Solar & Battery performance ?

[wdk450]

Re: Running Your Refrigerator on Propane:
Here is a posting lifted from the IRV2 forum:

Originally Posted by fkloster Curious.... I use gas all the time on my Dometic fridge/freezer combo and I can barely tell any is getting used! Cold as heck too! Ideas?

Well assuming this is a serious question here goes.

There's approximately 91,500 [FONT=inherit !important][FONT=inherit !important]btu's[/FONT][/FONT] in a gallon of propane. I have a 12 cu/ft Norcold refrigeratorthat burns 2400 btu/hr. So one gallon of propane will last about 38 hrs. However that's if the refrigerator runs constantly. Again, assuming it runs for 8 hours out of a 24 hr. period a gallon of propane should last about 5 days. Naturally it all depends on how hot the outside temperature is, how full the refrigerator is, the [FONT=inherit !important][FONT=inherit !important]temperature [/FONT][FONT=inherit !important]setting[/FONT][/FONT] and how often you open the door. If you have a 30 gallon propane tank it should last about 150 days.

 

[evolvingpowercat]

I have a 80 watt solar panel and solar charge controller I purchased on Amazon and just dry camped 9 nights in Yellowstone and the 80 watt was enough to recharge the batteries every day. An 80 watt panel will put out 4 amp-hours in full sun and will still charge at a much lesser rate in cloudy skies.

The major loads for me are:
- LED light bulbs
- Jensen audio
- Refrigerator control board, gas detector, propane furnace fan

My Edge has a Dometic RM 8255 3 way refrigerator but in 12 volt mode it would use more that the 80 watt panel can produce all by itself. So I just run my fridge on LP gas, rather than buy a 2nd 80 watt panel to cover the fridge load.