Fridge Power Consumption - AC vs DC vs Insulated

[Willing&Able]

Over the weekend I tested the difference in power usage between AC & DC and DC with and without insulated jacket for fridge.

This was done indoors with a temperature range of 72-74F. The fridge (Iceco VL45 ProS) was set to 34F and would fluctuate between 32F-38F. Power was supplied by a Bluetti AC70P w 1000WH. Each scenario was run for 12 hours starting at 100% charge.

AC only dropped to 63% after 12 hours
DC only dropped to 75% after 12 hours (16% improvement over AC)
DC w insulated jacket dropped to 76% after 12 hours (17% improvement over AC)

I suspect the insulated jacket may have performed better in higher environmental temps.

A bit surprised on the AC only as that would mean it would consume 74% of the battery in a 24-hour period at a relatively mild environmental temp. I may try a friends dometic (was mine) with similar tests to see how it compares as my gut says it had lower power draw.

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[RudeJeepin]

Nice job. I'd be curious to see how the Dometic compares. Are the two similar sizes?

 

[Willing&Able]

Nice job. I'd be curious to see how the Dometic compares. Are the two similar sizes?

Yup, both 45's...

 

[Soapy]

The AC inverter is not as efficient as the DC side. AC inverter takes power just sitting idle and the DC takes much less when idle. This is a general rule with power stations. I am surprised the insulation did not help more. Did you notice the max watt draw during the test. I have a dometic drawer fridge that usually runs around 26 watt consumption when it is running on DC.

 

[NJRadioGuy]

These are similar to my real-world results as well. The DC side of my Iceco JP-40 is now completely unreliable, and with a weeklong overlanding trip last week I just plugged it into the AC side of my power station. The fridge ran flawlessly for the entire trip, but battery consumption was massive. If I didn't have the Charger 1 working it would have depleted by the second or third day of the trip.

From when I arrived at camp in the late afternoon until ready to depart the next morning I would typically have been down 45% of a 1440 Wh power bank.

Iceco sent me a new DC module and now that this trip has concluded I have a couple of weeks to try and swap it out before I head north to New Hampshire for a long weekend.

 

[Willing&Able]

The AC inverter is not as efficient as the DC side. AC inverter takes power just sitting idle and the DC takes much less when idle. This is a general rule with power stations. I am surprised the insulation did not help more. Did you notice the max watt draw during the test. I have a dometic drawer fridge that usually runs around 26 watt consumption when it is running on DC.

In 'Max' setting it draws 51w at 'Eco' setting it draws 30w - so depends on what I'm running. The above tests were all in Max so I'm trying again in Eco to see the difference.

 

[Sidewalk]

I'm. It surprised by the insulation. I feel like those things are kind of gimmicky.

Having a heat shield to protect from direct sunlight, which the insulated cover can do, would probably make a difference. But a blanket can do that.

 

[LazyJL]

To see exactly how much power a compressor ice chest uses in various conditions, an inexpensive recording watt meter will provide this information, shown as amp-hours @ 12 volts.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07Z91FWT9?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_5&th=1

We have run a compressor ice chest in our RV for several years. The ice chest is equipped with an add-on water meter.
The compressor runs on 12 volts and is the most efficient way of operation.
Power consumption, maintaining a 38 degree F temperature, varies from 6 to 20 amp-hours a day, depending on the ambient temps..

 

[Ratbert]

That conversion is usually spec'd to be ~85% efficient, so that's in the expected ballpark. Thanks for doing the tests.

The results of your insulation test, however, are unexpected.

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