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Opinions on 12 v compressor cool boxes


jocave

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We have a large hole where a fridge previously lived, was thinking of purchasing a 12v compressor cool box just to keep a couple of pints of milk ,a bottle of wine and a few breakfast items chilled, the smaller ones are around the £300 mark ,just wondering if there were any recommendations as to which ones or is there an alternative I should be looking at , at the moment we are using a standard 12v coolbox which is pretty garbage and power hungry..

Was thinking something like this

http://www.force4.co.uk/dometic-cf-16-portable-fridge-freezer.html#.WXJdY6DTXqB

Was thinking something like this

http://www.force4.co.uk/dometic-cf-16-portable-fridge-freezer.html#.WXJdY6DTXqB

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How big is the space? I've run one of these through an inverter in my campervan for seven years with only 220ah of batteries and solar. It's wired through the thermostat to switch the inverter on. There are no electronics or even a light to complicate things so wiring up is pretty basic; I included a relay. Plus, you can put the inverter next to the batteries and run the 230v any distance, thus eliminating voltage drop issues.

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Crikey, it isn't a cheap option is it...

Seems to be well received in the one review. I had a "Halfords" version a few years ago and it basically ran all the time so very inefficient - killed my only battery if I recall so never got used - This one does look the business but then, so it should be!

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A 500w (1200 peak) pure sine wave inverter for the fridge's use only costs about £50. Even allowing for cabling, relay, fuse etc. and an hour or two of a sparky's time it should work out less than the cool box.

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You don't get very good value for money with these in terms of space, compared to a built in fridge.  15 litres isn't very much but if that's all you need then fine.

The only other consideration is, the modern generation of 12v fridges usually have a low current cutout, so if/when the battery gets below a certain level the fridge switches off.  This, I understand, is to protect the compressor which can suffer damage if the input voltage is too low.  I doubt these cool boxes have this feature, it's worth finding out though.      

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5 minutes ago, stegra said:

A 500w (1200 peak) pure sine wave inverter for the fridge's use only costs about £50. Even allowing for cabling, relay, fuse etc. and an hour or two of a sparky's time it should work out less than the cool box.

Won't this option use far more power,,how much does the invertor use

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2 minutes ago, jocave said:

Won't this option use far more power,,how much does the invertor use

Well, that's why suggested you may want the services of electrician, though it is pretty basic stuff. The thermostat in the fridge needs to be switched through the inverter's switch so the inverter only runs when the thermostat contacts. Depending on the what setting the fridge is at, the inverter only runs between 5 and 15 minutes each hour; and the peak use is when the solar is more than keeping up with demand.

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