01-08-2016, 03:32 AM
Propane: expensive specialty hardware which requires a constant supply of gas that needs to be trucked in.
DC Fridge: expensive specialty hardware, but very low (near-zero) operating cost.
Conventional fridge + more panels + inverter: commodity hardware with expensive infrastructure -- but near-zero operating cost, and the infrastructure can trivially include enough headroom to run other appliances.
Bottom line: buy a $2K fridge that only does one thing, or buy $2K more PV that can do lots of things. Not saying the DC or propane fridge doesn't have a valid use case, but for "general-purpose shack living" more panels seems to have better upside.
DC Fridge: expensive specialty hardware, but very low (near-zero) operating cost.
Conventional fridge + more panels + inverter: commodity hardware with expensive infrastructure -- but near-zero operating cost, and the infrastructure can trivially include enough headroom to run other appliances.
Bottom line: buy a $2K fridge that only does one thing, or buy $2K more PV that can do lots of things. Not saying the DC or propane fridge doesn't have a valid use case, but for "general-purpose shack living" more panels seems to have better upside.