanks for the thoughts and suggestions

[Max23]

in general, you can expect a 400-watt solar panel to produce somewhere in the neighborhood of 1 kWh to 2 kWh of energy each day.

Kilowatt Hours Amp Hours @ 12V Amp Hours @ 24V
1 kWh 83.33 Ah 41.67 Ah
2 kWh 166.67 Ah 83.33 Ah
3 kWh 250 Ah 125 Ah
4 kWh 333.33 Ah 166.67 Ah

Just some basic info found on line. Don't know if it help, if it don't, I just found it interesting. If one knows how many amps the unit is drawing, maybe this will help in figuring how long it will last. ????????????????
I'm far from an expert so I'm just guessing.

[formyfelinebabies]

You will get plenty of better answers here based on numbers hours and what else you are running.
My brain does not work that way. I freely admit I turn it on and when and if battery runs low I deal with it. I’m the one at the truck stop the truck drivers walk over to ask what size engine I have and what’s my mpg then they are horrified to hear, I don’t know, when it hits 1/4 tank I stop and fill up. (My Aladdin knows but I don’t… and frankly I think they just were trying to get my attention and that usually ended it&#128527

Men every where are cringing and shaking their heads right now….

In my quantum sprinter with one crappy wet cell and one 190 roof Solar I ran my fridge 24x7
I used it for grocery shopping so it was rarely full except coming home. In Florida sun that’s all I needed. I would sit in it couple days watch a little TV but that’s it.
My feeling (not knowledge) is you will last as long as you need if you are using your systems to its best advantage.

I remember a recent post by Mr Clemons when he took a new lithium unit out for the weekend. That would be a good read for you…