How long is reasonable expectation for fridge on house batteries?

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Laura & Charles

Laura & Charles

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Jun 10, 2016
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Could be anywhere. Originally from Ohio. Go Bucks!
We?re making plans to store the coach in the south when drive the toad to Ohio for the holidays. If we turn everything possible off but the fridge, how long is a safe estimate the fridge will run on propane?  We have a pair of six volt deep cycle, golf cart, 232 Ah batteries. I?ve kept the water topped up religiously since owning the coach, but no clue what kind of care they had prior. (I know they were new January '15 and they needed a pretty big drink when I first checked them in June 2016.)  The fridge is a RM1350 Dometic, installed in a slide, with an extra fan mounted in back that runs constantly.  Coach will be near the northern gulf coast (near Gulf Shores, AL) with roof vents open and parked with fridge side in shade and or on north side of coach.  I?m going to have the batteries tested and will replace if needed. So answer as if batteries test very good or are new.
TIA!
 
I believe the fridge will draw about 12 AH/day which, if correct, would give you about 9 days until you were down to 50% on new, fully charged batteries. If you could shut off the fridge aux fan (assuming its an add-on) that would save some depending on the fan efficiency
 
I have left my refrigerator running in very hot weather (daytime in 90s) at Salt Lake City Airport for 8 days, and stuff was cold and frozen when I returned, however, I do not have a fan running constantly.  I also would suggest that you turn off the fan if you can.  I also made sure I had plenty of propane in my tank before I left, although there was still plenty left when I got back.  And when I got back, my batteries showed being almost fully charged, but I did have relatively new batteries.  I also made sure the refrigerator faced north, which I think helped.

My refrigerator is a Dometic DM2652 model, if that helps.

Refrigerators without fans, at least, use very little electricity, but that fan is going to use a lot more than my non-fan refrigerator does.  Is it really needed? 
 
The less you have in there, the less it will need to run  :eek:  Just sayin, don't go to grocery store and fill it up prior to leaving it  ;)
 
The less you have in there, the less it will need to run  :eek:  Just sayin, don't go to grocery store and fill it up prior to leaving it  ;)

Are you sure that is correct?  I would think that once the food got cold, nothing inside would be producing heat so it wouldn't matter if the frig was empty or full.
 
Wackymac is correct.  A full refrigerator will be more efficient, once everything is cold, than an empty one.  Maybe freeze a couple of water bottles and leave them in both fridge compartment and freezer.
 
stevensc said:
Wackymac is correct.  A full refrigerator will be more efficient, once everything is cold, than an empty one.  Maybe freeze a couple of water bottles and leave them in both fridge compartment and freezer.
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Well, I did not know that.  :))
So the more beer in there, the better it works.  I'll keep that in mind  :)

EDIT:  after posting this, I went on Google and read many posts about this topic.  It as argued both ways, and way more technical than I care, as if food inside will keep it running at max efficiency.
 
SarniaTricia said:
my hubby when he asks why.
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I would never question the motivations of someone keeping the fridge full of beer  ;)
 
I knew that some day I would post some info that would help several people!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ;D ;D ;D
 
My pair of 6 volt golf cart batteries will power the refrigerator (Dometic DM6252) for about a week (down to the 50% charge level) while running on propane and powering a low draw constant fan inside the fridge and an temperature controlled fan on the outside ducting.

If it is important to keep the fridge full you might consider getting one of those folding 100 watt solar panel setups and strap it to the roof or leave it in the front windshield if parked facing south.  Something like https://smile.amazon.com/DOKIO-Monocrystalline-Foldable-Charge-Controller/dp/B0748FYFSK 

A  single 100 watt panel with the length of day in the winter in gulf shores would likely not keep up with the demand of the refrigerator running on propane, but it would be close, and extend the run time length of the batteries considerable (depending on cloud cover).

p.s. I just did the math and it looks like a 100 watt panel mounted flat would on the shortest day of the year would be about break even on a average gulf coast day to power the refrigerator.  Mounted at about a 45 degree angle facing south would be optimal (well 50.9 but 45 is a lot easier to estimate)
 
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