snowie Posted October 9, 2011 Posted October 9, 2011 Apart from battery capacity issues, are there any downsides to using a Compressor fridge in a campervan? I have located the fridge in our van along the centreline of the van, away from an outside wall, I'm advised that a compressor fridge is ideal for this application. We have a 3-Way fridge at the moment which is inadequately ventilated resulting in very poor performance of the fridge, and heat buildup in the underbed storage area, including a hot mattress! There must be heat to dispose of with a Compressor fridge, so I'm keen not to jump from one poor solution to another. Everyone I speak to says cooling is much less of an issue with a compressor fridge than with an absorption fridge. Opinions and explanation please!!
Andy_C Posted October 9, 2011 Posted October 9, 2011 We have a compressor fridge (Waeco MDC-110), it's not vented to outside the van, and, apart from the power consumption, we think it is better than the previous absorption fridges we have had. It does not produce a noticeable amount of heat. If power consumption was not an issue then I would certainly recommend it, however it does use 40 to 45 Ah/day... Andy
Dave225 Posted October 9, 2011 Posted October 9, 2011 Compressor fridges are much more effcient than adsorbtion ones because they use a pump system rather than just a heat exchanger. However, the downside is they make more noise. Try sleeping in your kitchen and you will get the idea. In small vans as long as you can live with the noise they will be better. As mentioned the fitting of an adsorbiton fridge van make or mar the performance and I am afraid UK manufacturers seem to often make a dog s breakfast of what is a fairly simple operation. Do check it has been installed properly and is sealed at the rear. Also if it is on the same side as the door and this opens against the fridge vents, do not expect success in hot weather. Also if it is on the same side as the awning again the heat build up affects the fridge. If your fridge is correectly installed and still does not work, try all the fuel forms and see if there is any difference. A heating element may be about to fail, or the brner is dirty. Some of us 'cheat' and have an adsorbtion fridge in the van and a compressor one in the awning. Get the best of both worlds.
broc Posted October 9, 2011 Posted October 9, 2011 Our panel van conversion has a Waeco compressor fridge; we were a bit doubtful about it, having had absorption fridges in all our previous motorhomes (& touring caravans). We need not have worried, ours is in the base of our wardrobe & to be honest you can hear it running but we soon got used to it & have not lost any sleep because of it during the night. There is a vent in the floor of the wardrobe to allow warm air to escape but it doesn't seem to generate much heat. I think it is more efficient on 12v than the absorption fridges, food (&beer) stay colder , one additional bonus is because it switches automatically between 12v & mains we no longer have to remember to do this ourselves.... I wouldn't like to say how many times we have set off on our travels & part way through the journey one of us would ask 'have you switched the fridge to 12v?'. Another advantage is you don't have to worry about leaving the van on a slope, unlike with an absorption fridge which can stop working if tilted too far. You can also leave it running on a ferry, we regularly use the Newcastle - Ijmuiden crossing which is around 16-18 hours & the contents stay cool. It does draw a fair bit of power, especially when the ambient temperature is 35C & the compressor is running more frequently, my solution was to install a second 100Ah battery for use on sites without electric hookup. We have not found out how long we can last off mains, we easily managed 3 days during the summer in the French Alps this summer when it was 30C during the day. If I wanted any longer, I might consider adding a solar panel.
snowie Posted October 10, 2011 Author Posted October 10, 2011 Thanks broc; I'm reassured; we don't seem to have much trouble getting to sleep when we are in the van, so it's only the battery issue that's to deal with. We like using France Passion sites and buying their produce, so a 3-way fridge seemed the way to go, because hook-up isn't available. Keeping the nice produce in good condition is essential, so it looks like an additional battery is the solution. So far we've avoided using F-Ps consecutively, but that could change! cheers, alan
snowie Posted October 10, 2011 Author Posted October 10, 2011 Thanks broc; I'm reassured; we don't seem to have much trouble getting to sleep when we are in the van, so it's only the battery issue that's to deal with. We like using France Passion sites and buying their produce, so a 3-way fridge seemed the way to go, because hook-up isn't available. Keeping the nice produce in good condition is essential, so it looks like an additional battery is the solution. So far we've avoided using F-Ps consecutively, but that could change! cheers, alan
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