The Grand Solar Experiment---A+

[WizWid]

Originally Posted by amy in maine

I'm confused, you say furnace, are you running your furnace with propane? But then you say you have to watch the droppage if you're going to run the furnace? Is this an electric heater or did you replace a propane furnace to a 12v or electric furnace?

I am in the process of setting up my solar system also and want to get rid of my propane tank ASAP. Are you planning on using solar AND propane?

A furnace needs a 12v fan.....

[amy in maine]

Originally Posted by widgetwizard

A furnace needs a 12v fan.....

Oh ok, so the OP is going for solar and propane. Gotcha! Thanks!

[Gerry]

Amy, not only the fan but I found that the gas valve takes quite a bit of power to open up. If my Battery was low and furnace wanted to turn on, the fan would start, run for a while till the "Sail Switch" would turn on gas valve & igniter, the fan would slow right down. Perhaps even enough to dis-engage the Sail Switch.
You need help with your solar installation, I'm live in Maine, maybe I can help.
Gerry

[ZachO]

How do you plan to use your camper, Amy? Most of us can get away with a fairly basic solar setup because most things run on propane. If you cook outside on a gas burner and don't need heat, electric is enough. Definitely no electric cooking or heating off the battery. More draw than it can handle. Unless you plug in, and in that case you wouldn't need the solar.

My cook stove and oven, fridge, water heater and furnace are propane. So the 90W panel charges the battery to keep up with: lights, propane furnace blower motor (won't fire without the fan blowing), fans, water pump and any personal electronics I want to charge.

[amy in maine]

I saved quite a lot on my used Scamp, I was originally planning on buying it new but didn't know the price so I saved up 20k but when I called they said it would take 5 months so I ended up buying an used camper which saved me 12k. So I can put that in my solar system. I already have a battery generator 1500w true sine inverter plus with 2 more lithium batteries I'm thinking I can get away without propane.

I found this fridge which would fit in that space WITH FREEZER!! and only draws 6.8amps DC

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...k_ql_qh_dp_hza

you can see the specs here

https://www.dometic.com/en-us/us/pro...rd-50-_-137363

I am currently using a DC ceramic heater if it's really cold we use it with heated blankets but was considering something like this?

https://www.pplmotorhomes.com/parts/...RoCd6oQAvD_BwE

But I don't think I would need 12000BTU for that small space, something much smaller but now I know there is DC furnaces so...

[amy in maine]

I'm not there yet, I JUST converted my 2 propane setup to 1 tank.
So I still use the propane to light my fridge but it sure is a pain to turn it on and off on a Scamp.
I can't wait to be free of that and being able to run it while driving would be worth all the trouble of setting up solar

[amy in maine]

Originally Posted by ZachO

How do you plan to use your camper, Amy? Most of us can get away with a fairly basic solar setup because most things run on propane. If you cook outside on a gas burner and don't need heat, electric is enough. Definitely no electric cooking or heating off the battery. More draw than it can handle. Unless you plug in, and in that case you wouldn't need the solar.

My cook stove and oven, fridge, water heater and furnace are propane. So the 90W panel charges the battery to keep up with: lights, propane furnace blower motor (won't fire without the fan blowing), fans, water pump and any personal electronics I want to charge.

I don't have a water heater so I don't have to worry about that. If you do have the shower hookup I don't think you can get away without a propane tank. I only use mine for the fridge so I'm thinking I will be ok

[Alex Adams]

Amy, before you buy the fridge you listed you might want to look at these:
https://www.truckfridge.com/tf65acdc/
Nova Kool, refrigerators, freezers, Marine, RV, Truck

Both of those brands use around 2 amps with the Truckfridge being cheaper than the Dometic. I haven't bought one for my boler yet since I am doing my upgrades in stages. Hopefully next year. Whatever you do do, if it is this year, please share your experience.

[amy in maine]

Originally Posted by Gerry

Amy, not only the fan but I found that the gas valve takes quite a bit of power to open up. If my Battery was low and furnace wanted to turn on, the fan would start, run for a while till the "Sail Switch" would turn on gas valve & igniter, the fan would slow right down. Perhaps even enough to dis-engage the Sail Switch.
You need help with your solar installation, I'm live in Maine, maybe I can help.
Gerry

I'm SO excited you live in MAINE TOO!! There's not much little fiberglass campers around here, maybe we will bump into each other somewhere?

[amy in maine]

Originally Posted by Alex Adams

Amy, before you buy the fridge you listed you might want to look at these:
https://www.truckfridge.com/tf65acdc/
Nova Kool, refrigerators, freezers, Marine, RV, Truck

Both of those brands use around 2 amps with the Truckfridge being cheaper than the Dometic. I haven't bought one for my boler yet since I am doing my upgrades in stages. Hopefully next year. Whatever you do do, if it is this year, please share your experience.

Ohhhhh! Thank you! I'm just worried because I can't find any reviews?
The Domenic ones all have great reviews and I saw this first on Youtube that person was RAVING about it and that he used it for 3 years now I'm trying to find the link but can't find it

But it's good to know that there's lots more options to choose from!

Oh but I'm liking the Novakool fridges, so many sizes and they all have a freezer! Ice cream is VERY important to me lol!!

[ZachO]

Yeah, that's just the way it goes with heaters. 12,000btu is a lot, but you won't find smaller, as far as I know. I had a 16,000btu heater in a camper about the size of yours. It heated the place up quickly

Only thing I'd watch out for on the one you linked is that it looks like it's meant to be ducted, rather than just blowing heat out the front like most heaters built for our tiny trailers. Not sure where you'd duct it to.

[amy in maine]

Originally Posted by ZachO

Yeah, that's just the way it goes with heaters. 12,000btu is a lot, but you won't find smaller, as far as I know. I had a 16,000btu heater in a camper about the size of yours. It heated the place up quickly

Only thing I'd watch out for on the one you linked is that it looks like it's meant to be ducted, rather than just blowing heat out the front like most heaters built for our tiny trailers. Not sure where you'd duct it to.

I was thinking of replacing the one that's already in there. It's already ducted in the back.

At first I thought of not altering all the propane tank hoses etc. But I don't think I care any more. If I'm going to replace the fridge I might as well replace the furnace and just get rid of the propane tank and hoses altogether. I can always use a portable propane heater or stove if I need it THAT badly. But all I can think of is some day that tank will blow up (which prob will NEVER happen) but I have that scene in movies playing in my brain every time I look at it

Or again just keep using my 12v heater, we don't camp during cold seasons and it's rare we use it. Besides we're Mainers we can handle a bit of cold!

[Tom 72]

As others have mentioned, search YouTube videos. There is not just the rv market, but a large community of DIY van converters, and a few truckers. Search for portable refrigerator reviews and comparisons.

I will note many choose refrigerators with top openings, because they lose dramatically less cold air when you open the lid. That can have a big effect on power consumed.

Most do not have separate freezers. Several claim that by fitting a 1" piece of styrofoam in as a partition, one side will freeze and the other refrigerate.

[Gerry]

In my experience the cost of a new fridge was off-set by the longevity of the unit.
My Dometic was original to my 79 boler and it just craped out 5 years ago. That's 45 years it ran so the $600 price tag on the new 3 way, Norcold I could swallow and even if I get half the years the Donetic lasted I will be more then happy.
If your going to dump the furnace let me know via PM. I just picked up a 90 Casita 16ft., and the Suburban furnace works but it is not very big and I may need something bigger as we do most of our camping in late spring and early fall.

[lgboro]

I put 350 watts of solar on my 17 ft Casita roof mounted so I won't get all the benefit except during mid day sun. I cheated and installed a 300 amp Lithium Ion battery but have only tested out my system at the house. I have had a Nova Kool refrigerator running not stop in the 93 degrees plus early dog days we are having here in the Carolinas and it should be using around 95 amps per day at those temps and no problems so far. I leave Thursday for a 3 month jaunt to Alaska until early October so my system should get a good test this summer.

[Gerry]

Originally Posted by lgboro

I put 350 watts of solar on my 17 ft Casita roof mounted so I won't get all the benefit except during mid day sun. I cheated and installed a 300 amp Lithium Ion battery but have only tested out my system at the house. I have had a Nova Kool refrigerator running not stop in the 93 degrees plus early dog days we are having here in the Carolinas and it should be using around 95 amps per day at those temps and no problems so far. I leave Thursday for a 3 month jaunt to Alaska until early October so my system should get a good test this summer.

Again this was part of the experiment where I wouldn't position the panel thought out the day and again passed with flying colors. The 100 Watt panel charged in ambient sun shine to fully charge the battery. I imagine that running a fridge on the 12Volt setting would use loads of amps over a the night time hours where no solar energy is collected.
Shed some light on this battery, can it be charged with my older converter/charger in my Boler or would I need to upgrade to a new Converter/charger?

[WaltP]

95 amps per day is not meaningful. What did you mean to say?
Amps refers to an instantaneous rate of current flow, not to consumption over time such as amp hours.
If you mean 95 amp hours, that would mean an average current flow of approximately 4 amps. That would seem reasonable.

Walt

[Mike Magee]

Truckfridge is a good brand, with an excellent Danfoss/Secop compressor.

[Dogtree]

Thanks for the info Gerry, especially the specs. We're also looking into solar power so we can travel more independently.

[addean]

Hi Jim, I saw Walt’s post and sent him a Hello but he didn’t rembered me. I guess owning an Escape does that. Hope you remember. Arlis, Larry’s Helper.
P.S. I’m trying to figure out how to post a Hello without busting into someone’s discussion?