How long can a 12V 100Ah battery run a fridge?

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VIDEO CHAPTERS
00:00 Preview
00:29 Estimated Runtimes Of Refrigerators On A 12V 100Ah Battery
00:54 Running My 7 Cu. ft. fridge on a 12V 100Ah Lead-Acid Battery
01:33 Details About The Test
03:34 Results After An Hour And A Few Minutes
04:10 Results After About 7 Hours Of Runtime
05:05 Some More Details To Provide Additional Perspective
05:40 Why I'm Only Using 50% Of My Battery's Capacity
06:54 Conclusion And Additional Resources
~
How long can a 12V 100Ah battery run a fridge?
I tested a 12V 100Ah battery to see how long it would power my fridge, and it lasted about 7 hours.
But the runtime of YOUR fridge on such a battery will depend on two factors:
- The electricity usage of the fridge, which depends on factors like size, energy efficiency, room temperature, set temperature, fridge fill level, and door openings.
- The usable capacity of the battery. While Lithium batteries can be fully discharged, Lead-Acid batteries can only supply 50% of their rated capacity before needing a recharge.
For instance, on average, you could run a 12V car refrigerator for about 100 hours on a 12V 100Ah Lithium battery, which can supply up to 1200 Wh of energy on a single charge.
On the other hand, if you run the same 12V fridge on a 12V 100Ah Lead-Acid battery, which can only supply 600 Wh of energy, you would only get about 50 hours of runtime before having to disconnect the battery.
Naturally, a bigger refrigerator will consume more energy and will drain either of these types of batteries much quicker.
Here are some facts about my specific test:
- My refrigerator is mid-sized, approximately 7 Cu. ft. (200L or 210 QT) in capacity, similar to most RV refrigerators.
- The refrigerator was filled to about 80% of its capacity.
- I set the fridge to its maximum cooling setting for the duration of the test.
- The fridge operated at a room temperature ranging from 86°F to 90°F (30°C to 32°C) on the day of the test.
Have you tried running your fridge on a battery? If so, how long did the battery run the fridge? Please tell me in the comments below.
If you have any questions, drop them in the comments, and I'll be happy to help!
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DISCLAIMER:
For general informational purposes only. Nothing in this video is intended to be professional electrical advice. Please consult with a licensed professional in their field of expertise in your jurisdiction.

[@frankgarcia5206]

Add a solar panel and controller to charge the battery and see what you get

[@rowgler1]

I would be interested how this compares to running a freezer with an inline thermostat that is set to shut off at 38 degrees for use as a refrigerator. That way it would run maybe 10 minutes per hour, giving the battery time to recharge intermittently. I'm going to try that with a Vissani 7 cu. ft. upright freezer, a 100 amp hour LiPo battery and an Inkbird temperature controller. I also have a separate bank of four 100 amp hour lead acid batteries. The Vissani Freezer says it is 150watts. 1.5amp. I will be off grid for a month and I have to make it work. This freezer has no lights and it has it's own thermostat for use as a refrigerator but I don't want it running continuously. I can charge the batteries with a gas powered generator, but I can't mix the batterie types.

[@RenewableWise]

Well, this will mainly depend on the temperatures you're dealing with but, as a rule of thumb, it would be safe to assume the freezer (that's now operating as a fridge) runs for 12 hours per day. It's actual runtime will accumulate to less than 12 hours but it's better to overestimate than to underestimate in these cases.
If it's rated at 150 Watts, that's up to 1800 Watt-hours of energy per day.
A single 100Ah LiFePo battery (assuming it's rated at 12 Volts) can supply up to 1200 Watt-hours on a single charge (at 100% depth of discharge).
Four 100 Ah lead acid batteries (rated at 12V each) can provide 2400 Watt-hours on a single charge (a 50% depth of discharge).
Again, since 1800 Wh/day as the energy usage of the fridge is an overestimate, you'd probably be able to run the fridge on the single lithium battery, or 2 days on the lead acid bank.
You could probably add 300 - 600 Watts of solar panels with a charge controller and be able to run the freezer non-stop.

[@user-uf9fh8iq2x]

The battery really try useless battery coming to country wil only run it for one hours