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UpNorth48
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# Posted: 21 Feb 2025 04:35pm
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Good day all: I'm wondering if my current system will allow me to run a conventional electric refrigerator. I'm so tired of my propane fridge blowing out, not to mention getting propane to our remote location. My calcs say that summer should be fine but I have concerns about the fall. Our off-grid camp in northern Ontario, Canada where we live for the 6 warm months of the year. I'm running 1140 watts of panels and about 1000 Ah of AGM's which gives me 12 kWh (12v... yea, I know it was a mistake but it's history now). We currently use about 1.6 kWh daily, the fridge will add about another 1.2 kWh. So... 2.8 kWh daily. In a perfect world, I would like to keep my batteries at or above 70%, I can tolerate the odd day where it dips below 70% and I also have a pair of Iota chargers that add up to 85 amps (I know they don't charge at that) but I hate genny noise so I typically don't use the Iota's till I get down below 60% SOC. That only happens a couple of times a year when we get "a week" of overcast/snow/slush clouds in October. Based on some online research, we get about 6.5-7 hours of sun at peak and down to about 4-4.5 hours in October. So, enough rambling... do the numbers say I will have cold beer or is this cutting it too close? Thanks in advance for your advice, let me know if I should include some additional info.
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gcrank1
Member
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# Posted: 21 Feb 2025 04:48pm
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Best solar is 9-10am to 3pm, diminishing insolation on either side.
I liked mine on a normal day to recharge to full by noonish which gave me some overhead for use some extra use during the day while the solar was kicking. Late aft, evening and overnight was what I needed to catch up with next day, led lights were minimal but the small 120vac fridge was a bite on my 600w system.
I think I would have been fine on your size. The energy efficiency of the fridge will be important. You need to check the mid to larger fridges, they may not take much more than a small one, but sizing to your need is important too. You dont want it too full or too much empty space either.
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UpNorth48
Member
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# Posted: 21 Feb 2025 05:09pm
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Thanks for that, we are moving to a 20 cu. ft. top freezer fridge. We bring enough food for 4-6 weeks. The fridge will not be energy efficient, I need something simple that I can repair myself (compressor excepted) so I've picked a very simple Frigidaire without boards or electronics. If a fridge breaks down where we are, it's 5+ hours of travel time plus repairs. The fridge becomes throw away sadly...
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