Portable basement freezer, experiences?

[Back2PA]

I?m considering a portable freezer for the basement and would be interested in hearing from those who currently have or have had one. How much power do they draw, how well do they work, things to look for and watch out for, specific brands, etc.


Thx

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Freezer, right? Not just a fridge?

Depend on the size of the freezer to some extent, e.g. a Norcold 30 liter draws 4.3A and the 60 liter model is 5.3A. That's pretty typical of other brands as well, e.g. the Whynter.  The more difficult question is duty cycle, how long the fridge runs at those amps. That depends on the temperature you set, ambient temp, ventilation, how often it is opened, etc. No realistic way to guestimate.

 

[donn]

Bought a Dometic dual voltage.  Love it.  Keep it in the basement plugged into both 12VDC and 120VAC, so it is always working.  Set to zero and it rarely varies more than one or two degrees.  We load it with frozen meats at home.  Only downside, there is part of it thst is not really part of the freezer side.  Just a waste of space.  It is a compressor and switchable to refer or freezer.  Not cheap, bit works really well.

 

[Memtb]

  While not in a basement....ours took the place of a recliner in our 5er.  Makes a real nice, though a little tall, end table. It is a 5.0 Cubic foot chest type, Haier brand. We run it on a “stand alone 800 watt inverter, and have had no issues. It cycles on and off as you would expect. We do however, plug it in at home prior to leaving on a trip. So... it lessens the work load on the inverter.  I tried to get the amp draw or wattage but was unable to....only can tell you it does well on the 800 watt inverter.

  It sure is nice to have that freezer filled prior to going on the road!

 

[judway]

I have an Engel which I purchased about 10 years ago. I don't know what size it is. It can be set as a refrigerator or a freezer. I built a slide-out to set it on. I have had it connected to the 12 VDC service continuously during the time I have owned it. The same unit is being sold under several more recognizable names. I have tried it on 120 VAC to see if everything worked OK. If it fails I will get another one just like it.

 

[DearMissMermaid]

Shhhhhhhhh...

In my travels, I have noticed many RV parks have listed it in the rules "no secondary fridge or freezer".

Where ever you put it, make sure the raccoons can't get to it or add a lock and hasp.

I was in a park where when my neighbors came home with a big new outside fridge. Next they went shopping and stuffed it full of food. That night the raccoons raided the fridge and hauled off everything.

It was hilarious, little hand prints all over their new fridge and nothing left inside.

 

[Back2PA]

Freezer, right? Not just a fridge?

Depend on the size of the freezer to some extent, e.g. a Norcold 30 liter draws 4.3A and the 60 liter model is 5.3A. That's pretty typical of other brands as well, e.g. the Whynter.  The more difficult question is duty cycle, how long the fridge runs at those amps. That depends on the temperature you set, ambient temp, ventilation, how often it is opened, etc. No realistic way to guestimate.

Just a freezer, correct. Yes I realize that with an unknown duty cycle it?s pretty hard to say what a 24 hour draw would be. I spent a little time searching and found a couple units in the 3CF range that advertised 12v current draw at 3.5-4A. Users seem to remark that once these units cool down that duty cycle is less than 50%. I?m thinking I could possibly reduce that by covering the unit with some 1? rigid insulation (leaving the vent area open of course). The plan would be to use it only for the longer term food storage, moving items to the inside 4 door Norcold freezer section as needed, so doubt I?d be opening it more than once or twice per week.

Shhhhhhhhh...

In my travels, I have noticed many RV parks have listed it in the rules "no secondary fridge or freezer".

While I haven?t noticed that specific prohibition I?m talking about the portable freezers that look like a large cooler and are cooled by a compressor. The plan is to put it in the basement compartment, probably the one with the slideout tray. So the only hand prints will be mine 

 

[Back2PA]

Just had a useful conversation with Engel technical support. They have a power draw chart for various temps. Using it as a freezer set to max cold (which they say is 80 degrees below ambient) they state 87% duty cycle averaging about 1.9AH at about 80F ambient maintaing a cabinet temp of -20C; at 100F ambient that rises to 2.25AH and 100% duty cycle, maintaining a cabinet temp of -12C. Apparently they have a super efficient compressor which has a very soft start, resulting in virtually zero amperage draw spike on startup. 'Course, you pay for it - the largest unit (MT80-U1, 3.4CF) retails at $1635 (current price on Amazon incl shipping and shown as regular price on the Engel web site). Engel currently running a sale at $1300 plus about $100 shipping.

I asked about adding insulation and they say it's already so well insulated they don't feel it will make much difference unless the unit is sitting in extremely high ambient temps and/or direct sun. He did say some people do it anyway and think it helps.

 

[Memtb]

  Sun2Retire,  As you stated,it would be very difficult to assign a really accurate power consumption value...as there are so many variables. Just one example being, the power consumption is ?not? on a linear scale....meaning that the higher the ambient temperature combined with a colder freezer setting, will require much more energy to acccomplish than if the delta-T were a closer value.

  This is one of the reasons, that when we?re winter boondocking, we keep our thermostat set at around 60 - 62 (57 at night) degrees. While I haven?t tried to calculate ( far too many variables)....setting the thermostat up to 70 requires ?much? more propane and battery consumption with similar outside ambient temps.

 

[Back2PA]

Attached is the performance chart provided by Engel.

 

[Memtb]

    That pdf is pretty impressive... they must have gone beyond 6th grade math! 

 

[Utclmjmpr]

I have a dual freezer/fridge,,in that it will do either/ or but not both at the same time,, Its a 120V absorbsion so uses very little power.>>>Dan