Dual battery questions

[NJRadioGuy]

At the moment, I run an Ecoflow 750 WH power station and it runs my Iceco JP40 fridge for about 36-48 hours, depending on ambient temperatures. No less than 36, and that includes occasionally charging my phone and watch too. I don't think I've ever camped anywhere for more than 48 hours without going for a drive in the afternoon to explore my surroundings (and to keep the battery charged). I think 100 AH would be good for a bit over 48 hours.

Going more than 100 AH is where things get complicated real fast, though, in terms of where you put the big battery/batteries needed for this much storage. In a Gladiator or bigger-size pickup truck you have far more options than in a small JL, especially since heavy batteries really need to be kept as low in the vehicle as possible to improve the CofG. This is where my conundrum is coming from. The only useable space for a lot of permanently-mounted LiFePo4 power is the cubby under the floor, and until or unless someone releases a 200 AH battery that fits in that space I can't figure out a way to go over 100.

For me personally 100-120 is probably all I need since I like to drive around a lot after getting to camp, but having the ability to stay somewhere for a week and keep my fridge going would be awesome. But how to do it becomes the problem, as I've said earlier.

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[THAW]

I only run a ARB fridge, and potentially some lights at the back in the future.
With my calculation, 100Ah battery can run your fridge for about 2-3 days. But if I want to run the fridge for longer than that , say 4-5 days, I would need to either drive to charge the alternator or have a power bank. Also, the number of days reduces if I keep my lights on in the night at camp for about 2-3 hours. For future, I plan to get a RTT, and if I want to charge my phone, watch etc via these batteries for 2-3 nights in a row, 100Ah may not be enough for future-proof.

Maybe Im overthinking all this, and I should just be done and get a 100Ah LifePo4

Here's a good video about how to optimize fridge power consumption (it's from Equipt Outfitters who sell National Luna fridges, but most of the info applies to all fridges):



[Summary:

• load cold initially or pre-cool using home AC power
• stage items to minimize lid opening
• reduce fridge temp setting while driving, return to normal temp setting at camp
• 1-in-1-out for consuming/adding items at camp

]

Also, you could add solar, which works great while stationary - might be easier than trying to stuff battery Ahs into a Jeep. One rule of thumb for off-grid systems is sizing solar panel wattage at two times battery bank Ah capacity (e.g. 200W solar for 100Ah of battery capacity).

Finally, you can use the old-school, in-camp recharge method: idling (though it has fuel/range and wear/maintenance implications).