DC fridge users -- how do you like them?

[ron_jeremy]

Anyone using a DC fridge? I'm talking about a real "houehold" sized fridge/freezer not a cabin or bar sized mini fridge. I'm interested in the brands you're using, how the reliability has been, etc. I've seen some made by Unique but don't knowif there are better options available, etc.

[foggysail]

Anyone using a DC fridge? I'm talking about a real "houehold" sized fridge/freezer not a cabin or bar sized mini fridge. I'm interested in the brands you're using, how the reliability has been, etc. I've seen some made by Unique but don't knowif there are better options available, etc.

DC fridges are popular for marine applications AND relatively expensive. I have a Silverton 40' aft cabin that had one of those POS fridges. Impossible to keep ice cream frozen hard, freezers must be defrosted frequently. I do not recommend buying one. When my POS failed, a replacement would have cost over $1500 for an 8.2cuft unit. Instead I purchased an 8.3 cuft Summit apartment size fridge that had automatic defrost and delivered to my home back then for $500. I spent another $400 for a 4KW 12vdc/120 sinewave inverter to power my fridge.

Ice cream is rock hard, never ever have to worry about defrosting. But one should be careful purchasing inverters designed for vehicles, know what you are getting and know how to use it.

[chrisski]

After much look at larger dc appliances, I decided against them a lot for reasons like foggy sail said.

Another reason is high voltage DC is much more dangersous and expensive than a equivalent ac voltage because Extuinguishing a DC arc at those voltages is difficult and dangerous if it arcs. I think that’s why you don’t see powerful DC appliances and why Edison with DC power lost to tesla with AC power.

There’s also not that much loss on an inverter for a low wattage appliance like the 14 cubic foot fridge listed in the link in post 1. The 14 cubic foot with 611 watt hours a day is not a lot of loss with an ac inverter. May bump that up to 700 watt hours to account for inverter losses.

If a user comes back and says the DC unit is similarly priced and operates quietly problem free, I have a propane/electric fridge I will eventually replace. Until it dies, it runs on a negligible amount of propane, but a ridiculous amount of electricity.

[OldSmokey]

I have one of these https://norcold.com/product/polar-10...-refrigerator/ in my RV
power consumption varies with ambient temperature but is measured between 30 and 80 Watts. I'm happy with it, it cools fast unlike the older ammonia fridge.