240v mains fridge powered by an invertor
I would be interested in views of members on the advantages/disadvantages of powering fridges from an inverter or directly from a battery.
I chose the inverter route as fitted in many lorries.The advantages and disadvantages I see are as follows.
Advantages
1.One can use the inverter to power other items such as Television,Freeview receivers,Satellite receivers,laptops,fluorescent lights.
2.The fridge etc can be used directly on the mains on site.
3.The fridge can be a standard household unit costing around £60 and they may need replacing at some time.
4.The battery needs to be connected only to the inverter with large capacity cables.
5.The fridge can be placed anywhere.
6.Inverters are sold in large quantities.
Disadvantages.
1 A 1000 watt inverter is needed due to the 100 amps required for approx half a second on fridge start up.However these cost only around
£100.However this can be also used to power other units such as Television when off site.
2.The inverter possibly takes more power than a DC fridge.However in my case I have fitted a 100 watt solar panel costing around £80.Although
it generates more power than required in sunshine it is adequate in cloud.It is a similar price to smaller solar panels.The Solar panel is used to charge the van battery and the inverter battery when the van is stored using a complex voltage controller (which
is not essential) costing around £60 which it is claimed increases the life of the batteries and restores ones which have failed.This also means that the van can be used off site.
3.A shunt and voltmeter is required to accommodate and measure the current taken by the inverter/fridge.
Use of a DC fridge.
Advantages.
1.They may consume less power than a domestic fridge.
2.Space is not required for the inverter
Disadvantages.
1.A DC fridge is expensive, £400-£500, and sold in small quantites.I am told they are domestic fridges with the mains motor replaced with
a DC motor
2 A mains to DC converter is required when the fridge is used on site and these are quite expensive,£40-£50.
3.If the fridge cannot be placed next to the battery, heavy duty cables may be needed to connect them.
longstaff 42.