running 1 or 2 fridges

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Warren,
I run 2 fridges , have had a waeco 40 litre for about 10 years and the current vehicle came with an engel 39 litre.
I run the waeco 24/7 (as a freezer on trips) and use the engel as a drinks fridge. when we drive during the day it gets turned on to cool the refreshments . I dont run it over night especially if we are not driving for a few days.but will turn it on in the next afternoon to allow it to do its job.
2 fridges also provided some redundancy if one ceases to work.
buy another one
cheers
Howard

Hi Warren

I have a 21 litre Engel inside my Hilux, running from the cigarette lighter plug, and an 80 litre Waeco which I run in my trailer when going on long journeys. I run the Waeco from a gen set, with a insulation box which takes about 95% of the noise out, so as not to disturb others.

The Waeco I generally run as a freezer, an keep daily usage items in the Engel.

Cheers

we run a 40L Engel as a freezer and a 60L as a fridge

They both draw ~2.5 to 3 amp each when running. On an average day of +30deg ambient the total draw can vary between 60 & 80 amp. Never had the pair go over 80 amp in 24 hours

we run 2 x 100ah deep cycle...charged by vehicle when driving and solar panels when stationary..........cooler / cloudy days days means less charging but also less powere consumption........

we have gone close to being low on reserve power on a couple of occasions over the years.....but never low enough to cause battery damage........

as Long as you have the battery capacity to handle non or poor charging days .......

there is always the option of running your vehicle for a period which will top the batteries up providing you have a correctly designed system with heavy cabling that will actually top the batteries up as well as run the fridges at the same time.............too many systems are poorly designed with small dia cable that will not achieve the desired effect at times

cheers

IMHO a 74l National Luna is the perfect solution. 1 Fridge, 34l plus 40L with seperate lids, 1 compressor and you can independently set either fridge for seperate temps. Ie one fridge and one freezer, 2 freezers or the way I use it 2 fridges at different temps.

2 fridges with less space and about the same current draw as 1 fridge. You can even turn one side off and use it as storage.

They have miles better insulation that Engel or Waeco and are used by WHO and Red Cross for blood transport in Africa so they are very tough.

Bloody fantastic fridge.

Gday Warren,
A lot depends on how you use it. We don't require a freezer (we cryovac meat and don't preprepare meals or eat icecream!) so this keeps our power consumption reasonable.

Most trips we a single 40l Engel as a fridge at 2 degrees and an older 39l Engel as a cooler for vegetables and drinks at about 8 degrees. When I run them off a single 100Ah Remco AGM, the voltage in the morning is usually about 12.35 - 12.4 volts. They will run for an extra day and night before I feel the need to recharge it.

thanks to everyone's for reply.i will go with 2 fridges but deed better rower system that i currently run.electrical is one thing that i have never been good at.so had one installed by auto elect on d40 when new,first trip to Simpson running two fridges my Engel and a borrowed 60lt 3way woke up at Birdsville with flat battery,no problem just jump started using correct leads .go to cross dessert and check engine light comes on,Nissan total car response is to flat bed to nearest dealer .local garage wont even look at car as it is electrical .despite my telling them that it was only a flat battery it cant be that serious the response was the same.result was i drove around town deciding what to do and after 30min or so light went out.crossed dessert and got home .i don't want to go through that again to often

Hi Warren

We prefer the flexibility of two small Engels (30 & 40 ltr). We have a single door fridge in the caravan, so one Engel stays in the car (on solar power) for drinks, lunches and when camping without the caravan, and the other can be used as a freezer for long trips, fridge if extra room is needed, or turned off when not needed. It sits under the bed in the caravan. Generally we do not need a lot of fridge space.

What is the chance of a new fridge breaking down? It can happen. Ours are the old "bomb proof" Engels.

Motherhen

Warren,

I’ve been running dual fridges for several years now. These have been an Engel MT45 as a full time freezer and a Waeco CF50 as a fridge. The system has been supported by two auxiliary batteries at 100 A/H AGM with an ARB smart isolator. The system works well but you really do need to be quiet active in knowing just what your system is doing and ensure that you properly manage the running of the fridges. Ie, if it’s a cool night, turn the freezer down low etc. Also ensure that they are well insulated from heat if possible.

This year I moved away from the two and went with the 75 litre Engel combo with a 35 litre freezer running full time and the 40 litre fridge in the other half. I found this to be more economical in the power consumption stakes than running two separate fridges. The absolutely crucial thing is that you spend the time and money making sure you have an adequate DC power system that has good capacity, the right type of batteries and the right charging system for the battery type. While this is never a cheap exercise, scrimping on the wiring for example will give you grief almost before you start. I backed this up by spending a lot of time and seeking a lot of advice. I then spent a considerable amount ensuring that the system was fit for purpose, big enough and had quality components. I’ve had no stress with power as a result.

Never assume that your auto electrician or dealer service centre are experts on the complex area of auxiliary electrics. Dealing with complex vehicle electrics and schematics is one thing, understanding the intricacies of aftermarket charging systems, solar controllers and the many types of batteries (and what’s essential for their proper maintenance) is another matter all together.

Getting that system right in the first instance will alleviate a lot of worries in regards to power management and ensure your fridges will run, your lights will work at night, you can recharge the camera and the vehicle will start in the morning.

There are some great posts, arrticles and blogs that can steer you in the right direction here on EO


Cheers Mick

Some time ago I had a 95L evakool fridge, but found that it drew a lot of power. After a bit of research I discovered that it used the larger danfoss compressor which was considerably less efficient than the smaller one used in the 60L fridges. At that time Waeco used the same compressors so I assume their 80L fridges also use the larger compressor.
I would agree with the other commentors and go for 2 smaller fridges.