Electric cooler power use?

[stugots1982]

Hey everyone. So I am starting to get together ideas for my camper conversion and I am looking at possibly going with an electric cooler and im just trying to get a feel for their power consumption. Im hoping to possibly get an ENGAL cooler as they all seem to have good reviews and if im going to do it I would rather spend the extrta money and od it right rather than kick my @ss over going with a cheap one. My Deli has a dual battery set up and im wondering how long I would be able to run the cooler if I was not to have the van running? Anyone have a similar set up or any idea?

Cheers

[Overlanderjay]

The Engels use about 3.5 amps at start up but when they get going about 1.7 amps running a good 24 series deepcycle battery should last at least 5 days depending on ambient temperture Cheers Jay

[Growlerbearnz]

Most Engel coolers are compressor type (which is good- avoid thermo-electric (Peltier) coolers). My 60L cooler uses about 30Amp-hours (Ah) per day. Actual power consumption is variable depending on how hard the compressor has to work- Up to 50Ah/day on a hot summer day or if you open the lid too often (cocktail hour!), down to 20Ah/day if it's a bit chilly in the van.

How big are your batteries? Most large batteries are about 100Ah, but the rate of discharge and the kind of battery alters how much power you can draw from a battery in total. To avoid damaging the battery it's a good idea to plan on using only 2/3 of your battery's capacity before recharging it. (If you have a deep-cycle type battery, you can use about 4/5 of the capacity without harm).

So, if you have a 100Ah battery, and you're using 30Ah per day, you should be able to go for two days safely. If you have a couple of batteries, you can go for four days, but I'd be nervous about having enough power left to start the engine. It's safer to install a battery isolator so you can run the fridge and lights off of one battery, and leave the other for starting the engine.

Incidentally, a 140W solar panel should generate 350Wh per day, enough to run the cooler indefinitely (though it might be a bit close in winter), but even a small 80W solar panel will double the amount of time you can camp without needing to run the engine.

[stugots1982]

awesome thanks for the info fellas

Stu