Refrigerator power draw: main fridge vs cockpit fridge

[mlanger]

I’m starting my cross-country drive with the boat, hopefully tomorrow. I know that when I anchor out, I can get 2 to 3 nights of conservative power usage with the main fridge on. I’d like to have a fridge on this trip and am wondering if the aft cockpit fridge uses a lot less power. Does anyone have the actual numbers for comparison?

I do not plan on using campgrounds along the way; I’ll be sleeping at truckstops. So there will not be anyplace to recharge the batteries. I’m wondering if the solar can keep up with the aft cockpit fridge usage and some lights at night for 5 days.

 

[Submariner]

I’m starting my cross-country drive with the boat, hopefully tomorrow. I know that when I anchor out, I can get 2 to 3 nights of conservative power usage with the main fridge on. I’d like to have a fridge on this trip and am wondering if the aft cockpit fridge uses a lot less power. Does anyone have the actual numbers for comparison?

I do not plan on using campgrounds along the way; I’ll be sleeping at truckstops. So there will not be anyplace to recharge the batteries. I’m wondering if the solar can keep up with the aft cockpit fridge usage and some lights at night for 5 days.

I've measured the cabin and cockpit refrigerators. The cockpit fridge consumes about 1/3 less than the cabin refrigerator does through my observation.
The factory solar panel is usually enough to keep up with the cabin refrigerator, and everything else the boat draws would come out of the battery bank.
I usually plan on the cabin refrigerator to consume about 40ah a day, and the cockpit refrigerator to consume about 28ah a day. Of course, this is also dependent on sunshine and not rain. It also is dependent on cooler weather vs hotter weather. When it gets hot outside (80+ degrees) i notice I use more power keeping both refrigerators running. The factory solar panel, being a 160 watt panel, will generate about 40ah a day on average.

 

[mlanger]

I've measured the cabin and cockpit refrigerators. The cockpit fridge consumes about 1/3 less than the cabin refrigerator does through my observation.
The factory solar panel is usually enough to keep up with the cabin refrigerator, and everything else the boat draws would come out of the battery bank.
I usually plan on the cabin refrigerator to consume about 40ah a day, and the cockpit refrigerator to consume about 28ah a day. Of course, this is also dependent on sunshine and not rain. It also is dependent on cooler weather vs hotter weather. When it gets hot outside (80+ degrees) i notice I use more power keeping both refrigerators running. The factory solar panel, being a 160 watt panel, will generate about 40ah a day on average.

Thanks for all this. It’s very helpful. I’ll try running just the aft cockpit fridge and keep an eye on power levels.

In a related note, I’m hoping to talk to you at the Rendezvous about a solar upgrade. I almost had it done in April in Annapolis when I took a break from the Great Loop, but the folks I hired to do the work waited until the last minute to order the parts and couldn’t get it together in time. (I don’t understand how we can give someone a month to do a job and they wait until three days before it’s due to order parts.) I’m hoping you can recommend someone in the Puget Sound area to do the work. All I want is 400+ watts of solar on the roof. I’m not ready to upgrade the batteries, although I know I need to upgrade the controller.

 

[scross]

Thanks for all this. It’s very helpful. I’ll try running just the aft cockpit fridge and keep an eye on power levels.

In a related note, I’m hoping to talk to you at the Rendezvous about a solar upgrade. I almost had it done in April in Annapolis when I took a break from the Great Loop, but the folks I hired to do the work waited until the last minute to order the parts and couldn’t get it together in time. (I don’t understand how we can give someone a month to do a job and they wait until three days before it’s due to order parts.) I’m hoping you can recommend someone in the Puget Sound area to do the work. All I want is 400+ watts of solar on the roof. I’m not ready to upgrade the batteries, although I know I need to upgrade the controller.

You can upgrade the solar controller before upgrading the solar panel. Victron Energy Smart Solar controllers with Bluetooth are available at lots of places including Amazon. For 400 watts you probably want the 100/30 controller ($125) or possibly the 100/50 ($185). A good marine electrical person should be able to install in under an hour if existing wiring from solar panel to controller and from controller to battery is big enough gauge. I installed mine in 2 hours because I ran bigger gauge wire from controller to battery.

 

[Submariner]

Thanks for all this. It’s very helpful. I’ll try running just the aft cockpit fridge and keep an eye on power levels.

In a related note, I’m hoping to talk to you at the Rendezvous about a solar upgrade. I’m hoping you can recommend someone in the Puget Sound area to do the work. All I want is 400+ watts of solar on the roof. I’m not ready to upgrade the batteries, although I know I need to upgrade the controller.

I'll be at the Rendezvous Wed - Sunday. I also do work on boats and have done many solar upgrades.

 

[gswearin]

Hi M Langer
I am probably one of the least technically competent owners on here, but I did my solar panel in a couple hours after watching Martin's video and assembling the parts he suggests.

 

[mlanger]

Thanks again to everyone here. I made the 4-day drive from Chicago to Des Moines (WA) with just the aft fridge turned on. I slept in the boat three nights along the way, used as little power as possible for lights, flushing the toilet, and using the water. I also used my coffee maker with the inverter on to make coffee each morning. The batteries held up well; my stock solar panel did the trick on this trip, probably because I had lots of sun.

I still want to upgrade my solar set up, but at this point I think I’m going to wait until spring. I will not be using the boat over the winter; both of us need a good rest.