Upgrading fridge to electric

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dcworm57
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Upgrading fridge to electric

Post by dcworm57 »

1989 westy California.
still running the original fridge but considering upgrading to electric fridge . What make and models have you upgraded to , which ones are the best fit for the original space , I would like to fit the original Westfalia door if possible but not a deal breaker if I can’t . 
Any ideas or advice appreciated…

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R0B
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Re: Upgrading fridge to electric

Post by R0B »

We have a Dometic/Waeco CoolMatic CRX 50 45L Fridge. It uses very little power. We are very happy with it.
https://www.waecofridges.co.uk/
I should also add that we have a foldable solar panel.
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hotpod
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Re: Upgrading fridge to electric

Post by hotpod »

I have the same one. It was a very simple fit, has more room and an optional freezer, plus it runs quite happily 24/7 from my 90AH leisure battery and a 100w solar panel. I love it. There
There are cheaper ones out there but I've seen a few and am of the opinion that the dometic has much nicer build quality. 
I wanted to try and keep the original door too but in the end, the  pros of the fridge outweighed the con of not having the original door. I do still have the original door and surround in case I for some unknown reason want to put it back, but currently I cant think of any reason which would make me do that.
1992 T3 LHD Syncro 16" 4 door doka 1.9na diesel
1990 T3 LHD Syncro 16" Westfalia Joker high top 1.9 TDI
1985 T3 LHD Westfalia Joker high top 1.9 Digijet
1980 T3 LHD factory high top 2.0 Aircooled

keynsham1
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Re: Upgrading fridge to electric

Post by keynsham1 »

As I understand it, electric fridges will run your leisure battery down to around half in a weekend. I assume for a longer trip you should have EHU or solar panels?

cobblers
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Re: Upgrading fridge to electric

Post by cobblers »

keynsham1 wrote: Today, 07:35 As I understand it, electric fridges will run your leisure battery down to around half in a weekend. I assume for a longer trip you should have EHU or solar panels?

Depends on your battery, fridge and the ambient conditions of course, but assuming you have a smallish lead acid leisure battery and it's warm weather then that's a fairly reasonably guess.
However, if you put 100-150w of solar on the roof, that will keep the battery topped up and you can run the fridge more or less indefinitely (regardless of the size of your battery)

I turned the fridges on in both my campers a few weeks ago, and they'll remain on til the end of october.

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Re: Upgrading fridge to electric

Post by Rosie n' Jim »

When you say 'electric', is that 240v or 12 v, thermoelectric or compressor? Battery or hookup? Power consumption differs hugely across the range.
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