Adding electric refrigerator

[DrJ]

I have run both an upright Dometic and occasionally used an ARB 63 quart chest style fridge.
The ARB was much more efficient. It is however only about 50% of the size of the dometic.
The smaller and ice chest style compressor fridges are just far more efficient. That being said, I love my upright dometic. It's very similar to the last picture.
But you might chose based on room and whether or not you have solar and battery power to run it.

I based my install off BWHT4x4.
You won't find a nicer install than what he did. You should definitely read his install for help.
It was super helpful for me.

 

[billharr]

What Bwht4x4 said. I have the small Waeco and it works great, love a real freezer. I went small as I had a small Norcold and it was big enough for me and the wife and how we camp. It also gave us more storage above.

Pictures from by build I did trim it down when done.

 

[Bwht4x4]

I'm blown away at how much I can fit into my refrig. I went on a two week elk hunting trip recently and was able to stuff in plenty of cold food for that two week period. When I got home I still had food left over and in fact I still have it on right now and the freezer has some salmon in it that I didn't eat on the hunting trip. With two kids it'll be perfect for large containers of milk too!

During those two weeks my solar kept up on running the refig and charging my batteries. I never once plugged into shore power and was at one camping spot for 9 days without ever starting the truck.

 

[Cayuse]

I now have a couple weeks running with 200W of solar on the roof and am running the fridge full time with no issues and have yet to flip the switch to charge from the truck. I like being able to keep a few basics in the fridge all the time as it is one less thing to think about.

My 65L was a direct screw in size wise to the old Norcold that had been in the camper, just a couple of connections and plugging the gas line.

 

[norcalhawk]

Thanks everybody...guess I need to finish my description. I also have a 100W Renology panel on the roof with a 80W portable to compliment it. Morningstar 15 MPPT controller. Two AGM (27) batteries. All lights are LED's. Sounds like (so far) everyone prefers their 2 way upright's and there also efficient enough and work very well, and you get more cooling space for your buck. Do you also use an external fan in the back of your 2 ways? Is one brand preferred over another? Bill, is yours also a 65L? The 65L would fit with out modifying the open space already there, although I could cut a larger hole if I felt I needed a larger refer? How much power (ah) does the 65L and the 80L uprights use?

 

[billharr]

Thanks everybody...guess I need to finish my description. I also have a 100W Renology panel on the roof with a 80W portable to compliment it. Morningstar 15 MPPT controller. Two AGM (27) batteries. All lights are LED's. Sounds like (so far) everyone prefers their 2 way upright's and there also efficient enough and work very well, and you get more cooling space for your buck. Do you also use an external fan in the back of your 2 ways? Is one brand preferred over another? Bill, is yours also a 65L? The 65L would fit with out modifying the open space already there, although I could cut a larger hole if I felt I needed a larger refer? How much power (ah) does the 65L and the 80L uprights use?

Yes mine is the CR 65. I think all the compressors are the same size. Just may run longer in the larger sizes. Do not over look the Truck fridge several WTW members have them. On sale now for $529.95. I got my CR 65 from these guys ($600) but they do not carry in any more. I did put in a fan see my build. I also have a 100w on the roof and a 120w solar in a bag.

 

[norcalhawk]

Great info Bill. I will look at TF as well.

 

[norcalhawk]

So after further investigating I have found some interesting stats. One that throws me??? When I compare the Isotherm cruise 65 with the TruckFridge 65 they come out very similar (except in cost). There nearly identical. Are they of the same company now? I called a retailer today to asked about this and I got nowhere. The other issue I found which is more important to me is....power consumption between the two. That is, same compressor and overall structure, if not the same. Thanks again Bill for the above stats, but I found power consumption with the Isotherm65 is ~half of that of the TruckFridge65. That is, Isotherm65 on average consumes about 2.7 - 3.0 amp draw. whereas the TF65 is consuming ~6.0 amp draw, according to several TF sites under their Tech/Spec. sheet. Am I missing something?

 

[Bwht4x4]

When I called Truckfridge they told me that the refrigs they sell are rebranded Isotherms. They are basic models of the Isotherm Cruise series. I think the differences you're reading about their power consumption is based on their own respective marketing efforts. My Isotherm Cruise 85 pulls around 3.5-4.0 amps when running, but over the course of 24 hours it averages a lot lower than that. On a recent elk hunt my Trimetic would be at 100% at sunset and around 87%-92% in the morning, which tells me the refrig doesn't use all that much power. However, it'll all depend on the ambient temp outside.

 

[norcalhawk]

Thanks Bwht4x4, I'll look further into this. Seems like your 85 is working well for you. Personally, my girlfriend and I only need the 65L size with space to spare.