One of the primary reasons 3 Way Fridges have been preferred over compressor fridges was that the 3 Way Fridge was quiet. [ virtually silent ]
New compressor fridges are now much quieter and combined with the efficiency are more attractive, especially as you do not need a gas bottle.
There are two ways to operate a 3 way fridge with 12v.
The correct wiring of a 3 way fridge is to run a dedicated power supply from the CRANKING battery all the way to the fridge and NEVER run the fridge from either the house batteries or from the cabling powering/charging the house batteries.
The second option is if you have a modern 3 way fridge [ “T” rated ], don’t run it while driving.
The newer [ no more than about 5 or 6 years old ) “T” rated 3 way fridges can maintain a cool temperature for many hours, as long as you don’t keep going to them.
I have quite a few customers who have taken their caravans across the top in summer without powering them while driving and have not had problems.
The trick is to get the fridge as cold as possible while on gas or 240 before starting the days drive and these new fridges remain cool for many hours.
A simple “driveway test” at home can tell if your fridge will remain cool enough when not powered for long periods.
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