12V fridge - increased power consumption with a cover on

[VladTepes]

A mate of mine has posted this elsewhere:


Been running factory cover on my Waeco 65L DZ fridge for about 10days now. Gone from 220-250watts to 320-360watts/24hrs.
Temp is set -10'c

Very interesting result.


The fridge sits in the back of a ute tray, partly shaded by a 'roof' but at the back of the tray, so does still cop direct sun.

My assumption was that it's an airflow issue.

Does anyone know if the mesh on the vents on the Waeco covers impedes airflow to any significant extent?

Anyone else experienced such a thing? What was the cause? Solution?

[trout1105]

Maybe it is because dust has partially blocked the mesh and is restricting the airflow or the cover isn't being zipped up completely and the mesh is "sagging".
I have a cover on my small Primus 40l fridge that I run at -15 that actually uses less power than if I run it "Naked".

[Tim_AM]

Interesting,

i would assume an air restriction also,

out of interest...what colour is the fridge and what colour is the cover?

assuming the cover is Black/ Grey and the fridge is a lighter colour?

regards

[VladTepes]

Fridge is 'Waeco Grey'

cover is grey.

[Dorian]

My 40l Waeco uses about a 1/4 less juice with it factory cover on, I run it at about -6.

Not trying to imply your mate drives a patrol, but does he have it on the right way?

[VladTepes]

Not trying to imply your mate drives a patrol, but does he have it on the right way?

It's worse than that.. a Hilux.

Yeah its on the right way. :)

[trout1105]

If the exhaust fans are up against the side of the tray then the cover will definitely reduce the airflow.
Giving these 12v fridges room to "breathe" is absolutely essential.

[VladTepes]

It's not that.

He's going to do some more testing and see if he can get enough information to do a proper diagnosis.

Cheers all

[AK83]

A mate of mine has posted this elsewhere:


Been running factory cover on my Waeco 65L DZ fridge for about 10days now. Gone from 220-250watts to 320-360watts/24hrs.
Temp is set -10'c

Very interesting result.

Does anyone know if the mesh on the vents on the Waeco covers impedes airflow to any significant extent?

....

The quoted text from 'mate' is a bit ambiguous. It says been running the fridge with cover for 10 days. It says power has gone from 220-250W/day to 320-360W/day.

Is that 220-250W/day without cover? ... and 320-360W/day with cover?
Or does this mean after 10 days of operation with the cover(on all the time), the power consumption has increased suddenly without other notable changes?

Obviously with the cover on, the mesh will attract dust being exposed to the ambient environment, so flow will decrease through the fan.
But what about ambient environment? Has he gone from the freezing cold southern high country to warmer/tropical climate up north in those 10 days.
Is the comparison being made in a static environment? .. etc

No point chasing his tail if other things have changed in the meantime.
Other aspects that will affect power usage is how full is the fridge/freezer too.

Simple test is to run the fridge with cover off(if not already done) to see if power usage falls.

[trout1105]

On many occasions one my fridges cops a fair bit of sun because I don't have a cover for it and something as simple as putting a good thick towel over the top of the fridge will make it run more efficiently, So I find it hard to believe that an uncovered fridge will work better.
As has been already said there are many other ways to increase efficiency such as not opening and closing it too often and keeping them full, Also in high temperatures something as simple keeping them out of the hot wind will do wonders as well.

[numpty]

Unless running the fridge as a freezer, why set it that cold? (original post says -10) I run mine at 0 deg which may cycle up as high as +4 deg which is a good fridge temp.

[trout1105]

Unless running the fridge as a freezer, why set it that cold? (original post says -10) I run mine at 0 deg which may cycle up as high as +4 deg which is a good fridge temp.

Hmm
For a perfect beer temperature -2 is the go, Just make sure that no salad stuff is on the bottom of the fridge or it will freeze [thumbsupbig]

[numpty]

Hmm
For a perfect beer temperature -2 is the go, Just make sure that no salad stuff is on the bottom of the fridge or it will freeze [thumbsupbig]

Well yes, hmm. There would be much discussion re beer temp [bigsmile1] Some suggestions are 2 deg to 8 deg. Depends on taste and variety of course. Still, my question remains ..... why -10 deg

I don't put vegies, including salad stuff in my fridge as even at the top it's too cold for them. I find they're usually fine in a cool dark place in a drawer or similar.

[VladTepes]

Recommended freezer temp for a domestic freezer is -4 degrees.
There's no reason a car freezer would be any different.

There's nothing wrong with having it colder other than:
It will consume more power to keep it there, and stuff will take longer to defrost.
So no advantage to be had.

How can -2 be a perfect beer temperature, I prefer to drink it rather than lick it like a popsicle. [biggrin]

[trout1105]

How can -2 be a perfect beer temperature, I prefer to drink it rather than lick it like a popsicle.

My beers don't freeze at -2 even if they have been in the fridge for a week (a rare thing for me) they do come out icy cold But Not frozen [thumbsupbig]
I also put a few days worth of frozen vacuum packed meat in the fridge because at -2 they eventually defrost enough so that there is no messing about at the end of the day.
I found that -4 was way too cold and the beer will freeze at this temperature.

[Albert]

I run my engel at -3deg at home for beers. Works fine for most except for some cheap import mids,(beer flavored water, good for when working) the odd one of those freezes. When travelling I also put in vac packed meat. I have a ARB for other foods so they don't freeze.
Both have covers on them and when touring we keep pillows or towels over them. When you put your hand under towel or pillow it is cold, so its still losing coldness through the cover.

[jonesy63]

Recommended freezer temp for a domestic freezer is -4 degrees.

Not quite right... domestic freezers are set to -18c. The refrigerator section should be at about 4c. That is in the home, out of sunlight and outside temperatures.

FWIW, I had my camper trailer Waeco CFX55 (with no cover) set to 1c all long weekend and the beer (near the exchanger) was great - and the vegies/dairy at the top didn't freeze/wilt.

Cheers,
Rob

[scarry]

All freezers for normal type food,etc, operate at around -18 to -20,depending how hard the ice cream needs to be.

Normal refrigeration temperature is 2 degrees,cycling between 1 and 4.

All our beer rooms are set at -1,that is rooms for pulling beer only, from the room.
If they have anything else in them,2 degrees is the go,then the beer gets further chilled by glycol on its way to the taps.
Diet coke is usually the first to freeze as it is full of water.