Off-Grid Planning

[dgd]

As I stated in my last couple of posts, I'm going to ditch the idea of a traditional fridge and stick with just a single 5.0 cu. ft. freezer and build a well insulated, old-fashioned, ice chest cooler for the small amount of items such as butter and cheese that'll need it.  The fridge is still a relative modern convenience.  I think I can live without it if I have a good freezer for making ice jugs.

But why live without a modern fridge? Modern fridge/freezer combos (fridge/freezer/cool drawer/crisper drawer etc) are just getting pretty darn efficient. Some years ago it was ELCOLD for freezers and various european low power fridges in the sub 300kW/hr per year that were very popular with RE people.
But now commercial units from the likes of Samsung/Miele/Gorenge are even lower power  and have fridge/freezer capacity for 2 or 3 people (or 1 person and a decent supply of beer/bacon)
Even better now as ZB hinted at, PVs are just so cheap its easy to get enough power for a nice fridge/freezer.
My recommendation is get twice as many PVs to make 1600W or even more and just forget all the messing about with a separate freezer and polystyrene cool boxes etc and get a modern low power fridge/freezer. Just IMHO

dgd
(who recently bought a 506Kw/hr per year electric guzzling F&P fridge/freezer AND 55inch LG led tv 176Kw/H year so I can now have sufficient cold beer to enjoy a good 3D movie or Premier league football)

[ClassicCrazy]

dgd  How many watts  does that big LED TV take to run ?  I recently acquired a 42 inch LCD ( freebie) and the thing sucks 230 watts - but I have plenty of extra solar power so no big deal so far. I know the LED TV's use a lot less power. 

[dgd]

CC,
This LG tv is normally about 90watts.  It has power saving modes, really screen brightness, and I keep it on the medium power setting. On 'retailer demo' brightness its nearer 160 watts.
For  comparison my fridge/freezer sucks 200 watts when compressing and about 30 when not.

dgd

[vtmaps]

PVs are just so cheap its easy to get enough power for a nice fridge/freezer.
My recommendation is get twice as many PVs to make 1600W or even more and just forget all the messing about with a separate freezer and polystyrene cool boxes etc and get a modern low power fridge/freezer. Just IMHO

If it were that simple, we (off-grid) would all be doubling our arrays.  Unfortunately, bigger loads don't just require bigger arrays, they also require bigger batteries.

I do agree that Tobit should get a modern low power fridge/freezer.  That 1.8 cu ft Danby fridge consumes 827 wh per day (according to energy star label).  That's HUGE for such a small capacity.  Tobit can do much better (but not much cheaper).

--vtMaps

[Tobit]

But why live without a modern fridge? Modern fridge/freezer combos (fridge/freezer/cool drawer/crisper drawer etc) are just getting pretty darn efficient.

But why live with one if I don't need one?  As I've said a couple times, I need more freezer space than fridge space.  Modern combos have twice the fridge space to freezer space.  The big fridge in my on-grid apartment is mostly empty, I currently have butter, some cheeses, a jar of mayonnaise, and store bought eggs because they are not farm fresh *.  My freezer, on the other hand, has about 10 lbs. of vacuum packed deer meat and fish.

There are a lot of fruits and vegetables that do not require modern refrigeration.  Eggs fresh from the hens also do not need refrigeration.

Find me a modern combo that has a 5 cu. ft. to 8 cu. ft. freezer and fridge space of 3 cu. ft. or less and I'm there. 

[dgd]

If it were that simple, we (off-grid) would all be doubling our arrays.  Unfortunately, bigger loads don't just require bigger arrays, they also require bigger batteries.

I do agree that Tobit should get a modern low power fridge/freezer.  That 1.8 cu ft Danby fridge consumes 827 wh per day (according to energy star label).  That's HUGE for such a small capacity.  Tobit can do much better (but not much cheaper).

But is he not at the planning stage for the new RE system?  So battery sizes and pv array size is easy now to get right(er).   Going too small to begin with can be a real disappointment when it's realised the battery capacity is insufficient.

Dgd

[dgd]

Tobit,

My logic on refrigerated space is that although you may not need extra space now you may find it useful in future.  For example you may be able to trade for perishable food, dairy products etc.. Or take advantage of lower cost bulk food items from supermarket that need cold storing.
Since the upfront fridge cost should be near same as Danby and energy needed to run it is also near same then why not go with modern fridge/freezer combo?

Dgd

[TomW]

tobit;

I think I understand what you are trying to do.

Nothing wrong with "less stuff". Been there, done that. I remember a time right after I got discharged from the Army and wanted no "stuff" I did not absolutely need. Everything I owned fit in my pickup with a camper and I lived in that for a couple years.

Too old for that now and I have more stuff than I actually need but enjoy them now. Indoor plumbing, pressure water, etc all shifted into the necessities column as I aged.

I actually see both angles on this but you get to decide.

Bigger is probably better on an energy system. Far better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.

On a good day I can argue either side of these solutions. Some times less is actually more.

Best of luck and glad to see you researching before you pull the trigger on things. I did not and  ended up having to do a lot of upgrades due to knee jerk decisions. Like starting at 12 volts thinking vehicle and RV gear would be able to use it. Problem there is that stuff all is powered by an engine driven alternator so efficiency is non existent.

I could go on but that will drift off topic as others tell me I am silly.

Tom

[Tobit]

I think I understand what you are trying to do.

Think of this photo and add a shed on the southern side of the ridge for storing tools, my freezer, water, and running PV. 

This isn't me in the photo but pretty damn close to how I want to spend the rest of my life. 

[Tobit]

My new Amana 5.2 cu. ft. freezer arrived today for the woodstead. I wanted to buy it now for a couple reasons.

A) Price was right, only cost me $149.00 out of pocket
B) Energy star label reads 215 KWH/year which is one of the best I have seen.
C) No sales tax here.
D) I wanted to set it up in the garage over the summer so I could monitor energy usage to make sure I am sizing my solar array adequately. I figure it will be the largest energy consumer.

The downfall to this unit is it's external thermostat located on the front of the unit. This means the unit is only efficient in rooms that stay between 32F and 110F. However, this shouldn't be an issue since I will be locating it in my insulated shed, which I plan to heat to just above freezing in the winter so rain water stored inside the shed doesn't freeze. The other potential downfall is that some units like these need a high-quality and beefy inverter otherwise they have a hard time starting. There are a few ways around this but I don't plan to skimp on an inverter so hopefully I won't have an issue.

So far so good. Ambient temp this morning was only 50F degrees. I tried to watch the kill-a-watt closely when the compressor first kicked on. It seemed to draw ~200W but quickly settled down to 115W and, after a few moments, has been drawing a steady ~84W at .0.84A ever since. The compressor only ran for about and hour before it decided that was cold enough on the inside, at the number 3 setting, and turned itself off.

Next step is to get a thermometer in there and see how cold it is at the #3 setting.  The manual states #3 should be 0F degrees and that number #4 and #5 on the dial are deep freeze modes.