|
Propane Fridges? What do you think?
|
01-07-2016, 03:32 PM
My experience is propane fridges are tiny and you have to defrost them all the time. We are completely off-grid and have an electric fridge. It is definitely our largest power user but well worth it. Its a 16 cu.ft. GE that self defrosts. I am completely happy with it. the other downside with propane is that you can never let it run out of propane,it screws up the supply tubes.
01-07-2016, 05:15 PM
Jeff Stone is a retired yacht kitchen builder from the Caribbean and has a solar refrig business in the shores. He guts a regular manual defrost refrig(no heating element) and installs yacht 12v components.
Great product, great guy. http://stonecoldsolarrefrigeration.com/p...b8592.html
01-07-2016, 05:56 PM
No offense 007 ... This guy is perfect for the folks who can write a check and might think spending 500 on a cooler instead of a few extra bags of ice is worth it ...
These rest of us have the internet to learn to do the to the same thing ... aloha, retired yacht kitchen builder debunker pog
01-07-2016, 08:49 PM
our Servel propane fridge uses 4 gallons every 23 days on average.... with 2 people opening it and its setting are very cold, cold enough to partially freeze stuff on top rack of fridge area.. they are expensive though, and have the look of a $400 normal electric fridge...
ours can be used with propane or electricity ps. we defrost it maybe 6 times/yr, not hard not something to worry about lol.. we usually do it when food is low and when its out of propane... 5 minutes tops we also have a propane shower, propane stove, and propane heater, and ONLY 2 solar panels for lights, charging stuff like computers, or watch dvds on a flat screen, play stereo, etc.... a small quiet generator for toaster oven, microwave, or when there is no sun for a couple days to charge batteries this is the Servel we have... https://www.thenaturalhome.com/servel400.php ****************************************************************** save our indigenous and endemic Hawaiian Plants... learn about them, grow them, and plant them on your property, ....instead of all that invasive non-native garbage I see in most yards... aloha
******************************************************************
save our indigenous and endemic Hawaiian Plants... learn about them, grow them, and plant them on your property, ....instead of all that invasive non-native garbage I see in most yards... aloha
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.
01-08-2016, 03:48 AM
why in gods name do you want to be tied to the propane leash?
and dont you dare get propane and call yourself 100% off grid. just because you drive to go get a refill doesnt change the fact that you are still locked into the propane distribution grid.
01-08-2016, 04:01 AM
yes, we are off-grid. we went the 'good solar system' route. it runs our core components - fridge, water pump, lights, microwave, internet, tv, etc.
We also have solar hot water - the most efficient method to heat water, afaik. We only use propane where we have to - oven, dryer, paloma, and our heater (we're in mtn view). Can't get around the oven. The dryer could actually be minimized on a sunny day by using a clothes line, and the the paloma is just a backup/supplement to our solar hot water. The heater actually uses the most propane out of all of them, but we only have a small space to heat, and the cost/reward ratio is really good for us. Propane is expensive and a fairly decent work commitment to keep up with it (unless you get a big tank and have delivery, but that's even more expensive). Best route to go is solar for as much as possible. I would avoid a propane fridge. We had a 12v DC fridge for a while, and it broke and was expensive to maintain. I would avoid that route also. Best bet is a cheap fridge from home depot. They deliver it, there's a decent warranty, and it's literally plug and play.
01-08-2016, 04:43 AM
quote: Yes if you must have propane refrig, An old Servel is the way to go. The rest just aren't made the same.
01-08-2016, 08:52 AM
I don't have any personal experience with this but from people I know who are 100% off grid with not many panels the best solution is 12v fridge or freezer. Unfortunately the up-front cost of these appliances can be 10x with 1/2 the volume of their 120 counterparts. The option I'm most familiar with is using a cheap freezer with a ~$20 wall adapter with temp probe that kills (and restores as appropriate) the power to keep the freezer at refrigerator temperatures. Freezers are much more energy efficient than refrigerators and these can be rigged to only run during the day when you're receiving light and the extra insulation of the freezer keeps everything cold until the sun comes up. They do have to be manually defrosted. About 1/2 a standard fridge power consumption is for the "frost free" feature which warms the walls of your fridge and freezer at the same time it's blowing cold air into it. Dedicated freezers don't do that. You can get a reliable cheap-o chest freezer at HD for around $200.
After Iselle we only had to run our chest freezer for an hour or so per day to keep everything below zero, so I guess I do have some limited experience. ETA: if you're shopping for the outlet/temp probe things that turn freezers into refrigerators, they are commonly used by home brewers, cheese makers, and people off grid. They have them on amazon. |
|
« Next Oldest | Next Newest »
|
