Truck camping - need a lot of guidance

[tombaxter]

I understand that they are powered directly to a 12v or 24v battery and there is no need for an inverter, but what is the advantage to this? Wouldn't you still need to charge the battery with solar to keep it from draining?

[LETitROLL]

I understand that they are powered directly to a 12v or 24v battery and there is no need for an inverter, but what is the advantage to this? Wouldn't you still need to charge the battery with solar to keep it from draining?

Yes, still electric, most are way more efficient though and also you gain less system losses by not using an inverter, so you can get by with less solar, but still not easy to do on a budget. A 400w solar setup is its maximum capability, in reality it only puts out anything near that for a brief period on perfect days near solar noon, the rest of the time it will usually put out quite a bit less, and on cloudy or rainy day 85 to 95% less, then of course you get 0 for 1/2 of every day (night). Then with refrigeration as a load it is the opposite, comes on and off round the clock 24/7, that is why it takes a lot more solar setup to run heating, cooling, and refrigeration than one would think.

[Logan005]

a refrigerator cycles, but the inverter is on consuming power even wile refrigerator is cycled off. inverter will use as much if not more power than the unit it's self. 24 volt refrigeration has thicker walls and insulation and most are top load for efficiency. size of battery for the Norcold chest, 200 to 300 dollars, for a dorm refrigerator running an inverter, thousand dollars or more

[tombaxter]

I am looking at a Norcold NRF-60. The specs list that it uses 5.3 amps at 12v and 2.6 amps at 24v. Is this enough information to determine how large my system has to be? Specifically how much wattage and how many batteries? Link to unit below.

[Logan005]

Those are cycle on amp draw numbers. a good set up will spend more time cycled off, so I am guessing you could use 50/50 and still be safe. As you can see 24 volts is a smaller amp draw and will require smaller cable from battery bank. On sunny days your refrigerator will run directly from solar wile charging your batteries. on cloudy days you will need enough batteries to get you through a few days or more depending on your climate and latitude. you will still need a generator to provide maintenance and for extended days w/o sun. Others here can help you with the exact Math.

[LETitROLL]

I am looking at a Norcold NRF-60. The specs list that it uses 5.3 amps at 12v and 2.6 amps at 24v. Is this enough information to determine how large my system has to be? Specifically how much wattage and how many batteries? Link to unit below.

You need to come up with WH (watt hours) per day to size your system, that unit draws around 60W while it is running, it cycles on and off, total run time during a day will depend on temperature, both outside and what you have the unit set at inside, how many times you open the lid, what is inside, etc. a my household refer (tested with kill-o-watt) is on about 1/3 off 2/3, so average 8 hours run time per day, some of the others that are more familiar with these units may have a good idea, my guess is these may be a little less than that, especially if you are gone for part of the day and not opening it for certain 4-8 hour stretches. At 8hrs you are basically looking at 480wh and with that unit and conservation you may be able to get as low as 250wh per day, that gives you a ballpark for 1/2 the equation, now for the other 1/2, what state/location is this going to be operating in, and locally is it open horizon with lots of sun, or in the woods with lots of trees?, we need to come up with the solar isolation for the general area and then make any specific adjustments for local conditions wherever you expect to be parked.