I tend to leave my fridge on for weeks and even months even when at home. It’s stiil just powered by my solar panel. Useful for the odd drinks and chocolate bars, I do typically switch it off in winter for a few months. Is this doing any harm to it? I suppose leaving it on in winter if there is very little sun does run the risk of draining the leisure battery but I can’t say I’ve ever noticed a problem. My battery is now around 4 years old so may be getting to the point where it will not retain a charge as efficiently as it did before. What do others do?
Do you leave your fridge on when not away?
- Thread starter JohnR
- Start date
@JohnR
On when camping, off when not camping.
Not sure why - just done it that way for the last 4 years.
Fed from leisure batteries, kept topped up from roof mounted solar.
Be good to be educated if it's the wrong way to do it though.
as @DXX says, keep the fridge door on latch / open when turned off.
On when camping, off when not camping.
Not sure why - just done it that way for the last 4 years.
Fed from leisure batteries, kept topped up from roof mounted solar.
Be good to be educated if it's the wrong way to do it though.
as @DXX says, keep the fridge door on latch / open when turned off.
Off at home, with the door open.
On when away, off when not. Why would you want to leave it on all the time burning electric and potentially shortening its life? If you’ve got the ubiquitous CRX50, it has a stop on the door to allow it to stay ajar for a reason (other types might have the same).
Off at home, with the door open. Yes, I have solar.
No because it thraps your leisure battery.
My take on it anyway.
Solar or not, the constant load on it knackers it out.
That's good feedback on the lifetime of an Alpicool compressor, useful as I own one too.
Though thinking about it the compressors in my fridge and freezer in the house have been running day in and day out for over a decade. I guess it's an established reliable technology these days and they run in an oil bath inside the casing. The only wear is really startup but camping fridges tend to have wide hysteresis anyway.
Though thinking about it the compressors in my fridge and freezer in the house have been running day in and day out for over a decade. I guess it's an established reliable technology these days and they run in an oil bath inside the casing. The only wear is really startup but camping fridges tend to have wide hysteresis anyway.
I always switch off the van fridge and leave the door (drawer front) open between trips. This leaves 3 or 4 blue LEDs lit constantly, but the draw is trivial and the solar is easily up to the job, even on the darkest of miserable midwinters days.
TBH, I'm not sure why I switch it off as, as noted above, our home fridge/freezer has been on constantly for the past 23 years without any issues. Mind, that cost considerably more than the van fridge, even back in 2000.
TBH, I'm not sure why I switch it off as, as noted above, our home fridge/freezer has been on constantly for the past 23 years without any issues. Mind, that cost considerably more than the van fridge, even back in 2000.
Guilty of never switching ours off, it's the overflow Prosecco fridge that wife forgets! As you say @Bav the solar keeps the battery topped up, and drawing from the battery isn't a bad thing. Possibly worse for the battery to keep it at 100%.
I'm up to 39 cycles, I'm hoping I've got a few thousand more left before it's down to 80% capacity.
Free solar, love it when the SOC is FOC!
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