pods8
Contributors
I can only speak of my own experience, and all of those "cons" are things that either never happened for me or didn't trouble me -- all non-issues for me. Mine just worked...until it died (RIP).
Impulse buy, you could call it. XPMarc offered me an OK deal for an Indel Isotherm he had in stock, so I figured, "why not?".
Trying something different... It looked cool... It's Euro... somethin to do... Impulse buy -- it's only money.
The big question is what would you buy now if starting from scratch?
Here's where I'm at on my thoughts.
Propane has 1 pro: Low propane draw.
Compressor has 1 con: Power source needed, however if you're thinking of a forced air furnance you'll need a decent size battery bank regardless and the low cost of solar (buy the panel yourself, you can get a 120watt panel for $150 right now and a $45 controller, just have your camper prewired) basically mitigates that.
Now for propane cons:
1) Needs to be level, not really an issue while camping because you'll get it good enough for sleeping, it can mean having to find a level parking space when not actually parked for the night while traveling though or risk your stuff warming. Small nag.
2) Pilots do go out, so then you're constantly checking in on whether that has occured. Small nag.
3) Limited temp differential, folks camping in the 100-110 range have reported it no keeping things cold still, yet I know my ARB could still make ice (it can do a 90F temp differential). Sure you can put a fan on the fridge coils to help, but now you've got a 12V draw...
4) Freezer mode? Can't run the whole thing as a freezer if you want, not sure if the front opening compressor fridges can but the top opening ones can, extra use flexibility there.
5) Permantant install, if you do a front opening compressor fridge this is a wash. But with the top opening ones if you set yourself up right you can grab it out of the camper for other uses as well. I plan to put a power plug in the back of our minivan for non-camping road trips.
6) Open flame source. I personally didn't have issue with driving in propane mode but some do and we should all be able to agree that propane fridges SUCK on 12V mode (both in HUGE power draw and further limited cooling ability). Additionally going on a ferry I know they make you turn off your propane so you have to shut off your fridge in instances like that where a compressor fridge would be fine.
Lots of stuff just stack up against propane in my mind when starting from scratch. Cost difference isn't that much assuming you're not talking high mark ups on certain factory options verse really comparing the costs (I have no idea what the factory is asking for stuff these days, with a solar setup and top opening compressor fridge I'd just have the provisions put in and install them myself...). 120watt solar panel $150, $45 controller, and $500-800fridge. A propane fridge runs what about $600-700?
Impulse buy, you could call it. XPMarc offered me an OK deal for an Indel Isotherm he had in stock, so I figured, "why not?".
Trying something different... It looked cool... It's Euro... somethin to do... Impulse buy -- it's only money.
The big question is what would you buy now if starting from scratch?
Here's where I'm at on my thoughts.
Propane has 1 pro: Low propane draw.
Compressor has 1 con: Power source needed, however if you're thinking of a forced air furnance you'll need a decent size battery bank regardless and the low cost of solar (buy the panel yourself, you can get a 120watt panel for $150 right now and a $45 controller, just have your camper prewired) basically mitigates that.
Now for propane cons:
1) Needs to be level, not really an issue while camping because you'll get it good enough for sleeping, it can mean having to find a level parking space when not actually parked for the night while traveling though or risk your stuff warming. Small nag.
2) Pilots do go out, so then you're constantly checking in on whether that has occured. Small nag.
3) Limited temp differential, folks camping in the 100-110 range have reported it no keeping things cold still, yet I know my ARB could still make ice (it can do a 90F temp differential). Sure you can put a fan on the fridge coils to help, but now you've got a 12V draw...
4) Freezer mode? Can't run the whole thing as a freezer if you want, not sure if the front opening compressor fridges can but the top opening ones can, extra use flexibility there.
5) Permantant install, if you do a front opening compressor fridge this is a wash. But with the top opening ones if you set yourself up right you can grab it out of the camper for other uses as well. I plan to put a power plug in the back of our minivan for non-camping road trips.
6) Open flame source. I personally didn't have issue with driving in propane mode but some do and we should all be able to agree that propane fridges SUCK on 12V mode (both in HUGE power draw and further limited cooling ability). Additionally going on a ferry I know they make you turn off your propane so you have to shut off your fridge in instances like that where a compressor fridge would be fine.
Lots of stuff just stack up against propane in my mind when starting from scratch. Cost difference isn't that much assuming you're not talking high mark ups on certain factory options verse really comparing the costs (I have no idea what the factory is asking for stuff these days, with a solar setup and top opening compressor fridge I'd just have the provisions put in and install them myself...). 120watt solar panel $150, $45 controller, and $500-800fridge. A propane fridge runs what about $600-700?