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Post by Bruce Henderson on Dec 13, 2004 4:08:50 GMT
__. For years, the most-often used fridges in motor homes and caravans in the US have been the "gas- powered" ones. They burn LPG gas to cool the fridge. Lately, though, full-size household fridges have come on the market that only use about 120 - 135 watts at 120 volts. This is thus about 1 -- 1.1 amps. With an inverter running off 24v batteries, it's possible for a typical battery array to run the fridge for 4 - 6 days without any charging. Naturally, these full-size domestic fridges are MUCH less expensive than the smaller, specialized motor home fridges -- they're also much less maintenance intensive and cheaper to run. For these reasons, many converted-bus and custom motorhome owners are going to these fridges.
__. I'd encourage you to look at what's available in the UK for UK mains power.
Bruce Henderson, USA
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Post by Jim Anderson on Jan 6, 2005 13:42:11 GMT
Hi Bruce,
Only found the "BBBC" site last night and have started my own web page with "Freewebs" as a result of this. I will be able to upload pics of my 1979 Bedford Duple Dominant conversion after 7 days and then I will add it as a link to Jonathans site if that is ok with him. Anyway, I don't have a problem with power for my fridges as I use 2 small 3-way (12V/240V/gas) fridges which came from donor caravans which I had. We find that they keep things cool enough between campsites where they run from the 240V supply. Being my first coach/motorhome conversion, I hadn't allowed for the Zig unit to be fitted at the start, and when I realised it would be very handy - it was too late!! The Zig unit
could have solved my problem with the power shower (domestic)supply which looks for more than its fair share of the 15Amps supplied by most sites and trips the power after 3 or 4 minutes. I was impressed with your 120V solution for the fridges and wonder if there are any power showers out there with the same supply - this would increase my street-cred with the "better half" as she is adamant the shower will be fully operational before the start of the new season. I will either have to rip out my 240V shower un
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Post by atlanteanliving on Dec 7, 2006 23:36:23 GMT
__. For years, the most-often used fridges in motor homes and caravans in the US have been the "gas- powered" ones. They burn LPG gas to cool the fridge. Lately, though, full-size household fridges have come on the market that only use about 120 - 135 watts at 120 volts. This is thus about 1 -- 1.1 amps. With an inverter running off 24v batteries, it's possible for a typical battery array to run the fridge for 4 - 6 days without any charging. Naturally, these full-size domestic fridges are MUCH less expensive than the smaller, specialized motor home fridges -- they're also much less maintenance intensive and cheaper to run. For these reasons, many converted-bus and custom motorhome owners are going to these fridges. __. I'd encourage you to look at what's available in the UK for UK mains power. Bruce Henderson, USA |
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Post by atlanteanliving on Dec 7, 2006 23:41:06 GMT
__. For years, the most-often used fridges in motor homes and caravans in the US have been the "gas- powered" ones. They burn LPG gas to cool the fridge. Lately, though, full-size household fridges have come on the market that only use about 120 - 135 watts at 120 volts. This is thus about 1 -- 1.1 amps. With an inverter running off 24v batteries, it's possible for a typical battery array to run the fridge for 4 - 6 days without any charging. Naturally, these full-size domestic fridges are MUCH less expensive than the smaller, specialized motor home fridges -- they're also much less maintenance intensive and cheaper to run. For these reasons, many converted-bus and custom motorhome owners are going to these fridges. __. I'd encourage you to look at what's available in the UK for UK mains power. Bruce Henderson, USA The cheapest way I found is to hang around at your local tip until you find a clean nice domestic 240volt fridge or fridge freezer turns up. Then simply get a fridge engineer to replace the compressor with a 12 or 24 volt one. The cost? About £150 if he's in a good mood! Failing that you can buy 12 volt good size f/freezers from Shoreline. The more things you can run directly from your battery rather than through an inverter the more juice you'll save and the more power is available through your inverter. |
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Post by BruceH on Dec 21, 2006 17:49:31 GMT
Hi Bruce, (snip) I was impressed with your 120V solution for the fridges and wonder if there are any power showers out there with the same supply - this would increase my street-cred with the "better half" as she is adamant the shower will be fully operational before the start of the new season. I will either have to rip out my 240V shower un __. A lot depends on how complicated you want to get. I think I'm going with a water heater that runs on mains power (from inverter or hard-wired mains) or hot water from the engine. And for winter heat, engine warming, and other sources, I'm adding a Webasto diesel-fired heater. So, I'm running a system that heats water and then distribute it around for shower, washing up, etc. But I'll have heat anytime, hot water anytime, and a warmed engine in any weather. __. But I'm guessing this isn't the way you've gone and intend to go in the future. |
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