This fascinates me because I wanted to understand exactly this. I was thinking about going off grid piecemeal, say buying a battery and sufficient solar panels and an inverter for say starting the refrigerator. After that, I'd find another major appliance to go off grid with. This way I feel a person can slowlyGo off grid without being sucker punched with a huge investment all at once. Also it's learn as you go.
I absolutely agree. I always suggest to buy equipment that will work with your future full size system. Imagine a system that can power all you need, such as which panels you expect to have, and just buy one right now. At least 100 Watts, preferably more like around 250. Although more expensive, they are more in line with a full-size system, yet small enough to be handled by one person. Stay away from the Harbor Freight types, and get quality aluminum framed monosilicon panels. Even tested used ones work very well, such as from San Tan, or sun electronics. Imagine the voltage that you'll be in the future, probably 48 volts. Get an inexpensive charge controller that can follow your system size from 12 to 48 volts. Maybe it won't handle the future current, but in the future it can still be used as a backup controller if your main expensive controller conks out. It may not be able to handle the maximum future power, but at least you'll have something. For batteries, I would suggest staying away from Marine "deep cycle" batteries, which really aren't able to repeatedly deep cycle, but to get fairly inexpensive golf cart batteries which are real deep cycle batteries. They make great batteries for a starter system which can teach the user a lot about battery based electrical systems, and can be added to the system as it grows. These are inexpensive lead acid batteries, great for learning. Once you need to replace the batteries, then you may want to jump up to the more expensive lithium, or other advanced types. As for the inverter, unfortunately most inverters can only use one voltage. Except for large Genesee brand, that can be rewired for different voltages from my understanding. If that's unaffordable, then I would suggest an inexpensive pure sine wave 2,000 watt or above inverter. That should be large enough to handle any refrigerator, (or other kitchen appliance, just not at the same time), Plus an energy efficient TV and a few LED lights. So, PV panel $100 to $200 Charge controller $25 to $75 Batteries $100 to $200 Inverter, $200 to $300 Miscellaneous wires, fuses, terminals Etc $100. So yeah, if you can't find anything used, then about $500 to $800 for a decent starter system, less if you can find some used items (just not batteries), that should be able to take your bedroom Off the Grid, run your refrigerator during power outages, and get you started on your way, Good luck! P.S., if you have to buy things over time, buy the batteries last because they have to be kept charged in storage due to self discharge, or they will go bad.
I have the same thoughts. I get how and what the parts do for the most part, but choosing them to all work together and what they will realistically run is somewhat beyond me. This video partially answered that question. I would like to know, though, what was in the fridge? I hear they use less energy when they're full...
Most refrigerators default to defrost cycle when power is interrupted so compressor doesn’t try to restart with refrigerant at high pressure. Waiting for about 30 minutes for thermostat to close “above” set temperature would bypass default defrost mode making test more accurate. I’ve ran 2 fridges on 1600 watt inverter on my system. Been down that road 👍 …nice video, thanks 😊
I believe this is mostly right, however many fridges used to use a defrost timer, so you would have to bypass or trick/adjust the timer in some way , but its been some time since I did refrigeration work and with PLC controllers , etc, I can not be sure, but Im guessing that different model fridges could all use different methods nowadays, thanks for sharing your experiences, I have had similar results with different el cheapo Batteries recently, as I am playing with different voltage all in one systems for a 40’ Bus project atm, so I am experimenting with a large old full size fridge, it draws about 120w at first and settles back to about 80w, so this a substantial amount of power and I have decided to have a second 12v-24v 100litre upright fridge 20litre freezer that uses only 2.5A @ 12v, so this fridge I can leave running when I am away as a small draw for my 24v bus system. Thanks for your efforts in bringing us this info. Cheers
@@evil17 waiting for temperature to warm above thermostat setting bypasses defrost timer and starts compressor without burning unnecessary wattage. HVAC guy explained , it is a default for quick power interruptions to prevent compressor burnout
@@SolarHarvestSolutions Don't get it. When you're "Waiting for temperature to warm up above setting". Is this immediately after initially plugging in the refrigerator? Then wait for the 'ambient' temperature to warm up? Otherwise won't the refrigerator temperature go down? Feel like a dummy. Thanks.
I'm of grid, and have learned that all refrigerators uses different amp and watts. Found Magic Chef 10.1 is excellent for my use as it uses less energy than most. 1.5 amps and the type of insulation makes it worth the buy. Run it off my 2400 Eb Blueitti 24/7 through many rain days here on the Big Isle Hawaii.
Great experiment! If we get into a blackout situation, I was figuring on powering the fridge for only a few hours at a time, a few times per day. They say that most refrigerators will keep food safe for hours with no power. Using that philosophy, your inexpensive setup will keep your food safe for days!
that is enough power to run the fridge for almost 3 days if you add solar and controller to it. remember as long as you have enough solar to power the fridge AND recharge the battery the run time goes to infinity basically. theoretically if you live in an area of good sun like I do (new mexico) a 200w panel is enough to run that fridge forever. you need 53w/hr assume 12 hours usable sunlight. figure you lose 50% so you need 100w but double it to 200w since you never get full rating. so a single 250w panel for $85 used would be enough to run this forever as long as you get enough sunlight to fully recharge the battery every day. hmmmmm I just might have to look into this just for shiggles. Especially if you disable the defrost cycle or better put it on a switch and make sure it only runs during the daytime say once a week.
@@safffff1000 Exactly. Living off grid, I can tell ya that is exactly what would happen if someone turned it on/off. Better to just keep it at right temp.
From another comment it sounds like the 200-400W defrost coil will come on whenever it is powered on. I'm going to use a small chest freezer as a fridge if I need off-grid fridge. No defrost coils, lower power, doesn't lose all the cold air when you open it.
Two heaters in frost free refrigerator , one to defrost, and one in the ice maker to release the cubes! Ideal off grid fridge is to use a freezer that isn’t frost free and change the freezer thermostat out for a refrigerator one
I bought a manual defrost Energy Star rated dorm fridge for use with my 500w and above power stations after hurricanes or if the grid fails, etc. Feels good to know I have electricity in the future.
Thanks for doing this video. My fridge at my cabin does NOT have a defrost cycle so it will consume less power. I will order a 100 Ah battery today and run a test with my small fridge. It consumes around 300 watts in start cycle for about 2 seconds, and about 50 watts in run mode. Thanks again !
My 21 cu ft Kenmore upright freezer uses 1400 wh/day but has a "Sabbath" mode which defeats the auto defrost and the light bulb, to eke out a bit more time. I keep it crammed full and any space is filled with "1/2 gallon" (OK, they are now 52-59 oz) juice jugs full of ice, so I'm confident I could buy an extra 2 days of life after the batteries are dead. I will definitely check out the PSWConn brand, thanks.
Try to keep ours full as well to sustain the temperature. Notice it runs more during the day when warmer, and being opened more, but all in all pretty pleased with the efficiency. 🤙aloha
I bought a Sabbath stove once from Homecheapo. I asked the guy what Sabbath was, didn't even come close to saying it right. We both had to pull out our phones and see what it meant. Lol then I went home and told the old lady that it has Sabbath mode. Still saying it wrong she's like Sabbath? 😂 I had no clue.
@@Payitforward42 I assume you are referring to the practice of filling a freezer, which of course still leaves about 1/3 of the space empty, since food is packaged in various ways. This freezer has been in service like this for 10 years.
The most efficient full sized refrigerator is a chest freezer with a thermostat added and used to switch the power on and off. Power the thermostat with a rechargeable battery. That's how we run off grid in the Australian desert. It's 7 times more efficient than an upright refrigerator of the same capacity.
Just subscribed. Thanks for doing this video. I just upgraded to lipho4 batteries 800AH with 1000W solar panels. I am planning on bringing my little chest freezer up to the homestead soon. This video gives me a lot of confidence. My batteries have not gone below 13.2V since I installed them! Thank you!
Hey welcome to the channel! Sounds like a pretty sweet system you have built. Yeah the way they hold that constant 13.2 is amazing. Let us know over time how everything works out for you. Best of luck, and have fun! aloha 🤙
I read an interesting web site from some off gridders who added 6" of dense insulation to thier normal non efficient deep chest freezer and they found the compressor only turned on a few min a day and it hardly used any elec. If you dont have a efficient refrigerator maybe this is an option just remember not to block and coils or fans etc. Great video this is really helpful to the community!
6s1-3p 2.7 500f capacitors with board solves the compressor loads comes straight from caps, then bat recharge caps for next round while running 2-3 amps now 👍
Chest freezers have condensers in the walls of the chest. Insulating them would be counter-productive. Upright freezers with vented condensers can be up-insulated.
@@King.DAVid.III2022 this is a good idea, I always use these caps on my systems. I think a single row of 6 for 12v system would be plenty tho, as I have seen a Big Steiger Articulated Tractor started with just 6 caps in a row, no battery! Big Capacitors are always a Big Yes!
They cost $48 for 6 with circuit board, so worth their weight in gold as they take the load off of the batteries making them last twice as long as they normally would if having those heavy loads come straight from batteries 🗡️
Away to wire up a Fridge off grid is to wire directly to the compressor. Wire up the thermostat and the power inverter to a relay. So you plug the fridge into the inverter like normal but between the inverter and battery hook up a relay. And connect the thermostat to the relay as well. So the power inverter doesn't power on until the thermostat triggers the relay to power up the inverter.
Some inverters have a power save mode that basically does this, however they have some issues. I tried power save mode with a fridge attached and only when it wanted to draw significant wattage did it "wake up" the inverter. If someone just opened the fridge so a low wattage light was most of the load the inverter "saw", that would not be enough to wake up the inverter, that is, the light would not even come on. I suppose I could just find out where the threshold is (perhaps 20 watts for example), and just put a 25 watt light in the fridge to compensate.
Thanks for showing your test! My big fridge draws 400W on defrost and almost 100W when it's running. I'm not sure a 1500W inverter would even start it. (My 2500W does.) Yours is obviously lower power. Still it used 1KWH in just under a day. Mine also uses a little more than 1KWH/day. I guess it runs less hours. If grid power quits in the winter I plan to use a 5 cubic foot chest freezer I have as a fridge, by turning the control warmer so it doesn't actually freeze. No defrost draw, draws 50W when running. Tag says 220KWH/year, which is 600(?)WH per day. But that's for deep freezing food. As a fridge it should be considerably less. But also I have another somewhat larger freezer that will have to be kept frozen. I have a whole hodge-podge of solar panels on the roof, mostly connected to the grid with Chinese plug-in grid tie microinverters. But I also have 36V, 3 batteries * 120AH (3 * 4.3 KWH) DC system for everything that can draw on 9 of the solar panels. (2 of the 3 batts. are in my 36V experimental car.) I could easily hook up another 4 or 5 panels to another charge controller and one of the batteries. (Hard to have enough power where it's cloudy a lot and the sun very low in the winter. Summer should be fine.) I try to find DC equipment because inverters themselves use power. Say it's 15 watts - seems trivial but that's 360 watt-hours in a day! I have DC LED Lights, a "solar" 24V, 300W DC deep well pump (just ordered that). And the 36V car, tho it's presently not fit for the highway and I use it little. For things that use less than 36V I have cheap little DC to DC down ("buck") converters with screw adjustable output voltage. I use "T-Plugs" for the 36V stuff (3D printed triplex wall outlets) and "Mini T-Plugs" for 12V. (YT channel TurquoiseEnergy)
I would love to hear about the deep well pump that you purchased. I am going to purchase one before years end. Would like to know the brand and model, if you don't mind. Is it specifically for DC?
@@quietobserver4636 Yes, It's a "BLDC" motor with a motor controller. Should be high efficiency but I haven't tried it yet. Let's see if I can put a linc in without youtube/google shadow banning the post. (Take out the brackets and replace the common words): [www](daught)(ali){express}[daught](calm)/item/1005004076911669.html (If yuo can edit the post without getting an error, it worked.)
That was a great test ! That gave very good data on the battery/inverter/refrigerator . and that was 100Ah battery . love LiFePO4 . when charging your Chins battery direct like you do. do a test watching charging then put a blanket to shade panel and see if you get a discharge .If you do you may want a blocking diode to stop a discharge during a cloud or night . you can easy check with the Bluetooth app.
Thank you kindly Robert. I am going to try that test so I'll know, but also plan on adding cc on the generator so I don't have to watch so closely. Always appreciate your feedback...aloha 🤙
@@ghz24Nope. But a combiner box with diodes will handle it. I fried one diode and by passed it. I fried 2 solar panels. The traces melted and shattered the glass. One of the two burned through the back side of the panel. I replaced the bridge rectifier style diode with A pair of MDK 50A 1600v backfeeding resistors. They get hot when the sun is out and I'm generating 5000w from the panels.
@@fauxque5057 OK I think we are talking about different things here. In the early days of solar we learned that we could hook the output leads of a panel (of appropriate specs) directly to a battery and charge the battery. Like in this video.The only problem was after sunset the battery slowly discharged backwards through the panels. The solution was a diode biased to prevent the backward current flow. This was before charge controllers were available. If you have a charge controller you don't need that diode to prevent the battery from discharging through the panels after dark the mosfets in the charge controller already prevent this from happening. Hot spots are a different problem that happens during production in the light, long before the charge controller or battery. Hot spots can happen even if the panel is connected directly to a load like a resistor that is not capable of supplying any electricity. So a charge controller will prevent discharge of a battery through the panels and will not prevent hot spots. Bypass diodes are used inside the panels to help stop hot spots and bypass shaded cells keeping the shading of the panel from pulling down the whole array. The panels you lost to hot spots were defective/damaged in some way with partial shading aggravating the problem. If you are connecting panels in parallel and one panel is shaded and the other(s) in sun then the combiner box and diode could stop the active panel from feeding power to the shaded one which could cause hot spots in the shaded panel IF there is a flaw in the shaded panel. It's possible your fixes just weeded out the damaged panels you had and just replacing the damaged panels was all that was needed. Were the panels new or used? Brand name? Can you explain what you think the resistor does?
A great hack on these fridges would be the ability to override the defrost cycle to once every few days. I was running our large house fridge of an Ego Powerstation during a power outage and everything was going great until it went into defrost mode and ate up a significant amount of power.
@@ricksmith1574 that is what i want to do on my power hog samsung; i am off grid and i have to put the son of a gun on one of those cheap hourly timers at night when there is no sun; it consumes over 200 watts at times and stays on for 30 to 40 minutes, rests 25 and restarts; the insulation on this samsung is so bad,that both doors' outsides are always cold to the touch; ... avoid
I do think a few models have an economy mode and you can set fridge and freezer temperature separately. Most freezers have -18c set as default and 2 degrees celsius for the fridge.
This vid was super helpful. I was trying to size a system for power outage, wondering what was min/max sizing for fridge/freezer. Answered most of the questions.
@@ProjectsinParadise808 Of course, you could connect solar panels and a charge controller during the day, while the battery and inverter are powering the frig. Am I right?
I have a Whirlpool 28-inch Wide Top Freezer Refrigerator - 14 Cu. Ft. Model: WRT104TFDW in or basement as a 2nd Refrigerator. This I use as our off grid means of keeping our perishables good during a power outage. It only uses 496-500 Wh of power every 24hr period. It will run nearly 5 days without any sun to recharge batteries. I am using 2 LifePO4 100 ah Batteries.
That sounds pretty awesome. I love hearing what others are doing, and using to be prepared for such eventualities. Mahalo for being part of the conversation here...aloha 🤙
now seehow long a solarpanelwould take to actually charge it this was a awesome test my family thanks you for this bit of info in the design of our solar system off grid homestead
Always good seeing real-world tests like this, thanks! Curious... about how long did it take to fully charge the battery with the cloudy conditions and the solar panel seen in the video(?)
Thank you! I only charged it back up to 80% or so over two days of not so good sunshine, then disconnect. 80% is about high as I take it since I don't use it often at this time for much.🤙
@@ProjectsinParadise808 - Interesting, that’s good to know. Also, when you were running the initial test, do you recall how long it took to fully charge the battery with the solar panel seen in the video(?)
@@ProjectsinParadise808 So theoretically if the fridge was wired up to a couple of solar panels, with a dedicated Li Po battery you could forget it for a few years?
@@gringoanon4550 Given that one battery would only run it for only around 20 hours, you would need to live in an area where you never have a heavily overcast day.
@@gringoanon4550 Wire the battery to the solar panels with a controller in between to keep it charged. Then wire the fridge to the inverter running which runs off the battery. Can't run the fridge directly from the panels.
An empty fridge is harder to cool, fill milk jugs with water and place in the fridge pre-cool and retest. Also opening and closing the door to get a beer causes more power consumption. Your test is best case with no “normal use” scenario. Would also like to see a 300+watt solar module and mppt charge controller hooked up to the battery to see if it could keep up. Thanks for the demo good information.
Great real world test, I have a portable diy setup for this very reason, I haven't done a long test yet just intermediate to make sure everything works. Nice to see this works. Great video!
How do you charge your Chins battery? - I can see at 16:26 the solar panel, what the size of it? - Do you have a separate MPPT inverter or is is included with the panel? - Do you have a charger to chareg your battery from the grid? Aloha !
Aloha! And thank's for tuning in. The solar panels I'm using are the Newpowa 12v 100watt monocrystalline. In the diy generator video I made , using the Bestek 300watt pure sine wave inverter. Also have videos on the Victron charger I use. All in my videos. 🤙
How are you charging the battery from your panels? What kind of charge controller works with that chin battery, and does the manufacturer send all the settings for fine tuning a charge controller? My Morningstar charge controller really only works with lead acid batteries, it doesn't have any way to do the fine tuning for LiFePO4
Great real world test thank you. I didn’t catch if the fridge was already cooked when you started it on the battery or if it was sitting for a while & needed to run to cool down first.
Nice to know how long a battery can last, and I knew you was in Hawaii because I could hear the tree frogs. I used to live in Hilo and I know that sound.
Nice. I like real world tests like this. Makes me feel really good I bought the SOK 206 ah battery. That should run a mini fridge for a few days without sun for solar. I also noticed your battery has a heating function. The one you linked to doesn't say that on the label.
@@baneverything5580 not true… Dorm fridges do not have near the insulation of a full size fridge, and draw nearly identical operating watts… so, expect less run time…
@@SuperVstech My dorm fridge just ran nearly 30 hours twice from a 540 watt hour 500 watt power station and I unplugged it when the battery remaining dropped below 20% to get more charge cycles over time. It averages 56 watts while running. My sister`s full size fridge runs at much higher wattage.
Decades ago I ran a job overhauling a GE 24 Megawatt Frame 5 gas turbine generator for PREPA at Mayaguez, PR. I still miss PR and the people there. Went to La Parguera often on weekend nights to swim with the bioluminescent creatures.
Nice video, I found this video and watched it on my ruko RUclips app. Had to get on my phone to like and subscribe. You have answered the proverbial question, what do I need to run a house sized fridge on solar. Well done! I would add a caution as different sized fridges and refrigerated objects will get different results. You have set the baseline for comparison.
Best to not buy a frig with defrost. Is this frig an inverter motor type as my LG. William Prowse tore down That Chins 100ah smart bat. He gave it a great review. If u can’t afford a Battle Born, Chins is the next best you can get. I got two 300ah heated smart bats for my RV. Thanks for doing this test!
Yes the refrigerator I used in demo has inverter compressor, super effective, and even with the auto defrost that cycles once a day at 200watts for approximately 30 minutes doesn't even phase my system. Typically when running only draws about 50-70 watts depending on use, and ambient temperature. And only runs a few minutes while cycling. Super efficient. Mahalo for tuning in...aloha 🤙
This was great. A person using one of those little college dorm type fridges this set up would really last cause as far as I can tell those type fridges don't have a defrost cycle.
Thank you for making this video. I have a 18cu Fridgadaire that will be similar to yours and was trying to figure out how long my 100ah lifepo4 battery was going to last with my 1200w inverter. I think this will get me close to the 24 hr mark I was hoping for.
Great experiment. This certainly gives you a good idea of how many batteries and solar panels you need to keep that refrigerator operating. I'm thinking of getting a small chest freezer to use as a refrigerator just because they are more efficient at holding in the cold air. You could probably run a freezer on one battery and 200-watts of solar panels.
I did that about 15 years ago. I used a temp probe inside as a thermostat, when the inside got to warm, it'd kick the freezer back on. When it reached a little lower than desired, it'd turn off. Problem is, at least back then, chest freezers generally weren't frost free and will pool water at the bottom. Not like it will happen overnight, but it'll be damp and eventually pool. I tried damprid but it wasn't enough. Maybe they have frost free ones these days, or maybe the newer ones aren't as bad.
Compressor start will demand rather a lot of power for a few seconds. That's why some here are adding large capacitors in parallel with the battery. The capacitors can provide a huge current for a few milliseconds, a thing impossible for most batteries.
This was a nice demo. I had heard of smart batteries, didn’t realise they came with a phone app. Now I’m keen to see a multi day test with solar panels recharging the battery.
Very good test, so basically what you are saying is 100 Ah runs for 20 h plus Like 4 Ah/h load from the fridge, means we should replenish the batt with at least 8 -20 Amps ( during daylight/sun) to keep this thing going during a black out!? Good to know, thanks👍🙋
I have a LG 310ltr inverter refrigerator that's been offgrid for 18 month's it is most efficient in there range Always buy the inverters models as they use very little power and you can use a tiny power inverter to run them.
I calculated my 26.6cu ft fridge to get 14 hours on a 100ah lifepo4 battery (7 hours on a regular marine deep cycle battery) its 7.8 amps. Good to know I was semi close maybe a little under.
So the connectivity would have been nice to show. Is there a wall plug that goes to the chins, and then I see the battery connectors to the inverter, and then I presume the inverter has an outlet to the refrigerator, right? Also total cost out the door would have been great to know. I'll check it out myself, but just to suggestion for editing maybe.
I really like freezerless fridges. Less complex, more reliable, smaller and easier to move, easy to have a second one for less-used things. And no auto-defrost screwing you!
That's a huge fridge for that battery. I have a 7.3 Danby with 24 volts 200AH Ampere Time batteries (2X12) Voltworks 24 volt PSW, 2K inverter, and it runs for three days with no charge. That is if I get it cold first with 120 shore power
yeah, I was just curious how long it would last. Fridge running 24/7 on two 300ah Chins lifepo4...couldn't be happier with how it barely touches them...aloha 🤙
Can you help me figure out how much battery and solar panels I need for this project. I have a amateur radio repeater. We average 1 hour of talk time a day. When the repeater is in use, we are pulling 40 Amps from our 12v power supply. The other 23 hours a day when the repeater is in standby mode, we pull 2 amps. We are in Pennsylvania zipcode 18214 and looks as if we get 4 hours of sun per day. So how many solar panels do I need and there wattage, and how many Ah in batteries will we need. Thank you
Subb'd. So interested in the study of this topic. So little formal education on the subject matter, and you wonderful content providers are so informative. I hope you do more for the community. Thank you.
Thanks for the video. My interest is in the inverter used and following your link the only 1500w pswcon inverter is 24 volts? Does it run off of 12 volts also?
Hey, thanks for the reply... I just now checked, and I only see the 1500 watt model from them in 24v atm too. I imagine the 12v is currently sold out. Aloha 🤙
Most inefficiencies there may come from using 12 V power supply From a 48 V battery, it would last longer per Kw used due to the improoved inverter efficiency
Did you ever do a test run, while using the fridge under normal daily activities, like opening the door, a dozen times a day, and maybe even putting in warm items to be chilled. That would be a more acurate test, of how long it will last.
I don't see a project called "potable generator" which you mention in this video. Could you please provide a link? Thanks for all you put into these videos, very informative...
@@SuperVstech Then you enable it but only during the daytime. This way your using solar power and not battery capacity to run the defrost cycle. you also don't likely need to run it once a day. I bet once a week would likely work (depends on your climate and how often you need to open it etc..) could easy rig a timer circuit cut the wires connect in a relay and the timer to control when it executes the cycle. 90whr is not too bad especially if you run it in the daytime.
Hi. Thanks for taking the time to show your results. How long did it take to charge the battery with your solar panel and charger configuration? Thanks again.
If discharged approximately 80% takes around hours with the Victron 30 amp charger. On strictly solar panels, which is what I use most the time it fluctuates depending how many I connect. Usually use two 200 watt panels for it , and takes a day or two depending on conditions. Aloha 🤙
Interesting and thanks. How many solar panels at what wattage would you need to keep this setup running for the life of the battery off grid? The inverter you link to comes up as a "PSWCON 2500W Pure Sine Wave Inverter 48V to 110V 120V, DC to AC Power Inverter 48 Volt, Surge 5000W with Hardwire Terminal and Earth Ground for Home Use, " How do you run a 48 volt inverter off 12 volts? Again thanks.
Great video but reliable inverters are mediocre I got the 48v 2500w one earlier this year and it lasted about 9months. Couldn’t get much support from them and ended up going with a mpp Solar which is an inverter solar charger in one and have been running fine for 5 months now
great vid but have you tried the same test using an inverter fridge of the same size, i have a LG 52O L INVERTER FRIDGE uses about 1 kw per day @ 240v, including 250w defrost cycle, don't know its starting current is which only happens if its power stalls ie power outage. would help me to size a inverter
You should use a dvom to determine the amp draw of the inverter. In an off grid situation, a deep freezer is the most important. Be it a chest or stand up.
Nice video whish i could have seen it earlier!! Well i did not and got me a new fridge working off a 24Volt supply, which was much better to my old one, running off 240AC mains, supposed to of been a 100Watt!! But' it was using more like 240Watts!! So' got rid of it along with my electric bill running it. Always good to see what an appliance works out at to running it. But' left with why does a fridge after a good reasonable time, start to draw more power for itself?!! What had changed in it, for it to be doing that?!!
Hi IAM off grid here in phil when that cycle comes on turn off the fridge 5mins or so then plug in bring the fridge back to normal I unplug at the end of solar day then around 12pm or later I turn on the lithium bat then it switches to solar and recharge bats and run my reef
I know someone else who basically does the same thing out here, and it works alright gor them. Luckily I have enough power to just run it 24/7 and forget about it...aloha 🤙
Nice little hack that's free add a one or two gallon jugs if you have the room so when the power goes out put one in the fridge and if you can catch the defrost mod unplug the fridge for an hour
I found this test very informative. Always wanted to see the performance of a refrigerator on a small LiFePO battery pack. What was the temperature of the room the refrigerator was in?
Could you add a charger/converter in between the inverter and the battery and basically run the refrigerator and simultaneously recharge the battery (forever).
I know I'm late reviewing your video but was wondering if you only need one smart battery if in a battery bank or does every battery have to be a smart battery. Figured only one in the bank needs to be Bluetooth
Thanks for the great video! Can you turn off the battery's bluetooth function, and then turn it on when you want to monitor it? Or is the bluetooth signal on all the time?
You have to be pretty close to the battery to use the bluetooth app. , literally within just a few feet. More than that, and it doesn't connect. So when you're curious about the reading, need to be right on top of it basically, but works quite well. So it's at least on on a very low level all the time far as I know. Mahalo for being part of the conversation here...aloha 🤙
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This fascinates me because I wanted to understand exactly this. I was thinking about going off grid piecemeal, say buying a battery and sufficient solar panels and an inverter for say starting the refrigerator. After that, I'd find another major appliance to go off grid with. This way I feel a person can slowlyGo off grid without being sucker punched with a huge investment all at once. Also it's learn as you go.
that's really a good way to go, and how I've always done it...as knowledge and experience grow, so does the system...aloha 🤙
I agree. And in an emergency you can add and move pieces as needed to do exactly what you want. And so much more reliable and cheaper
I absolutely agree. I always suggest to buy equipment that will work with your future full size system.
Imagine a system that can power all you need, such as which panels you expect to have, and just buy one right now. At least 100 Watts, preferably more like around 250. Although more expensive, they are more in line with a full-size system, yet small enough to be handled by one person. Stay away from the Harbor Freight types, and get quality aluminum framed monosilicon panels. Even tested used ones work very well, such as from San Tan, or sun electronics.
Imagine the voltage that you'll be in the future, probably 48 volts. Get an inexpensive charge controller that can follow your system size from 12 to 48 volts. Maybe it won't handle the future current, but in the future it can still be used as a backup controller if your main expensive controller conks out. It may not be able to handle the maximum future power, but at least you'll have something.
For batteries, I would suggest staying away from Marine "deep cycle" batteries, which really aren't able to repeatedly deep cycle, but to get fairly inexpensive golf cart batteries which are real deep cycle batteries. They make great batteries for a starter system which can teach the user a lot about battery based electrical systems, and can be added to the system as it grows. These are inexpensive lead acid batteries, great for learning. Once you need to replace the batteries, then you may want to jump up to the more expensive lithium, or other advanced types.
As for the inverter, unfortunately most inverters can only use one voltage. Except for large Genesee brand, that can be rewired for different voltages from my understanding. If that's unaffordable, then I would suggest an inexpensive pure sine wave 2,000 watt or above inverter. That should be large enough to handle any refrigerator, (or other kitchen appliance, just not at the same time), Plus an energy efficient TV and a few LED lights.
So, PV panel $100 to $200
Charge controller $25 to $75
Batteries $100 to $200
Inverter, $200 to $300
Miscellaneous wires, fuses, terminals Etc $100.
So yeah, if you can't find anything used, then about $500 to $800 for a decent starter system, less if you can find some used items (just not batteries), that should be able to take your bedroom Off the Grid, run your refrigerator during power outages, and get you started on your way, Good luck!
P.S., if you have to buy things over time, buy the batteries last because they have to be kept charged in storage due to self discharge, or they will go bad.
I have the same thoughts. I get how and what the parts do for the most part, but choosing them to all work together and what they will realistically run is somewhat beyond me. This video partially answered that question. I would like to know, though, what was in the fridge? I hear they use less energy when they're full...
@@johnwyman6126 I already know you’re clueless if you’re suggesting “deep cycle lead acid batteries”. LiFePo4 are a much better value.
The thermodynamics of a non-frost free chest type freezer are astonishing, far far better than any other configuration.
Most refrigerators default to defrost cycle when power is interrupted so compressor doesn’t try to restart with refrigerant at high pressure. Waiting for about 30 minutes for thermostat to close “above” set temperature would bypass default defrost mode making test more accurate. I’ve ran 2 fridges on 1600 watt inverter on my system. Been down that road 👍 …nice video, thanks 😊
Thank you for sharing that great information with us, it really is appreciated! Aloha 🤙
I was wondering if there was a way to avoid that defrost cycle as soon as he mentioned it, thanks for the work around :)
I believe this is mostly right, however many fridges used to use a defrost timer, so you would have to bypass or trick/adjust the timer in some way , but its been some time since I did refrigeration work and with PLC controllers , etc, I can not be sure, but Im guessing that different model fridges could all use different methods nowadays, thanks for sharing your experiences, I have had similar results with different el cheapo Batteries recently, as I am playing with different voltage all in one systems for a 40’ Bus project atm, so I am experimenting with a large old full size fridge, it draws about 120w at first and settles back to about 80w, so this a substantial amount of power and I have decided to have a second 12v-24v 100litre upright fridge 20litre freezer that uses only 2.5A @ 12v, so this fridge I can leave running when I am away as a small draw for my 24v bus system. Thanks for your efforts in bringing us this info. Cheers
@@evil17 waiting for temperature to warm above thermostat setting bypasses defrost timer and starts compressor without burning unnecessary wattage. HVAC guy explained , it is a default for quick power interruptions to prevent compressor burnout
@@SolarHarvestSolutions Don't get it. When you're "Waiting for temperature to warm up above setting". Is this immediately after initially plugging in the refrigerator? Then wait for the 'ambient' temperature to warm up? Otherwise won't the refrigerator temperature go down? Feel like a dummy. Thanks.
I'm of grid, and have learned that all refrigerators uses different amp and watts. Found Magic Chef 10.1 is excellent for my use as it uses less energy than most. 1.5 amps and the type of insulation makes it worth the buy. Run it off my 2400 Eb Blueitti 24/7 through many rain days here on the Big Isle Hawaii.
Sounds like a sweet system you got. Yeah not great solar gain lately here huh? Aloha and thank you for sharing with us 🤙
Great experiment!
If we get into a blackout situation, I was figuring on powering the fridge for only a few hours at a time, a few times per day. They say that most refrigerators will keep food safe for hours with no power. Using that philosophy, your inexpensive setup will keep your food safe for days!
Thanks for tuning in...aloha 🤙
that is enough power to run the fridge for almost 3 days if you add solar and controller to it. remember as long as you have enough solar to power the fridge AND recharge the battery the run time goes to infinity basically. theoretically if you live in an area of good sun like I do (new mexico) a 200w panel is enough to run that fridge forever.
you need 53w/hr assume 12 hours usable sunlight. figure you lose 50% so you need 100w but double it to 200w since you never get full rating. so a single 250w panel for $85 used would be enough to run this forever as long as you get enough sunlight to fully recharge the battery every day. hmmmmm I just might have to look into this just for shiggles. Especially if you disable the defrost cycle or better put it on a switch and make sure it only runs during the daytime say once a week.
won't the fridge just drop in temp and the fridge will run at higher power usage just bring up, negating turning off?
@@safffff1000 Exactly. Living off grid, I can tell ya that is exactly what would happen if someone turned it on/off. Better to just keep it at right temp.
From another comment it sounds like the 200-400W defrost coil will come on whenever it is powered on. I'm going to use a small chest freezer as a fridge if I need off-grid fridge. No defrost coils, lower power, doesn't lose all the cold air when you open it.
Two heaters in frost free refrigerator , one to defrost, and one in the ice maker to release the cubes! Ideal off grid fridge is to use a freezer that isn’t frost free and change the freezer thermostat out for a refrigerator one
I bought a manual defrost Energy Star rated dorm fridge for use with my 500w and above power stations after hurricanes or if the grid fails, etc. Feels good to know I have electricity in the future.
That's what I did. Uses an average of 12W.
So it would be strictly a frigerator, no freezer correct?
@@jtr82369 yes you would be converting the chest freezer into a refrigerator, however you could still turn it down cold enough to freeze
@@jtr82369 yes. I have a DC powered chest freezer too.
Thanks for doing this video. My fridge at my cabin does NOT have a defrost cycle so it will consume less power. I will order a 100 Ah battery today and run a test with my small fridge. It consumes around 300 watts in start cycle for about 2 seconds, and about 50 watts in run mode. Thanks again !
My 21 cu ft Kenmore upright freezer uses 1400 wh/day but has a "Sabbath" mode which defeats the auto defrost and the light bulb, to eke out a bit more time. I keep it crammed full and any space is filled with "1/2 gallon" (OK, they are now 52-59 oz) juice jugs full of ice, so I'm confident I could buy an extra 2 days of life after the batteries are dead. I will definitely check out the PSWConn brand, thanks.
Try to keep ours full as well to sustain the temperature. Notice it runs more during the day when warmer, and being opened more, but all in all pretty pleased with the efficiency. 🤙aloha
I bought a Sabbath stove once from Homecheapo. I asked the guy what Sabbath was, didn't even come close to saying it right. We both had to pull out our phones and see what it meant. Lol then I went home and told the old lady that it has Sabbath mode. Still saying it wrong she's like Sabbath? 😂 I had no clue.
Enjoy the freeze ups from poor air re-circulation.
@@Payitforward42 I assume you are referring to the practice of filling a freezer, which of course still leaves about 1/3 of the space empty, since food is packaged in various ways. This freezer has been in service like this for 10 years.
The most efficient full sized refrigerator is a chest freezer with a thermostat added and used to switch the power on and off. Power the thermostat with a rechargeable battery. That's how we run off grid in the Australian desert. It's 7 times more efficient than an upright refrigerator of the same capacity.
Great information for us and mahalo for sharing that with us...aloha 🤙
Just subscribed. Thanks for doing this video. I just upgraded to lipho4 batteries 800AH with 1000W solar panels. I am planning on bringing my little chest freezer up to the homestead soon. This video gives me a lot of confidence. My batteries have not gone below 13.2V since I installed them! Thank you!
Hey welcome to the channel! Sounds like a pretty sweet system you have built. Yeah the way they hold that constant 13.2 is amazing. Let us know over time how everything works out for you. Best of luck, and have fun! aloha 🤙
Those CHINS are awesome batteries! They power my dryer and washing machines. I've got 4 of those wired to be 24volts. with an 8000W 24v inverter.
Yes they are!🤙
I read an interesting web site from some off gridders who added 6" of dense insulation to thier normal non efficient deep chest freezer and they found the compressor only turned on a few min a day and it hardly used any elec. If you dont have a efficient refrigerator maybe this is an option just remember not to block and coils or fans etc. Great video this is really helpful to the community!
mahalo for that!🤙
6s1-3p 2.7 500f capacitors with board solves the compressor loads comes straight from caps, then bat recharge caps for next round while running 2-3 amps now 👍
Chest freezers have condensers in the walls of the chest.
Insulating them would be counter-productive.
Upright freezers with vented condensers can be up-insulated.
@@King.DAVid.III2022 this is a good idea, I always use these caps on my systems. I think a single row of 6 for 12v system would be plenty tho, as I have seen a Big Steiger Articulated Tractor started with just 6 caps in a row, no battery!
Big Capacitors are always a Big Yes!
They cost $48 for 6 with circuit board, so worth their weight in gold as they take the load off of the batteries making them last twice as long as they normally would if having those heavy loads come straight from batteries 🗡️
Once I seen the fridge, it reminded me of Puerto Rico as well, that is a very popular fridge over there, then the coquis at night!
🤙
That amazing, especially for a 20 cubic foot refer. Very impressive efficiency.
Glad you like it!🤙
Away to wire up a Fridge off grid is to wire directly to the compressor. Wire up the thermostat and the power inverter to a relay. So you plug the fridge into the inverter like normal but between the inverter and battery hook up a relay. And connect the thermostat to the relay as well. So the power inverter doesn't power on until the thermostat triggers the relay to power up the inverter.
Some inverters have a power save mode that basically does this, however they have some issues. I tried power save mode with a fridge attached and only when it wanted to draw significant wattage did it "wake up" the inverter. If someone just opened the fridge so a low wattage light was most of the load the inverter "saw", that would not be enough to wake up the inverter, that is, the light would not even come on. I suppose I could just find out where the threshold is (perhaps 20 watts for example), and just put a 25 watt light in the fridge to compensate.
This gives me an incredible amount of perspective, thank you from Mexico!
My pleasure! Aloha 🤙
If you lift the arm in the ice maker it will disable the ice making function and cube heater/slicer which will make it last quite a bit longer.
Most ice makers have a switch to turn them off if you don't want to lift the arm as a temporary fix.
Thanks for showing your test! My big fridge draws 400W on defrost and almost 100W when it's running. I'm not sure a 1500W inverter would even start it. (My 2500W does.) Yours is obviously lower power. Still it used 1KWH in just under a day. Mine also uses a little more than 1KWH/day. I guess it runs less hours.
If grid power quits in the winter I plan to use a 5 cubic foot chest freezer I have as a fridge, by turning the control warmer so it doesn't actually freeze. No defrost draw, draws 50W when running. Tag says 220KWH/year, which is 600(?)WH per day. But that's for deep freezing food. As a fridge it should be considerably less. But also I have another somewhat larger freezer that will have to be kept frozen.
I have a whole hodge-podge of solar panels on the roof, mostly connected to the grid with Chinese plug-in grid tie microinverters. But I also have 36V, 3 batteries * 120AH (3 * 4.3 KWH) DC system for everything that can draw on 9 of the solar panels. (2 of the 3 batts. are in my 36V experimental car.) I could easily hook up another 4 or 5 panels to another charge controller and one of the batteries. (Hard to have enough power where it's cloudy a lot and the sun very low in the winter. Summer should be fine.)
I try to find DC equipment because inverters themselves use power. Say it's 15 watts - seems trivial but that's 360 watt-hours in a day! I have DC LED Lights, a "solar" 24V, 300W DC deep well pump (just ordered that). And the 36V car, tho it's presently not fit for the highway and I use it little. For things that use less than 36V I have cheap little DC to DC down ("buck") converters with screw adjustable output voltage. I use "T-Plugs" for the 36V stuff (3D printed triplex wall outlets) and "Mini T-Plugs" for 12V. (YT channel TurquoiseEnergy)
Absolutely love hearing how your system is doing for you, and what you've figured out along the way! Aloha 🤙
I would love to hear about the deep well pump that you purchased. I am going to purchase one before years end. Would like to know the brand and model, if you don't mind. Is it specifically for DC?
@@quietobserver4636 Yes, It's a "BLDC" motor with a motor controller. Should be high efficiency but I haven't tried it yet. Let's see if I can put a linc in without youtube/google shadow banning the post. (Take out the brackets and replace the common words):
[www](daught)(ali){express}[daught](calm)/item/1005004076911669.html (If yuo can edit the post without getting an error, it worked.)
@@craigcarmichael5748 thanks! I'll try it.
That was a great test ! That gave very good data on the battery/inverter/refrigerator . and that was 100Ah battery . love LiFePO4 . when charging your Chins battery direct like you do. do a test watching charging then put a blanket to shade panel and see if you get a discharge .If you do you may want a blocking diode to stop a discharge during a cloud or night . you can easy check with the Bluetooth app.
Thank you kindly Robert. I am going to try that test so I'll know, but also plan on adding cc on the generator so I don't have to watch so closely. Always appreciate your feedback...aloha 🤙
Pretty sure a charge controller takes care of that
@@ghz24Nope. But a combiner box with diodes will handle it. I fried one diode and by passed it. I fried 2 solar panels. The traces melted and shattered the glass. One of the two burned through the back side of the panel. I replaced the bridge rectifier style diode with A pair of MDK 50A 1600v backfeeding resistors. They get hot when the sun is out and I'm generating 5000w from the panels.
@@fauxque5057 OK I think we are talking about different things here.
In the early days of solar we learned that we could hook the output leads of a panel (of appropriate specs) directly to a battery and charge the battery. Like in this video.The only problem was after sunset the battery slowly discharged backwards through the panels.
The solution was a diode biased to prevent the backward current flow. This was before charge controllers were available.
If you have a charge controller you don't need that diode to prevent the battery from discharging through the panels after dark the mosfets in the charge controller already prevent this from happening.
Hot spots are a different problem that happens during production in the light, long before the charge controller or battery.
Hot spots can happen even if the panel is connected directly to a load like a resistor that is not capable of supplying any electricity.
So a charge controller will prevent discharge of a battery through the panels and will not prevent hot spots.
Bypass diodes are used inside the panels to help stop hot spots and bypass shaded cells keeping the shading of the panel from pulling down the whole array.
The panels you lost to hot spots were defective/damaged in some way with partial shading aggravating the problem.
If you are connecting panels in parallel and one panel is shaded and the other(s) in sun then the combiner box and diode could stop the active panel from feeding power to the shaded one which could cause hot spots in the shaded panel IF there is a flaw in the shaded panel.
It's possible your fixes just weeded out the damaged panels you had and just replacing the damaged panels was all that was needed.
Were the panels new or used?
Brand name?
Can you explain what you think the resistor does?
A great hack on these fridges would be the ability to override the defrost cycle to once every few days. I was running our large house fridge of an Ego Powerstation during a power outage and everything was going great until it went into defrost mode and ate up a significant amount of power.
Yea self defrost power hog, need defrost unplug the older, or deviate the defrost system circuit
Easy to take the cover off inside the freezer and unplug the element or add a switch to turn it off in a pinch
@@ricksmith1574 that is what i want to do on my power hog samsung; i am off grid and i have to put the son of a gun on one of those cheap hourly timers at night when there is no sun; it consumes over 200 watts at times and stays on for 30 to 40 minutes, rests 25 and restarts; the insulation on this samsung is so bad,that both doors' outsides are always cold to the touch; ... avoid
I do think a few models have an economy mode and you can set fridge and freezer temperature separately. Most freezers have -18c set as default and 2 degrees celsius for the fridge.
@@ricksmith1574do you know if there is a link available showing how to put a switch on this fridge?
This vid was super helpful. I was trying to size a system for power outage, wondering what was min/max sizing for fridge/freezer. Answered most of the questions.
happy it helped you...aloha 🤙
@@ProjectsinParadise808 Of course, you could connect solar panels and a charge controller during the day, while the battery and inverter are powering the frig. Am I right?
I have a Whirlpool 28-inch Wide Top Freezer Refrigerator - 14 Cu. Ft. Model: WRT104TFDW in or basement as a 2nd Refrigerator. This I use as our off grid means of keeping our perishables good during a power outage. It only uses 496-500 Wh of power every 24hr period. It will run nearly 5 days without any sun to recharge batteries. I am using 2 LifePO4 100 ah Batteries.
That sounds pretty awesome. I love hearing what others are doing, and using to be prepared for such eventualities. Mahalo for being part of the conversation here...aloha 🤙
It’s really is amazing how technology is changing. I eventually want to change over to lithium batteries.
Yeah, the technology is pretty cool. I'm loving these new batteries, glad I made the switch. 🤙
now seehow long a solarpanelwould take to actually charge it this was a awesome test my family thanks you for this bit of info in the design of our solar system off grid homestead
Wow!! This is awesome. I was wondering about a replacement for the typical gas generator. Here is the answer. Thanks so much!!
Glad I could help! Aloha! 🤙
Authentic for sure. I have the exact 100ah battery. Great show. It's real. Many thanks. Jeff Baran
Mahalo Jeff! Appreciate you tuning in...aloha 🤙
Always good seeing real-world tests like this, thanks! Curious... about how long did it take to fully charge the battery with the cloudy conditions and the solar panel seen in the video(?)
Thank you! I only charged it back up to 80% or so over two days of not so good sunshine, then disconnect. 80% is about high as I take it since I don't use it often at this time for much.🤙
@@ProjectsinParadise808 - Interesting, that’s good to know. Also, when you were running the initial test, do you recall how long it took to fully charge the battery with the solar panel seen in the video(?)
@@ProjectsinParadise808 So theoretically if the fridge was wired up to a couple of solar panels, with a dedicated Li Po battery you could forget it for a few years?
@@gringoanon4550 Given that one battery would only run it for only around 20 hours, you would need to live in an area where you never have a heavily overcast day.
@@gringoanon4550 Wire the battery to the solar panels with a controller in between to keep it charged. Then wire the fridge to the inverter running which runs off the battery. Can't run the fridge directly from the panels.
An empty fridge is harder to cool, fill milk jugs with water and place in the fridge pre-cool and retest. Also opening and closing the door to get a beer causes more power consumption. Your test is best case with no “normal use” scenario. Would also like to see a 300+watt solar module and mppt charge controller hooked up to the battery to see if it could keep up. Thanks for the demo good information.
Great real world test, I have a portable diy setup for this very reason, I haven't done a long test yet just intermediate to make sure everything works. Nice to see this works. Great video!
Hey thanks for tuning in...aloha 🤙
How do you charge your Chins battery?
- I can see at 16:26 the solar panel, what the size of it?
- Do you have a separate MPPT inverter or is is included with the panel?
- Do you have a charger to chareg your battery from the grid?
Aloha !
Aloha! And thank's for tuning in. The solar panels I'm using are the Newpowa 12v 100watt monocrystalline. In the diy generator video I made , using the Bestek 300watt pure sine wave inverter. Also have videos on the Victron charger I use. All in my videos. 🤙
How are you charging the battery from your panels? What kind of charge controller works with that chin battery, and does the manufacturer send all the settings for fine tuning a charge controller? My Morningstar charge controller really only works with lead acid batteries, it doesn't have any way to do the fine tuning for LiFePO4
Great real world test thank you.
I didn’t catch if the fridge was already cooked when you started it on the battery or if it was sitting for a while & needed to run to cool down first.
Very interesting! thanks for walking us through your setup.
Was fun showing you all! Aloha!🤙
Nice to know how long a battery can last, and I knew you was in Hawaii because I could hear the tree frogs. I used to live in Hilo and I know that sound.
Plenty coquis up here for sure!🤙
Nice. I like real world tests like this. Makes me feel really good I bought the SOK 206 ah battery. That should run a mini fridge for a few days without sun for solar. I also noticed your battery has a heating function. The one you linked to doesn't say that on the label.
It says it in the description. They used an older image of a previous version for the ad, sadly.
It should power a dorm fridge for around 48 hours depending on inverter efficiency.
@@baneverything5580 not true…
Dorm fridges do not have near the insulation of a full size fridge, and draw nearly identical operating watts… so, expect less run time…
@@SuperVstech My dorm fridge just ran nearly 30 hours twice from a 540 watt hour 500 watt power station and I unplugged it when the battery remaining dropped below 20% to get more charge cycles over time. It averages 56 watts while running. My sister`s full size fridge runs at much higher wattage.
@@SuperVstech I bought an Energy Star rated dorm fridge. Manual defrost.
You must be either in PR or Hawaii can hear the coqui great information.
Good ear! Hawaii here...aloha 🤙
Decades ago I ran a job overhauling a GE 24 Megawatt Frame 5 gas turbine generator for PREPA at Mayaguez, PR. I still miss PR and the people there. Went to La Parguera often on weekend nights to swim with the bioluminescent creatures.
Nice video, I found this video and watched it on my ruko RUclips app. Had to get on my phone to like and subscribe. You have answered the proverbial question, what do I need to run a house sized fridge on solar.
Well done!
I would add a caution as different sized fridges and refrigerated objects will get different results.
You have set the baseline for comparison.
Hey thanks for going the extra mile with devices to subscribe! Appreciate the feedback...aloha 🤙
Muchas gracias por tener el tiempo de poder realizar el video lo necesitaba mucho para aclarar mis dudas 👌
Best to not buy a frig with defrost. Is this frig an inverter motor type as my LG. William Prowse tore down That Chins 100ah smart bat. He gave it a great review. If u can’t afford a Battle Born, Chins is the next best you can get. I got two 300ah heated smart bats for my RV. Thanks for doing this test!
Yes the refrigerator I used in demo has inverter compressor, super effective, and even with the auto defrost that cycles once a day at 200watts for approximately 30 minutes doesn't even phase my system. Typically when running only draws about 50-70 watts depending on use, and ambient temperature. And only runs a few minutes while cycling. Super efficient. Mahalo for tuning in...aloha 🤙
This was great. A person using one of those little college dorm type fridges this set up would really last cause as far as I can tell those type fridges don't have a defrost cycle.
Mahalo for tuning in 🤙
My 100lt dorm fridge uses more power than my 310ltr inverter lg refrigerator which has auto defrost.
Thank you for making this video. I have a 18cu Fridgadaire that will be similar to yours and was trying to figure out how long my 100ah lifepo4 battery was going to last with my 1200w inverter. I think this will get me close to the 24 hr mark I was hoping for.
Mahalo for tuning in...aloha!🤙
New to your channel & appreciate you sharing your experiences. From the hills of WV .. carry on sir !
I appreciate you too! 🤙
Great experiment. This certainly gives you a good idea of how many batteries and solar panels you need to keep that refrigerator operating. I'm thinking of getting a small chest freezer to use as a refrigerator just because they are more efficient at holding in the cold air. You could probably run a freezer on one battery and 200-watts of solar panels.
Thank you! I actually have a similar test in the works now about exactly what will run this...size of battery and panels...aloha 🤙
I did that about 15 years ago. I used a temp probe inside as a thermostat, when the inside got to warm, it'd kick the freezer back on. When it reached a little lower than desired, it'd turn off. Problem is, at least back then, chest freezers generally weren't frost free and will pool water at the bottom. Not like it will happen overnight, but it'll be damp and eventually pool. I tried damprid but it wasn't enough. Maybe they have frost free ones these days, or maybe the newer ones aren't as bad.
Compressor start will demand rather a lot of power for a few seconds. That's why some here are adding large capacitors in parallel with the battery. The capacitors can provide a huge current for a few milliseconds, a thing impossible for most batteries.
would be nice to see how long a small chest freezer runs on same battery after its full and cold. nice video
yeah that would be cool..thanks for tuning in...aloha 🤙
In Puerto Rico you surely need that.
This was a nice demo. I had heard of smart batteries, didn’t realise they came with a phone app.
Now I’m keen to see a multi day test with solar panels recharging the battery.
Got one similar to that in production! Thank you!🤙
Very good test, so basically what you are saying is 100 Ah runs for 20 h plus Like 4 Ah/h load from the fridge, means we should replenish the batt with at least 8 -20 Amps ( during daylight/sun) to keep this thing going during a black out!? Good to know, thanks👍🙋
Good Info. Gonna hsve to look at this model fridge for the back room solar project. TAKE CARE..
Its a great fridge ...barely taps the system. 🤙
You are doing this test in Puerto Rico my friend! I can hear the coquis singing 😃
big island of Hawaii 🤙
@@ProjectsinParadise808 waooo that means you guys have a little frog that sings at night just like the coqui. What a trip! 😂
@@fabricioemmanuelli1115 it is the coqui my friend 🤙
@@ProjectsinParadise808 😃 how awesome! Love learning that! 🤙
Good info. I'm thinking my next offgrid battery bank will be 2 of these Batts.
Nice! 🤙
I have a LG 310ltr inverter refrigerator that's been offgrid for 18 month's it is most efficient in there range
Always buy the inverters models as they use very little power and you can use a tiny power inverter to run them.
Great advice! Mahalo for sharing!🤙
I've been curious about this and now I know.... THANK YOU!
I thank you for stopping by 🤙
I calculated my 26.6cu ft fridge to get 14 hours on a 100ah lifepo4 battery (7 hours on a regular marine deep cycle battery) its 7.8 amps. Good to know I was semi close maybe a little under.
👍🤙
I love videos that goes straight to the point. Thanks so much!
Edit: this video is a treasure!
Aloha 🤙
Our 7 year old Whirlpool refrigerator draws about a 104 W normally but goes up to about 7:00 W when it goes into defrost. So yours is very efficient.
Been pretty happy with it so far! Thanks for being part of the conversation here 🤙
So the connectivity would have been nice to show. Is there a wall plug that goes to the chins, and then I see the battery connectors to the inverter, and then I presume the inverter has an outlet to the refrigerator, right?
Also total cost out the door would have been great to know. I'll check it out myself, but just to suggestion for editing maybe.
Mahalo for the suggestions! Was a fun experiment! aloha 🤙
Greate review is very educational on the long endurance of the battery.Thank You
Thanks for watching!🤙
Great product test. Definately impressed by the, CHIN'S. Thank you so much for the real time test. Peace
Mahalo for tuning in...aloha 🤙
I love this channel! Awesome info! Thank you so much! Subscribed!
Welcome aboard! And thank you for your support Clifford, Aloha!🤙
Love the Coqui sound in the background....😊
I really like freezerless fridges. Less complex, more reliable, smaller and easier to move, easy to have a second one for less-used things. And no auto-defrost screwing you!
That's a huge fridge for that battery. I have a 7.3 Danby with 24 volts 200AH Ampere Time batteries (2X12) Voltworks 24 volt PSW, 2K inverter, and it runs for three days with no charge. That is if I get it cold first with 120 shore power
yeah, I was just curious how long it would last. Fridge running 24/7 on two 300ah Chins lifepo4...couldn't be happier with how it barely touches them...aloha 🤙
Very illuminating. What would the performance be with a large LG fridge that you find in many houses
I thought mine was pretty big🤙
Can you help me figure out how much battery and solar panels I need for this project.
I have a amateur radio repeater. We average 1 hour of talk time a day. When the repeater is in use, we are pulling 40 Amps from our 12v power supply. The other 23 hours a day when the repeater is in standby mode, we pull 2 amps. We are in Pennsylvania zipcode 18214 and looks as if we get 4 hours of sun per day.
So how many solar panels do I need and there wattage, and how many Ah in batteries will we need.
Thank you
The ice maker is another confounding item to consider!
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Wow nice! We have such 12.8V 100AH Lifepo4 battery too
So cool!🤙
Subb'd. So interested in the study of this topic. So little formal education on the subject matter, and you wonderful content providers are so informative. I hope you do more for the community. Thank you.
Welcome aboard! Glad to have you as part of the conversation here! Mahalo! 🤙
Thanks for the video. Would be interested to see what a 220 volt would do to the battery
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Thanks for the video. My interest is in the inverter used and following your link the only 1500w pswcon inverter is 24 volts? Does it run off of 12 volts also?
Hey, thanks for the reply... I just now checked, and I only see the 1500 watt model from them in 24v atm too. I imagine the 12v is currently sold out. Aloha 🤙
2:45 Frost free refrigerators have a heat cycle to melt the ice build up in the freezer. May be a problem for solar systems.
So far , so good! Only runs a couple hundred watts for about 30 minutes each day in defrost. No problem on this system...aloha 🤙
photovoltaic / solar thermal technician here: LG LTCS 20020W not 220W great video 👍
Mahalo!🤙
WOW - amazing info. 20 hours is a good data. Thanks for sharing
Hey thanks for tuning in...aloha 🤙
Most inefficiencies there may come from using 12 V power supply
From a 48 V battery, it would last longer per Kw used due to the improoved inverter efficiency
Did you ever do a test run, while using the fridge under normal daily activities, like opening the door, a dozen times a day, and maybe even putting in warm items to be chilled. That would be a more acurate test, of how long it will last.
Valuable video! Thank you for making it.
My pleasure! Aloha! 🤙
I don't see a project called "potable generator" which you mention in this video. Could you please provide a link?
Thanks for all you put into these videos, very informative...
Great Video Thanks Know we Know what to expect from 100ah LIP Thank You! God Bless!
Glad it was helpful! aloha 🤙
Usually 10 volts is the automatic cutoff point.
How much it runs is determined by what is in it. Fruit vegetables meat etc. all produce heat.
How much it runs depends how often and how long you are open the fridge door. It also depends on the fridge insulation and door seals....
I think you should try running a 12 v fridge without inverter
Frost free mode? (yeah I see you mentioned it) I wonder if you can snip the wire going to the heating elements to disable the defrost mode.
Bad results
You could, but the frost would quickly block airflow, which would would cause the refrigerator side to stop cooling…
@@SuperVstech Then you enable it but only during the daytime. This way your using solar power and not battery capacity to run the defrost cycle. you also don't likely need to run it once a day. I bet once a week would likely work (depends on your climate and how often you need to open it etc..) could easy rig a timer circuit cut the wires connect in a relay and the timer to control when it executes the cycle. 90whr is not too bad especially if you run it in the daytime.
Hi. Thanks for taking the time to show your results. How long did it take to charge the battery with your solar panel and charger configuration? Thanks again.
If discharged approximately 80% takes around hours with the Victron 30 amp charger. On strictly solar panels, which is what I use most the time it fluctuates depending how many I connect. Usually use two 200 watt panels for it , and takes a day or two depending on conditions. Aloha 🤙
Should have said with Victron charger takes about 3 hours.🤙
my typing is off tonight! usually use two 100 watt panels 😉
@@ProjectsinParadise808 Thanks for the information and enjoy your staying in "Paradise"
Interesting and thanks.
How many solar panels at what wattage would you need to keep this setup running for the life of the battery off grid?
The inverter you link to comes up as a "PSWCON 2500W Pure Sine Wave Inverter 48V to 110V 120V, DC to AC Power Inverter 48 Volt, Surge 5000W with Hardwire Terminal and Earth Ground for Home Use, "
How do you run a 48 volt inverter off 12 volts?
Again thanks.
Great video but reliable inverters are mediocre I got the 48v 2500w one earlier this year and it lasted about 9months. Couldn’t get much support from them and ended up going with a mpp Solar which is an inverter solar charger in one and have been running fine for 5 months now
Hoping I get better results...I'll let you know for sure🤙
I would like to see a test with at least 1,000 watts constant load. This was lighter than a constant 100 watt light bulb.
I plan a full capacity test on this soon running a heavy load...thanks for the suggestion 🤙
great vid but have you tried the same test using an inverter fridge of the same size, i have a LG 52O L INVERTER FRIDGE uses about 1 kw per day @ 240v, including 250w defrost cycle, don't know its starting current is which only happens if its power stalls ie power outage. would help me to size a inverter
You should use a dvom to determine the amp draw of the inverter. In an off grid situation, a deep freezer is the most important. Be it a chest or stand up.
Perhaps U should go back and review the man's video.
Nice video whish i could have seen it earlier!! Well i did not and got me a new fridge working off a 24Volt supply, which was much better to my old one, running off 240AC mains, supposed to of been a 100Watt!! But' it was using more like 240Watts!! So' got rid of it along with my electric bill running it. Always good to see what an appliance works out at to running it. But' left with why does a fridge after a good reasonable time, start to draw more power for itself?!! What had changed in it, for it to be doing that?!!
mahalo for sharing this information with us...aloha 🤙
WRONG LINK The PSWcon inverter reference link is for a 48v unit, not 12v. Correct link please. Thanks.
Hi IAM off grid here in phil when that cycle comes on turn off the fridge 5mins or so then plug in bring the fridge back to normal I unplug at the end of solar day then around 12pm or later I turn on the lithium bat then it switches to solar and recharge bats and run my reef
I know someone else who basically does the same thing out here, and it works alright gor them. Luckily I have enough power to just run it 24/7 and forget about it...aloha 🤙
Nice little hack that's free add a one or two gallon jugs if you have the room so when the power goes out put one in the fridge and if you can catch the defrost mod unplug the fridge for an hour
Mahalo...808😉🤙
AWESOME TEST, I HAVE BEEN WONDERING TOO. THANK YOU
Glad to help🤙
I took apart an old magic chef mini fridge and a full sized magic chef fridge and the condenser and motor and everything was the same
I found this test very informative. Always wanted to see the performance of a refrigerator on a small LiFePO battery pack.
What was the temperature of the room the refrigerator was in?
Daytime temperature indoors was about 75 degrees, nighttime about 65....aloha 🤙
I'd guess if you're in 100+ degree weather the frig might run 15 hours on one charge of a LiFePo4 battery, still impressive.
@@arminius301 Indeed.
Love the frogs in the background.
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Could you add a charger/converter in between the inverter and the battery and basically run the refrigerator and simultaneously recharge the battery (forever).
The link is for a 48VDC inverter not the 12VDC 1,500Watt you used.
Can you do the same test on a dehumidifier?
You could wire in a off switch to the defrost element and turn it off in a emergency to conserve power.
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I know I'm late reviewing your video but was wondering if you only need one smart battery if in a battery bank or does every battery have to be a smart battery. Figured only one in the bank needs to be Bluetooth
Thanks for the great video! Can you turn off the battery's bluetooth function, and then turn it on when you want to monitor it? Or is the bluetooth signal on all the time?
You have to be pretty close to the battery to use the bluetooth app. , literally within just a few feet. More than that, and it doesn't connect. So when you're curious about the reading, need to be right on top of it basically, but works quite well. So it's at least on on a very low level all the time far as I know. Mahalo for being part of the conversation here...aloha 🤙