Hello All, As the title implies, I’m looking for a power supply to use for my Dometic fridge and for charging other items while at camp and on the road. I’m looking at the Dometic PLB 40, Goal Zero Yeti 300 etc. What have you run and liked? I’m not looking to do a dual battery setup as I want the versatility of using this elsewhere.
Power Supply for fridge and charging devices and cameras, what do you like?
- Thread starter DrRock
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FrazzledHunter
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I have a Dometic CF3 75 Liter dual zone powered mostly* by a Goal Zero Yeti 1500X. The combo works superbly.
I would suggest that you get whatever combination allows for running the fridge for 18-24 hrs using 90% of the power available from your battery.
I was an early adopter and went with Goal Zero, and would consider them again. However there are other competitors now. I would give ecoflow a hard look.
*I have a dual battery AND a Goal Zero Yeti 1500X. Nothing precludes having both LOL! We've run the fridge off the 2nd battery while we charged the 1500X in a hotel room. In addition, the 2nd battery allows for a self jump-start which I have needed 3 times due entirely to my own stupidity.
I would suggest that you get whatever combination allows for running the fridge for 18-24 hrs using 90% of the power available from your battery.
I was an early adopter and went with Goal Zero, and would consider them again. However there are other competitors now. I would give ecoflow a hard look.
*I have a dual battery AND a Goal Zero Yeti 1500X. Nothing precludes having both LOL! We've run the fridge off the 2nd battery while we charged the 1500X in a hotel room. In addition, the 2nd battery allows for a self jump-start which I have needed 3 times due entirely to my own stupidity.
If you are looking for a multi purpose power bank that can be recharged by ac, dc, solar and has all the do-dads I have found it is best to search amazon for the best deal. It really is the fastest and I can typically find the same brand I am seeking for a much better price. Low price point for anything good seems to be about $600, name brands charge much more. ARB offers a battery for $490 but it is just a fridge batt, doesnt have extra ports or multi charge points.
I looked at building my own box and found that with a good batt, case, and all the charging integration all made up that I would spend around $800 so that would be the max I'd pay before I did it myself. I would watch Harbor Freight for a deal as well. The Patriot as seen on TV isn't a bad deal. That promo they have for a 2 for 1 is tempting.
I looked at building my own box and found that with a good batt, case, and all the charging integration all made up that I would spend around $800 so that would be the max I'd pay before I did it myself. I would watch Harbor Freight for a deal as well. The Patriot as seen on TV isn't a bad deal. That promo they have for a 2 for 1 is tempting.
- Thread starter
- #4
Hello All, thanks for the information. I'll definitely check out the offerings from ecoflow.
@peesalot thanks for the input but be aware of Amazon. As a rule now, I prefer to purchase these types of big ticket items directly from the vendor. I've been burned twice purchasing what I thought was an original manufactured item from Amazon only to find out it was counterfeit. Amazon has become a mecca for fakes and vendors making blatant IP theft of products.
@peesalot thanks for the input but be aware of Amazon. As a rule now, I prefer to purchase these types of big ticket items directly from the vendor. I've been burned twice purchasing what I thought was an original manufactured item from Amazon only to find out it was counterfeit. Amazon has become a mecca for fakes and vendors making blatant IP theft of products.
I would go much larger on the battery. The Yeti 200 is only 297wh, which is only gonna power the fridge for a few hours at best. Most fridge draw 60-100W so at a minimum I would look at 1000wh battery or more.
You can find the Ecoflow delta 2 on sale for less than the cost of the PLB40 and it will have twice the capacity, and over 3X more than the Yeti300.
You can find the Ecoflow delta 2 on sale for less than the cost of the PLB40 and it will have twice the capacity, and over 3X more than the Yeti300.
FrazzledHunter
SILVER Star
Good suggestion IMHO. My Dometic CFX3 75L DZ with their optional insulating cover draws 35 Wh/h on average at 70F with fridge/freezer at 37/0, the same temps we keep our home's fridge/freezer. This is without opening or closing the lid. So for me that's the floor. It will use 70-100 Wh/h if you're opening & closing the lid or if it's hot or if it's left in the car that's in the sun in the sun.
I got these measurements through direct measure using a DC meter taking total watt hours used divided by the total hours to get an average watt hour per hour; some hours were heavier or lighter usage as expected.
You can try and go by the values published by the various vendors for startets but I found them to be not really helpful as the scenario used isn't really clear.
YMMV.
- Thread starter
- #7
Hello Guys, thanks for the input. I looked at the specs for my fridge(CFX 35) and per the Dometic website it draws 0.98 Ah/h keeping the fridge at 39F in ambient 90F. I’ll look at the delta and see what sales show up over Memorial Day.
Cheers, James
Cheers, James
FrazzledHunter
SILVER Star
If they offer an optional insulating blanket I'd recommend you get it. It helps.
RevISK
SILVER Star
Here is a suggestion about Amazon that has worked well for me: I’ll use Amazon for research comparing and contrasting the item I am looking for. When I find it, I note the vendor (location of the vendor also plays into my decision) and contact them directly stating I found them through Amazon and I am interested in purchasing their product. Most of the time they will match or at least discount the price. Granted, you can’t beat Amazon for shipping, but being patient is a virtue and I’ll do anything I can to keep my dollar out of Bezos’s pocket.
FrazzledHunter
SILVER Star
The other 2 gotchas with Amazon is buying from their resellers i.e. not "Sold by" Amazon. You can run the risk of getting counterfeit items although I have not been burned by this - yet. The other is that warranties are sometimes granted only to "authorized sellers" so it's wise to check that whomever sold the item is covered under the manufacturers warranty.
- Thread starter
- #11
Yes, I have that on the fridge and it definitely helps, plus since my dog is typically next to the fridge in the truck it protects it from her. Thanks again for all the information, much appreciated as always.If they offer an optional insulating blanket I'd recommend you get it. It helps.
Cheers, James
I have a CFX35 also, and I would say those numbers are under carefully controlled conditions which you will never see in real life. My car interior easily gets above 90F even in 70 degree weather, and if the fridge is in some type of enclosure or you have stuff around the fridge it's going to be even higher because the fridge itself is generating heat. Whatever power consumption you estimate I would double it.
Refrigerator power consumption is a hard thing to estimate, it varies a lot even with the same setup. I run a 100Ah batter to power it, along with 100W solar, and even then sometimes that's not enough to last an entire trip.
The Delta 2's go on sale sometimes, I bought mine last year for <$400. I replaced a bluetti that failed on me and I've been happy with it. One thing that's really nice is they charge @1.2kw on AC so you can fully charge one in about an hour.
one thing I learned the hard way with amazon is to buy only items that are *free returns*. Otherwise you are at the mercy of the (often shady nowadays) seller as far as shipping costs etc, which would be bad with something as heavy as a fridge.
My use case is not as demanding as most. I just need to keep my ARB fridge running and off truck power while parked for a couple of days.
I picked up an Ecoflow River 2 Pro on sale, and that seems to be working out quite well for my scenario.
It's compact and easy to store, charges very quickly on AC, has all the bells and whistles I need.
I have yet to test it in real world use, but that's coming up over the long weekend.
As previously stated, it comes down to ambient temps and fridge efficiency.
I picked up an Ecoflow River 2 Pro on sale, and that seems to be working out quite well for my scenario.
It's compact and easy to store, charges very quickly on AC, has all the bells and whistles I need.
I have yet to test it in real world use, but that's coming up over the long weekend.
As previously stated, it comes down to ambient temps and fridge efficiency.
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