Great setup. More people should know how easy this is. I ditched my 3 way fridge for this type of setup immediately. A few points to consider.... - a pure sine wave inverted while more expensive will save your compressor on the fridge/freezer. They don’t like running on modified wave inverters. - your amp/hour calculation is great, but you forgot to consider that when running at a fridge temperature, this will consume much less power than the energy star number which is based on freezer temps. - you’ll further increase efficiency by ensuring air can move around the unit, especially where the compressor vents, and if it has an external condenser that should have free airflow too. Nice job.
Always hear on van tour videos something along the lines of, "its about living out of the van, not in the van" But, the van is decked out with $1,500 fridges, $6,000 AC units, $5,000 heating systems, $3,000 showers, $1,000 toilets, etc. Nice to see you that you get just as much enjoyment from your travels - living out of youRVan - on a budget.
Yes and I think it’s even nicer knowing that if something breaks it’s not going to be a huge expense to fix. We think that all of the things we use work just as well as a lot of the expensive rigs out there.
Just added this to my Midget camper. Running freezer at 30 degrees with 120 watt solar panels, a single marine deep cycle battery, and a 750 watt inverter. has been working on its own in my yard for three weeks straight, no problems. Thank You !!!!!
@whiterock4769 you'll need a minimum 12volt 100 amphr lithium battery. Otherwise it won't last, and 200 solar panel , 2000 watt P.S.W.inverter. MPPT.CARGE CONTROL @ 30AMPS minimum
Holy shit. This has been a back and forth stress for me. I am gonna do this first before I spend a million dollars since this is my first build. Thanks for the tip. And it’s spacious! Thanks.
The energy star label is for the freezer operating as a freezer. It uses considerably less power operating as a fridge. That label is no longer valid data, but is not a bad place to start to oversize your battery bank. LiFePO4 batteries will save you money over time. If longevity is not a concern then stick with replacing those lead acid every 2-5 years. Overall, innovative and efficient solution if you don't mind the loading and unloading from the top.
I'm on 12volt 450amphr for 4yrs & switched out everything & went lithium. Its surprisingly easy to max out your 450amphr & thats going half way. Thats why I'm going to 200amphr lithium
Good job. I wouldn't have ever thought of that. I've learned something new today. I'm 65 and all this stuff is new to me. Just like my cell phone. Lolo finally learned how to e mail and had to learn to text so I could comunicate with my children and 13 grandchildren. So I guess I'm still teachable. ?? Thanks for the video.
My dad did this on a fifth wheel. His 3-way fridge went out so he bought a small Avanti frig/freezer and runs it off of solar through an inverter. Very small power usage.
That's a great savings over the overpriced dometic fridges. But there are other brands like Smad and Costway that sell 12v top open fridges/freezers for $300-$350 fyi.
Those look pretty good! I didn’t see that option when I was shopping. Although the fridge setup I have looks like it’s about 20 quarts larger and $100-140 cheaper than those two brands. Still good options though. Thanks for sharing!
@@ouRVan I was wondering if a three way fridge uses more electricity than a dedicated 120 volt fridge. I tried to run my three way fridge on 300 watts solar and ran the batteries down in one night.
I followed this video and did this exact freezer with thermostat 3 years ago and its huge amazing works on my jackery 1000 for long trips easy. Barely used power and is super cold in 5 min
That drawer idea was an awesome design. Very well built my friend. I built a Promaster van with a 120v Fridge with a separate freezer. The external thermostat is an awesome idea. I'm going to be building a shuttle bus conversion soon and will be looking at your idea with the rolling out freezer on that build. Awesome design and build and 420 Ah might sound like a lot but, it's better to always have more than what you need for future additions. Cheers! Shu
Nice Job you have done there & for a great price too. You can use it as a fridge freezer if you get or make a nice foam box to fit in the top half, and you can store frozen items underneath, you would obviously need to turn ur thermostat down. I did this when off grid with a large old kero come gas freezer, I just used some foam broccoli container on the top half as a fridge area while the bottom section stayed frozen solid. Cheers
But they could probably replace this freezer a few times before this set up would end up costing them as much as an reliable DC fridge with similar capacity and functionality.
Excellent video. Adding batteries and/or more solar panels is WAY cheaper than an expensive ARB or Dometic fridge! Plus, your tiny freezer is TWICE as big as the 12-volt refrigerators! Added counter space is an added benefit! This will be an addition to the new GoneCamper cargo trailer conversion.
Excellent video! You nailed on the positive points on using your freezer as a fridge: insulation, not losing the temperature because it's a chest and most importantly the price. It has been 6 months, how has it been holding up? 1. Do you have condensation on the interior walls? 2. Did you change out the Harbor Freight inverter for a pure sine wave inverter? 3. Is it a hassle reaching in to get your food? 4. Did you buy more basket (especially another hanging one) for better organization?
sorry for the late response but thank you! It's still going strong, not a single issue yet. we did not change the Harbor Freight inverter, that is still going strong as well. I'll be honest when the fridge is packed with a weeks worth of food it does become a little bit of a hassle but we never wish we had something different over it. We did not hang another basket mainly because it would block us from getting to the bottom of the fridge. we still love it and recommend it to everyone we know. especially for the price ;)
REALY THANK YOU CHAD AND ASHLEY CAUSE SMALL FREEZERS ARE SUPER CHEAP WOW! IM VERY GREATFUL YOU TWO TEACHING ME THIS MUCH LOVE AND CARE THANKS AGAIN. OWENS.
I have a dometic and it uses 4.5amp hours a day, Max. They’re way more efficient. You lose a tonne of power converting 12v to Household voltage (120 or 240 depending on region) This is a cool idea and glad to see it works, You do get what you pay for if you’re serious about van life to be fair
4.5 amp hours a day is shockingly low but that’s awesome! What model fridge do you have? From my research no other fridge of this size had much lower power consumption. I agree if you’ve got the money to spend the dometic fridges are very nice but I’ve had this one going for 2 years now with no issues and it was much more affordable.
Chest freezers blow dometic outta the way. Gimmie a break. Dometic BIG $$ & 1ft worth of space. Chest freezer is 4X the size & equally efficient. Dometic $500 Haire $150 Do the math. Dometic Sucks
4.5ah per day ! the hourly consumption of Dometic 12v compressor fridges are 1.5-1.7 amps per hour. Are you sure your not confusing the current draw of the fridge while running (4.5 - 5 amps) They draw 4.5 - 5 amps while running but once down to temp only run for about 20 minutes in the hour (weather dependent). 36 amps would be the minimum a Dometic fridge would draw in a 24 hour period (1.5 x 24)
Guys great job! I am about to do the same thing with a 7 cu ft chest I bought on sale. Our elt bill at the homestead was 300 bucks. I love my 50 year old Kenmore but it gobbles the juice. Works great, just sucks it out the amps. You are right about the propane fridges. They gobble up the propane. I have one in the barn. Its a Dometic. BTW the Johnson Controllers are now almost 90 bucks on Amazon. Have you guys thought about a remote digital thermostat? I love to see young people out doing stuff. I traveled the west and lots of the US in my converted school bus back twenty years ago or so. I had all these dogs and cats with me. We had an amazing time. Enjoy your adventures. Take care of yourselves. My last bit of old man advice. Buy some land. Have a water source and put it in trust for yourselves. God is not making more land. I tell young people this. There comes a day you need to put down roots. Trust an old fart. Be free kids.
ouRVan those types of tips are what I search for a lot. Keep it up. Hope you can travel easier and more parks open for you soon. Our country is looking like opening up again over the next 4 or 5 weeks.
Why it isn't more widely known???? Because that setup doesn't have great durability, for 1 thing! I just posted a lengthy reply to this guy's original posting. But basically it says home appliances are not built strong and sturdy or to go 80mph down the road, fall in potholes, etc. The compressor will twist off its lines in no time and you will have a dead unit! Rv appliances are (usually? Often? Hopefully?) built with jostling in mind while your fisher paykels aren't! Since they usually sit in but 1 spot on your kitchen floor and don't shoot up and down mountain roads and bump along gravel back roads. But I could be wrong! Kitchen units are not built as stout as are the rv ones! The kitchen refrigerator I got last year did not survive being unloaded off the truck incorrectly. There was a big sign on the box to ONLY tip the fridge/freezer to either side, NOT to tip it toward the front or back! And these guys do this all day long and they got it wrong! Which is another issue! But when we plugged it in, it did not work!!! So they brought another one the following week! The point being: these Electrolux units are so fragile they cannot be tipped except in 2 directions!!!! And that just seems rather pitiful to me! And someone wants to sail down the highway with it, chuck holes, and all??? Just don't see that as a feasible plan! In the least!
It worked extremely well for them for almost 2 years... and is probably still going strong for the new owner of their van. :) Apparently potholes were no match for this freezer!
Thank you for breaking it down for us I want to take my deep freeze thank you for letting me know how to convert it into a refrigerator very intelligent thank you so much🌞
I just posted a reply to their posting. I'm not sure it will work, for long. But it is not based on anything other than what I know of refrigerators that do not travel or home units! They are fragile, delicate and are not built for falling in/over bumps and potholes! So I will be anxious to hear from 'someone out there on the road'! When something is too easy or so simple usually it doesn't work, for long. Perhaps this is an exception to that rule! Let us know, please! All the best to you!!!
@@paulortiz2035 hey Paul, from what I've researched the higher tier travel fridges (dometic) last 2-5 years max. For a lower tier unit (China brand) 1-2 years is all you can get, so if this set up can last anywhere over a year its worth it in my opinion. Let me know if you disagree
Very nice setup. I'd heard of people doing that, but your explanation and camera angles should allow anyone to do the same. There is only one thing I would change, and the compressor in your "fridge" will thank you for it. Ditch the cheap inverter for one that outputs a true sinewave, not a truncated square or whatever simulated-sine waveform the Centon produces. A 600W inverter should be plenty to cover the startup surge needed by the compressor. In addition to being better for electronics, true sinewaves are easier on motors as well.
this is a great hack. Bonus add on is to throw a digital thermometer in the mix to make sure your meat/food stays in a safe range and doesn't spoil. then once you have it dialed in after a few months of different scenarios you know where u will be
This is the second round (a year later) of searching fridges for myVan build... started with the usual suspects and ended up back at this video, again. This is proof enough (for Me) that this is the way for Me 2go. I already have that same 2nd smaller inverter from Harbour Freight. This was meant 2be. I'll even have savings enough to fill the unit with some grub. lol Thankhz so Much for sharing. Wholeness n Essence of Love ((-;
We posted this video to help others find an affordable and reliable fridge, so it makes us happy to hear that this is going to work for you!! Wish you the best on your van build! Thanks for watching 😊
I love this solution and saved this video back when it came out. Finally got my skoolie, went to find a little chest freezer and found that they now have several 4+ star rated, convertible 3.5-5 cu ft. chest freezer/fridges for under $160 on Amazon. I think that all one would need is the inverter to pull this trick off now. Still an invaluable video, but it seems that China just made it so we can remove one step. Now I'm poking around through all my other electronics, wondering what else I can convert that won't get too mad at me. I do miss the toughness of old tech. The 'smart' stuff is way too finicky and delicate. As far as I'm concerned, everything just has more ways to break.
I appreciate your ingenuity. Piece of advice when you use modify sine wave inverter‘s your electronics are going to fail eventually so try to buy a pure sine wave inverter and electronics are going to last forever
Refrigerator induction motors are not as sensitive to inverters as others assume. The fridge motor might run a little warmer but there's no sensitive electronic components to fail.
This is so brilliant! I've been shopping 12v fridges on Amazon for my 2003 Sprinter Class B RV, and the one star reviews on the affordable ones are so concerning. My current Norcold fridge is about dead and new ones installed are 2k!! So when I saw this I got so excited. My only issue is I don't have solar. I'm hoping this will work with a Jackery 1000, which I will charge with portable solar panels. Worse case scenario I can use it on my house for extra freezer or fridge space. Thanks for sharing this with us. I followed and can't wait to watch more of your videos!
Wow 2k for a new fridge, that’s crazy! We were so happy when we realized how cheap the converted freezer was going to be. I hope this idea works for you! If we missed any questions you might have please ask away!😊 thank you so much for subscribing!
I just tried out a Colzer 53 qt freezer with a Jackery 500. I used my house to get the fridge down to zero before testing. Outside yesterday under hazy Ohio skies my Jackery stayed at 100% while keeping the freezer frozen. I brought the Jackery and freezer in my house at sundown. This morning my Jackery was down to 20% charge. The freezer only had 5 ice cube trays in it, so there was a lot of empty space. Right now I am cooling a Rockpal 12 volt fridge to test next. The Colzer is not very well insulated. The outside felt cold, so it needs a jacket.
You didn't add the 20 percent loss when using the transformer. I do agree with your choice. I thought your sliding and thermostat idea was absolutely great. The money you saved can justify buying more solar panels as well. Great job on the video. Thanks for the great ideas.
Cool video. Love life. But ,FYI only invest in "pure sine wave inverter " that inverter you bought could and will burn up mother boards and new electronics
My husband is unfortunately a dumbass, he bought two dometics fridge freezers, and I had to discover this one, now we have two chest freezers one converted to a fridge, for the price of those two dometics, we could have gotten A LOT of solar. You live and learn. Nice video..Your wife is beautiful...If I were a lesbian.....don't get me started...have a nice day.
These deep freezers are better insulated than smaller ARB “expedition” duel zones. NOT BY A LOT but they are better and since cold air drops and this freezer is much deeper and has a top door, when you open it the cold air will not drop out hardly at all compared to side door fridges. This is SOO much better, and way cheaper plus more room.
This is a very good job and an intelligent use of space. Great idea to incorporate the flat top of the fridge as additional kitchen space which can be stored out of the way when not needed. I am wondering if this conversion could be used with a high capacity "power station" (say 2000 watt hours) running lithium batteries. If so this would be super efficient. Great video.
14:10 ... just on the voltage drop issue... if you use really high end copper wire with a large 6mm to 8mm core this (the voltage drop) will no longer be an issue... even over 25 meters... this was the distance from my solar panels to my regulator/inverter setup. Put simply ... use thick wire!!! Got it???!!! Don't be fick!!! Fantastic new angle on motorhome refrigeration solutions. Thanks for sharing. I'm right at this same point with my Coaster bus... which way to go? This is sounding good. Very cheap and efficient. And as you pointed out... the insulation factor for freezers! Better than the average fridge. And as a result, quite power friendly. Food for thought... pun intended. Nyuknyuknyuk!!
What kind of van are you looking at getting? I picked up a Ram Promaster and converted it to an RV and now I'm looking at getting a shuttle bus next. Cheers! Shu
@@LivingFree365 I have a couple of UA-cam channel that want to do a van tour when I am finished, I will post that but it will probably be later this summer. Do you have a video of your Promaster?
Like somebody else mentioned a modified sine wave inverter will kill the compressor faster than if you use a pure sine wave inverter. Another trick is instead of using the plug-in thermostat that you have you would instead get rid of that and plug the freezer directly into the inverter and then replace the inverter's power switch with the thermostat with the temperature sensor inside the freezer to control the inverter by switching it on and off once the temperature hits whatever you set on the thermostat. I hope that makes sense it's a pretty common mod from what I've seen in other videos
This wont work, as you shut downt the inverter that gives the freezer power making its internal thermostat sensor not being in operation. You would still need an undependent external thermostat switch connected to the inverters switch
@@jonasnyberg7728 there's literally videos of how to do this on youtube, and it's been suggested and done many times so yes it would work. I don't know where you think it wouldn't.
Nice! Having not done this yet its extremely....i dont know....daunting and confusing? I dont know how long any of the components will last but you have a really good and cheap solution to start with, although in Jan 2022 the prices have just about doubled for everything. This is likely due to the world shipping problem resulting in grotesquely higher charges. It appears you bought everything about one week before the shipping crisis began. In any case I like the thinking of converting a one-temperature freezer to a thermostat frig. What helps hold down electric is not opening the frig often and having good door seals. People say its the fact that cold doesnt rise, it stays down in this kind of design but frequently opening doors will cause high electric no matter what. Also, inherently chest freezers are more efficient because of the way they are made. They have thicker walls and insulation because they are expected to never un-freeze the contents. Also, find a way to embed temperature probe into the seal because where its crossing the seal will cause a leak. I might take a box cutter and slice across the seal, push the wire down into the seal and then smear some silicone on the outside of the seal to close the cut. Also do you know the watts of the freezer? The specs dont say watts or amps.
Super job, great ideas regarding almost all parts of it, so many! Kept thinking you were gonna shred on the math as it got tougher but well done there too. :) Small part's that a perfectionist or someone not yet completed on a project like this might consider: the efficiency and standby draw of the inverter chosen since it's on 7/24. Also if there are any components in the inverter like relays that might spark hydrogen gas from the batts. Lastly, I did some drawer slides much like yours recently and used locking slides which help tons when I'm on a slant like during a quick pull over. Well worth a thumbs up!
Was thinking about why this is so efficient. These units usually run at about 5 amps at 120V or 600watts(that's 50AH/hour not including the inverter), that's obviously not what's happening for you, either that or it's super short and/or very infrequent run times. I believe it's because these units are rated for freezing temps and the power consumption is inversely proportional to the temperature selection. And since your running it way back from it's normal freezing temps the efficiency goes through the roof. :)
Running an AC powered appliance through an inverter is still using AC power. But the savings on horizontal space and gains in capacity paired with the savings over buying an actual DC fridge make it easily worth the inverter's power loss.
I would have kept it a freezer set it at its highest temperature possible, had a separate ice chest that I would transfer the ice bottles to serve as refrigeration for the ice rather than defrost as we usually do place it in the icebox and conserve your energy.
Exact idea I'm in the process of doing. But I'm running a 12v temp sensor and relay to remote on inverter so I'm not losing standby power. That way im saving electricity and saved $50 instead of buying that temperature sensor they bought. I just plug straight in inverter.
That's what it did. I have a 5 cubic ft freezer for my off grid cabin. I was given a small 2dr fridge/freezer by my folks. I freeze water in 2qt bottles and use it to cool my fridge. Works great. I use the top freezer of the fridge for a meat and cheese cooler with a 2qt frozen bottle. I have 6 bottles that I rotate 3 at a time. Two in the bottom drawer of the fridge, one in the top. I use an ECO FLOW Delta 2 with a 160watt solar panel. Using a smaller freezer with a fridge setup and only having to power one of them would be an ideal setup in an on the road situation. This makes sure you have a sustainable amount of food if a situation arises.
Add a foam layer below the basket to create lower freezer and upper fridge compartments. Tune a variable size vent in the foam separator to tune the fridge to freezer temperature delta
Nice set up, but I would strongly recommend spending the money for a pure sign wave inverter. The modified sign wave power from the current inverter is not good for the compressor.
Thanks for the advice. That will probably be an upgrade in the future maybe if this one fails any time soon. I’m actually surprised how long it’s lasted for being such a cheap inverter. It’s been on 24/7 for close to a year now and still works great.
Wow awesome how it going is fridge still working , you still on the road most people had go back to work by now but im planing for hard times ahead my handyman business is failing
re: Comments like "glue some R13 foam board to the sides - NOT COVERING THE VENTS!" etc... Most chest freezers have the condenser section heat exchanger directly under the metal exterior sides, which means that you must not add additional external insulation to those surfaces. If you don't see an external heat exchanger (something that looks like a radiator) in the same compartment with the compressor, you can be virtually sure that heat from the condenser section is dissipated directly through the exterior skin (probably at least three sides, but not the bottom or top).
Great idea ,those slides you installed really look professional, I've been looking at the dometic cooler fridge but they really are expensive. I will be trying this for sure ,how has this been holding up is it still performing great .Thanks for the idea I am running a bar fridge now and on consecutive cloudy days I am not holding up have to run my generator but a freezer is much better built Thanks again Dale
Honestly, the price diff. Between your converted freezer 300$ vs domestic of that size 2000$ tax included. You end up with almost 2 lithium batteries with your converted freezer. That’s awesome.
I'm wondering if anyone has modified an existing frig to accept DC power without using an inverter. My understanding is that almost all consumer appliances convert the AC to DC current before using that DC current to turn a motor or run some other function. This conversion causes power loss. Now add an inverter, and you're converting twice and your power loss increases. My question is has anyone bypassed that AC/DC transformer, and then seen what kind of efficiency you can get? That might be really impressive.
lithium has dropped to 300 bucks only problem you need a heat pad if used under 32f or 0 c freezers are double the price he paid. the Honeywell thermostat is used by a lot of off grid . still not a bad way to go
Great setup. More people should know how easy this is. I ditched my 3 way fridge for this type of setup immediately. A few points to consider....
- a pure sine wave inverted while more expensive will save your compressor on the fridge/freezer. They don’t like running on modified wave inverters.
- your amp/hour calculation is great, but you forgot to consider that when running at a fridge temperature, this will consume much less power than the energy star number which is based on freezer temps.
- you’ll further increase efficiency by ensuring air can move around the unit, especially where the compressor vents, and if it has an external condenser that should have free airflow too.
Nice job.
My 2 way dometic is dead, trying to figure out how to fit one of these in, and still give it air circulation.
Always hear on van tour videos something along the lines of, "its about living out of the van, not in the van" But, the van is decked out with $1,500 fridges, $6,000 AC units, $5,000 heating systems, $3,000 showers, $1,000 toilets, etc. Nice to see you that you get just as much enjoyment from your travels - living out of youRVan - on a budget.
Yes and I think it’s even nicer knowing that if something breaks it’s not going to be a huge expense to fix. We think that all of the things we use work just as well as a lot of the expensive rigs out there.
C. Pala this was so true and hilarious!
Just added this to my Midget camper. Running freezer at 30 degrees with 120 watt solar panels, a single marine deep cycle battery, and a 750 watt inverter. has been working on its own in my yard for three weeks straight, no problems. Thank You !!!!!
I have 35ah solar battery,1000 watt inverter and 100 watt panel and I'm thinking of doing the same and buy the freezer
@whiterock4769 you'll need a minimum 12volt 100 amphr lithium battery. Otherwise it won't last, and 200 solar panel , 2000 watt P.S.W.inverter. MPPT.CARGE CONTROL @ 30AMPS minimum
Holy shit. This has been a back and forth stress for me. I am gonna do this first before I spend a million dollars since this is my first build. Thanks for the tip. And it’s spacious! Thanks.
I’m glad we could help!! Good luck on the build! Thanks for watching 😊
Same here Kelly.
Dude. I was like wow. Great job. Never thought of this. That’s why we need people like you guys. 5 👍🏻 up. Happy camping. 😁
Haha hope it was helpful! Thanks for watching! 👍
The energy star label is for the freezer operating as a freezer. It uses considerably less power operating as a fridge. That label is no longer valid data, but is not a bad place to start to oversize your battery bank. LiFePO4 batteries will save you money over time. If longevity is not a concern then stick with replacing those lead acid every 2-5 years. Overall, innovative and efficient solution if you don't mind the loading and unloading from the top.
Pi
my lead acid batteries are six years-old holding strong
THANKYOU BOTH OF YOU, I BOUGHT ONE TEMPERATURE GAUGES ON EBAY FOR $30.00 SINCE BOTH OF YOU MENTIONING IT ON YOUR UA-cam CHANNEL THANKS AGAIN
I'm on 12volt 450amphr for 4yrs & switched out everything & went lithium. Its surprisingly easy to max out your 450amphr & thats going half way. Thats why I'm going to 200amphr lithium
This video should really have at least 1,000,000 views.
Haha I wish! Thank you 😊
Good job. I wouldn't have ever thought of that. I've learned something new today. I'm 65 and all this stuff is new to me. Just like my cell phone. Lolo finally learned how to e mail and had to learn to text so I could comunicate with my children and 13 grandchildren. So I guess I'm still teachable. ?? Thanks for the video.
My dad did this on a fifth wheel. His 3-way fridge went out so he bought a small Avanti frig/freezer and runs it off of solar through an inverter. Very small power usage.
That's a great savings over the overpriced dometic fridges. But there are other brands like Smad and Costway that sell 12v top open fridges/freezers for $300-$350 fyi.
Those look pretty good! I didn’t see that option when I was shopping. Although the fridge setup I have looks like it’s about 20 quarts larger and $100-140 cheaper than those two brands. Still good options though. Thanks for sharing!
@@ouRVan I was wondering if a three way fridge uses more electricity than a dedicated 120 volt fridge. I tried to run my three way fridge on 300 watts solar and ran the batteries down in one night.
I followed this video and did this exact freezer with thermostat 3 years ago and its huge amazing works on my jackery 1000 for long trips easy. Barely used power and is super cold in 5 min
pretty sweet the savings over a dometic. that dough can get utilized for more batteries, a generator, solar stuff, etc...
Yeah the amount of money we saved was one of the main reasons we went this route, also it’s bigger. Thanks for watching! 👍
I like your video presentation. It is informative too, at the same time. Thanks a lot for your guidance!
That drawer idea was an awesome design. Very well built my friend. I built a Promaster van with a 120v Fridge with a separate freezer. The external thermostat is an awesome idea. I'm going to be building a shuttle bus conversion soon and will be looking at your idea with the rolling out freezer on that build. Awesome design and build and 420 Ah might sound like a lot but, it's better to always have more than what you need for future additions. Cheers! Shu
Very smart guy. I like this decision.
Thanks!
Nice Job you have done there & for a great price too. You can use it as a fridge freezer if you get or make a nice foam box to fit in the top half, and you can store frozen items underneath, you would obviously need to turn ur thermostat down. I did this when off grid with a large old kero come gas freezer, I just used some foam broccoli container on the top half as a fridge area while the bottom section stayed frozen solid. Cheers
You are gonna have trouble with a square wave inverter on an inductive load. Pure sine wave inverters will make the freezer motor last a long time.
But they could probably replace this freezer a few times before this set up would end up costing them as much as an reliable DC fridge with similar capacity and functionality.
Excellent video. Adding batteries and/or more solar panels is WAY cheaper than an expensive ARB or Dometic fridge! Plus, your tiny freezer is TWICE as big as the 12-volt refrigerators! Added counter space is an added benefit! This will be an addition to the new GoneCamper cargo trailer conversion.
Thanks for watching and Good luck on the conversion! 👍😊
Thank you for this.
This really changed my plans and layout in my campervan.
hope we were helpful! Goodluck!
Excellent video!
You nailed on the positive points on using your freezer as a fridge: insulation, not losing the temperature because it's a chest and most importantly the price. It has been 6 months, how has it been holding up?
1. Do you have condensation on the interior walls?
2. Did you change out the Harbor Freight inverter for a pure sine wave inverter?
3. Is it a hassle reaching in to get your food?
4. Did you buy more basket (especially another hanging one) for better organization?
sorry for the late response but thank you! It's still going strong, not a single issue yet. we did not change the Harbor Freight inverter, that is still going strong as well. I'll be honest when the fridge is packed with a weeks worth of food it does become a little bit of a hassle but we never wish we had something different over it. We did not hang another basket mainly because it would block us from getting to the bottom of the fridge. we still love it and recommend it to everyone we know. especially for the price ;)
@@ouRVan great video. Is the fridge & setup still working 2 yrs later? Asking as so many fridges go out 1yr and a month just past the warranty.
You guys just saved me from a $700+ blunder . Thank you very much
Oh I’m so glad to hear that! Thanks for watching😊
REALY THANK YOU CHAD AND ASHLEY CAUSE SMALL FREEZERS ARE SUPER CHEAP WOW! IM VERY GREATFUL YOU TWO TEACHING ME THIS MUCH LOVE AND CARE THANKS AGAIN. OWENS.
I have a dometic and it uses 4.5amp hours a day, Max. They’re way more efficient.
You lose a tonne of power converting 12v to Household voltage (120 or 240 depending on region)
This is a cool idea and glad to see it works, You do get what you pay for if you’re serious about van life to be fair
4.5 amp hours a day is shockingly low but that’s awesome! What model fridge do you have? From my research no other fridge of this size had much lower power consumption. I agree if you’ve got the money to spend the dometic fridges are very nice but I’ve had this one going for 2 years now with no issues and it was much more affordable.
Chest freezers blow dometic outta the way. Gimmie a break. Dometic BIG $$ & 1ft worth of space. Chest freezer is 4X the size & equally efficient. Dometic $500 Haire $150
Do the math. Dometic Sucks
4.5ah per day ! the hourly consumption of Dometic 12v compressor fridges are 1.5-1.7 amps per hour. Are you sure your not confusing the current draw of the fridge while running (4.5 - 5 amps)
They draw 4.5 - 5 amps while running but once down to temp only run for about 20 minutes in the hour (weather dependent).
36 amps would be the minimum a Dometic fridge would draw in a 24 hour period (1.5 x 24)
Guys great job! I am about to do the same thing with a 7 cu ft chest I bought on sale. Our elt bill at the homestead was 300 bucks. I love my 50 year old Kenmore but it gobbles the juice. Works great, just sucks it out the amps. You are right about the propane fridges. They gobble up the propane. I have one in the barn. Its a Dometic. BTW the Johnson Controllers are now almost 90 bucks on Amazon. Have you guys thought about a remote digital thermostat?
I love to see young people out doing stuff. I traveled the west and lots of the US in my converted school bus back twenty years ago or so. I had all these dogs and cats with me. We had an amazing time. Enjoy your adventures. Take care of yourselves.
My last bit of old man advice. Buy some land. Have a water source and put it in trust for yourselves. God is not making more land. I tell young people this. There comes a day you need to put down roots. Trust an old fart. Be free kids.
That is the best fridge fix Ive seen
Thank you!! And thanks for watching👍😊
Great tip. I wonder why this is not more widely known. You guys are great. Marty from Australia
Thanks! It took us a lot of searching to find this method but it works great and is so much more affordable than other 12v fridges.
ouRVan those types of tips are what I search for a lot. Keep it up. Hope you can travel easier and more parks open for you soon. Our country is looking like opening up again over the next 4 or 5 weeks.
Why it isn't more widely known????
Because that setup doesn't have great durability, for 1 thing!
I just posted a lengthy reply to this guy's original posting.
But basically it says home appliances are not built strong and sturdy or to go 80mph down the road, fall in potholes, etc. The compressor will twist off its lines in no time and you will have a dead unit!
Rv appliances are (usually? Often? Hopefully?) built with jostling in mind while your fisher paykels aren't! Since they usually sit in but 1 spot on your kitchen floor and don't shoot up and down mountain roads and bump along gravel back roads.
But I could be wrong!
Kitchen units are not built as stout as are the rv ones! The kitchen refrigerator I got last year did not survive being unloaded off the truck incorrectly. There was a big sign on the box to ONLY tip the fridge/freezer to either side, NOT to tip it toward the front or back! And these guys do this all day long and they got it wrong! Which is another issue! But when we plugged it in, it did not work!!! So they brought another one the following week!
The point being: these Electrolux units are so fragile they cannot be tipped except in 2 directions!!!! And that just seems rather pitiful to me! And someone wants to sail down the highway with it, chuck holes, and all???
Just don't see that as a feasible plan! In the least!
It worked extremely well for them for almost 2 years... and is probably still going strong for the new owner of their van. :) Apparently potholes were no match for this freezer!
Thank you for breaking it down for us I want to take my deep freeze thank you for letting me know how to convert it into a refrigerator very intelligent thank you so much🌞
Oh thank you, weeks from my launch in my cargo trailer conversion and have been desperately looking for an answer. I love you guys!
Hope we were helpful and safe travels.:) You're going to love it!
I just posted a reply to their posting. I'm not sure it will work, for long. But it is not based on anything other than what I know of refrigerators that do not travel or home units! They are fragile, delicate and are not built for falling in/over bumps and potholes!
So I will be anxious to hear from 'someone out there on the road'!
When something is too easy or so simple usually it doesn't work, for long. Perhaps this is an exception to that rule!
Let us know, please!
All the best to you!!!
@@paulortiz2035 hey Paul, from what I've researched the higher tier travel fridges (dometic) last 2-5 years max. For a lower tier unit (China brand) 1-2 years is all you can get, so if this set up can last anywhere over a year its worth it in my opinion. Let me know if you disagree
Well no more ice in 5 days, we just went shopping and thank yoi
Very nice setup. I'd heard of people doing that, but your explanation and camera angles should allow anyone to do the same. There is only one thing I would change, and the compressor in your "fridge" will thank you for it. Ditch the cheap inverter for one that outputs a true sinewave, not a truncated square or whatever simulated-sine waveform the Centon produces. A 600W inverter should be plenty to cover the startup surge needed by the compressor. In addition to being better for electronics, true sinewaves are easier on motors as well.
Great creativity on the implementation and slider! Thanks for sharing
I just saw your video again and you did answer my question. Very good sir and thank you. We have been using ice but now we will have a fridge.
very good video , read about this setup years ago , only the guy was using this system in his off grid home , very good , thanks again
Really? that guy had a good idea lol! thank you for watching! 😊
Great idea. I will be doing this set-up once I purchase my large cargo van.
😳
I can't believe I didn't think of that...!!!
Nice1 👍
Thanks, hope it was helpful. Thanks for watching 👍
this is a great hack. Bonus add on is to throw a digital thermometer in the mix to make sure your meat/food stays in a safe range and doesn't spoil. then once you have it dialed in after a few months of different scenarios you know where u will be
I would have never thought to use a freezer as a fridge! Thanks for s great idea!
Thanks. Really useful information!
This is the second round (a year later) of searching fridges for myVan build... started with the usual suspects and ended up back at this video, again. This is proof enough (for Me) that this is the way for Me 2go. I already have that same 2nd smaller inverter from Harbour Freight. This was meant 2be. I'll even have savings enough to fill the unit with some grub. lol Thankhz so Much for sharing. Wholeness n Essence of Love ((-;
We posted this video to help others find an affordable and reliable fridge, so it makes us happy to hear that this is going to work for you!! Wish you the best on your van build! Thanks for watching 😊
I love this solution and saved this video back when it came out. Finally got my skoolie, went to find a little chest freezer and found that they now have several 4+ star rated, convertible 3.5-5 cu ft. chest freezer/fridges for under $160 on Amazon. I think that all one would need is the inverter to pull this trick off now. Still an invaluable video, but it seems that China just made it so we can remove one step.
Now I'm poking around through all my other electronics, wondering what else I can convert that won't get too mad at me. I do miss the toughness of old tech. The 'smart' stuff is way too finicky and delicate. As far as I'm concerned, everything just has more ways to break.
Thank you, accurately presented with relevant points clearly made - and easily understood.
I appreciate your ingenuity. Piece of advice when you use modify sine wave inverter‘s your electronics are going to fail eventually so try to buy a pure sine wave inverter and electronics are going to last forever
Thanks for the advice, I’ll have to look into that 👍
Doing this in my bus 😍 thanks so much y’all! You are saving me so much!
I didn’t know you have a bus
I've gotta learn a lot from you, y'all!
Refrigerator induction motors are not as sensitive to inverters as others assume. The fridge motor might run a little warmer but there's no sensitive electronic components to fail.
Thank you for talking about the voltage and cabling regarding 12v and 120v with lengths and such. Ive been looking for this info! It was hard to find
One would add the inverter amperage and the thermostat consumption to the formula to find the actual fridge amperage consumption
This is so brilliant! I've been shopping 12v fridges on Amazon for my 2003 Sprinter Class B RV, and the one star reviews on the affordable ones are so concerning. My current Norcold fridge is about dead and new ones installed are 2k!! So when I saw this I got so excited. My only issue is I don't have solar. I'm hoping this will work with a Jackery 1000, which I will charge with portable solar panels. Worse case scenario I can use it on my house for extra freezer or fridge space.
Thanks for sharing this with us. I followed and can't wait to watch more of your videos!
Wow 2k for a new fridge, that’s crazy! We were so happy when we realized how cheap the converted freezer was going to be. I hope this idea works for you! If we missed any questions you might have please ask away!😊 thank you so much for subscribing!
I just tried out a Colzer 53 qt freezer with a Jackery 500. I used my house to get the fridge down to zero before testing. Outside yesterday under hazy Ohio skies my Jackery stayed at 100% while keeping the freezer frozen. I brought the Jackery and freezer in my house at sundown. This morning my Jackery was down to 20% charge. The freezer only had 5 ice cube trays in it, so there was a lot of empty space. Right now I am cooling a Rockpal 12 volt fridge to test next. The Colzer is not very well insulated. The outside felt cold, so it needs a jacket.
You are the best mom ever
ingenious. The thermostat plug was worth the price of admission alone.
You didn't add the 20 percent loss when using the transformer. I do agree with your choice. I thought your sliding and thermostat idea was absolutely great. The money you saved can justify buying more solar panels as well. Great job on the video. Thanks for the great ideas.
Great work. Awesome video. Definitely gonna go this route.
Your rollout idea is perfect for my set up. Thanks so much!!! You're a lifesaver🙌
Very cool video. Hahahahaha my favourite feature in your van is you two, oh and Buddy. Cheers!!!
Aww thank you!
Cool video. Love life. But ,FYI only invest in "pure sine wave inverter " that inverter you bought could and will burn up mother boards and new electronics
ill be doing this for my van build. purchasing today! :) keep producing more videos plz!
Glad to hear it was helpful! Thanks for watching and good luck on the van build! 😊
My husband is unfortunately a dumbass, he bought two dometics fridge freezers, and I had to discover this one, now we have two chest freezers one converted to a fridge, for the price of those two dometics, we could have gotten A LOT of solar. You live and learn. Nice video..Your wife is beautiful...If I were a lesbian.....don't get me started...have a nice day.
Thank you thank you thank you I have been wondering how this is done and I came across your video thank you so much and I love the RV
These deep freezers are better insulated than smaller ARB “expedition” duel zones. NOT BY A LOT but they are better and since cold air drops and this freezer is much deeper and has a top door, when you open it the cold air will not drop out hardly at all compared to side door fridges. This is SOO much better, and way cheaper plus more room.
The external thermostat can slso be used to turn an old fridge into a 'wine' fridge---- To keep the whites and champagne at 55 degrees!
This is a very good job and an intelligent use of space. Great idea to incorporate the flat top of the fridge as additional kitchen space which can be stored out of the way when not needed. I am wondering if this conversion could be used with a high capacity "power station" (say 2000 watt hours) running lithium batteries. If so this would be super efficient. Great video.
14:10 ... just on the voltage drop issue... if you use really high end copper wire with a large 6mm to 8mm core this (the voltage drop) will no longer be an issue... even over 25 meters... this was the distance from my solar panels to my regulator/inverter setup. Put simply ... use thick wire!!! Got it???!!! Don't be fick!!!
Fantastic new angle on motorhome refrigeration solutions. Thanks for sharing. I'm right at this same point with my Coaster bus... which way to go? This is sounding good. Very cheap and efficient. And as you pointed out... the insulation factor for freezers! Better than the average fridge. And as a result, quite power friendly. Food for thought... pun intended. Nyuknyuknyuk!!
Haven't gotten my van yet but I have my refrigerator 😉
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What kind of van are you looking at getting? I picked up a Ram Promaster and converted it to an RV and now I'm looking at getting a shuttle bus next. Cheers! Shu
@@LivingFree365 I bought a Ford E350 cutaway van with a 14'5 box and a 80" interior height with a 79" width.
@@Scrambler85 One of our delivery guys has one. I would have loved to have converted one. Are you going to post videos of the build?
@@LivingFree365 I have a couple of UA-cam channel that want to do a van tour when I am finished, I will post that but it will probably be later this summer. Do you have a video of your Promaster?
Just subbed, great im going for this option too thanks for your video
Nice! and thnx! 🙂
+ pls give us an update as to how it is going?? thank you
*i got rid of my small fridge I was thinking of doing this but I sold it I’m thinking about doing this or something a little differently*
Years ago, a friend gave me a small chess freezer. He had taped 2 inch insulation board on top and the sides, using metal tape.
Like somebody else mentioned a modified sine wave inverter will kill the compressor faster than if you use a pure sine wave inverter. Another trick is instead of using the plug-in thermostat that you have you would instead get rid of that and plug the freezer directly into the inverter and then replace the inverter's power switch with the thermostat with the temperature sensor inside the freezer to control the inverter by switching it on and off once the temperature hits whatever you set on the thermostat. I hope that makes sense it's a pretty common mod from what I've seen in other videos
This wont work, as you shut downt the inverter that gives the freezer power making its internal thermostat sensor not being in operation. You would still need an undependent external thermostat switch connected to the inverters switch
@@jonasnyberg7728 there's literally videos of how to do this on youtube, and it's been suggested and done many times so yes it would work. I don't know where you think it wouldn't.
Because it Doesn't make sence😮
Nice! Having not done this yet its extremely....i dont know....daunting and confusing? I dont know how long any of the components will last but you have a really good and cheap solution to start with, although in Jan 2022 the prices have just about doubled for everything. This is likely due to the world shipping problem resulting in grotesquely higher charges. It appears you bought everything about one week before the shipping crisis began. In any case I like the thinking of converting a one-temperature freezer to a thermostat frig. What helps hold down electric is not opening the frig often and having good door seals. People say its the fact that cold doesnt rise, it stays down in this kind of design but frequently opening doors will cause high electric no matter what. Also, inherently chest freezers are more efficient because of the way they are made. They have thicker walls and insulation because they are expected to never un-freeze the contents. Also, find a way to embed temperature probe into the seal because where its crossing the seal will cause a leak. I might take a box cutter and slice across the seal, push the wire down into the seal and then smear some silicone on the outside of the seal to close the cut. Also do you know the watts of the freezer? The specs dont say watts or amps.
Super job, great ideas regarding almost all parts of it, so many! Kept thinking you were gonna shred on the math as it got tougher but well done there too. :) Small part's that a perfectionist or someone not yet completed on a project like this might consider: the efficiency and standby draw of the inverter chosen since it's on 7/24. Also if there are any components in the inverter like relays that might spark hydrogen gas from the batts. Lastly, I did some drawer slides much like yours recently and used locking slides which help tons when I'm on a slant like during a quick pull over. Well worth a thumbs up!
Was thinking about why this is so efficient. These units usually run at about 5 amps at 120V or 600watts(that's 50AH/hour not including the inverter), that's obviously not what's happening for you, either that or it's super short and/or very infrequent run times. I believe it's because these units are rated for freezing temps and the power consumption is inversely proportional to the temperature selection. And since your running it way back from it's normal freezing temps the efficiency goes through the roof. :)
So if used as a freezer, it wouldn’t be as efficient?
Good for you , always thought about doing the same at my cabin instead of propane
A cutting board attached to the top of the fridge would be perfect.
You're a genius. This is it.
What are you guys using to heat water in your rig.
Running an AC powered appliance through an inverter is still using AC power. But the savings on horizontal space and gains in capacity paired with the savings over buying an actual DC fridge make it easily worth the inverter's power loss.
We are building a icecream bike You have helped a lot with this information 👍
I would have kept it a freezer set it at its highest temperature possible, had a separate ice chest that I would transfer the ice bottles to serve as refrigeration for the ice rather than defrost as we usually do place it in the icebox and conserve your energy.
Exact idea I'm in the process of doing. But I'm running a 12v temp sensor and relay to remote on inverter so I'm not losing standby power. That way im saving electricity and saved $50 instead of buying that temperature sensor they bought. I just plug straight in inverter.
That's what it did. I have a 5 cubic ft freezer for my off grid cabin. I was given a small 2dr fridge/freezer by my folks. I freeze water in 2qt bottles and use it to cool my fridge. Works great. I use the top freezer of the fridge for a meat and cheese cooler with a 2qt frozen bottle. I have 6 bottles that I rotate 3 at a time. Two in the bottom drawer of the fridge, one in the top. I use an ECO FLOW Delta 2 with a 160watt solar panel. Using a smaller freezer with a fridge setup and only having to power one of them would be an ideal setup in an on the road situation. This makes sure you have a sustainable amount of food if a situation arises.
Add a foam layer below the basket to create lower freezer and upper fridge compartments. Tune a variable size vent in the foam separator to tune the fridge to freezer temperature delta
420Ah is very good because you don't have to use a lot of that so it is expected to last much longer. Good stuff thanks
Great video and affordable refrigerator option thank you
Nice set up, but I would strongly recommend spending the money for a pure sign wave inverter. The modified sign wave power from the current inverter is not good for the compressor.
Thanks for the advice. That will probably be an upgrade in the future maybe if this one fails any time soon. I’m actually surprised how long it’s lasted for being such a cheap inverter. It’s been on 24/7 for close to a year now and still works great.
pure sine wave
Thank you so much guys ❤️🙏😊🚩
hope we were helpful! thanks for watching! :)
Great thinking!
Would you tell me about that mirrored cabinet, on the cabinet, please?
💞~👵
Wow awesome how it going is fridge still working , you still on the road most people had go back to work by now but im planing for hard times ahead my handyman business is failing
Thank you! That is an answer I've been seeking for awhile now!!!!!
re: Comments like "glue some R13 foam board to the sides - NOT COVERING THE VENTS!" etc... Most chest freezers have the condenser section heat exchanger directly under the metal exterior sides, which means that you must not add additional external insulation to those surfaces. If you don't see an external heat exchanger (something that looks like a radiator) in the same compartment with the compressor, you can be virtually sure that heat from the condenser section is dissipated directly through the exterior skin (probably at least three sides, but not the bottom or top).
Great idea ,those slides you installed really look professional, I've been looking at the dometic cooler fridge but they really are expensive. I will be trying this for sure ,how has this been holding up is it still performing great .Thanks for the idea I am running a bar fridge now and on consecutive cloudy days I am not holding up have to run my generator but a freezer is much better built Thanks again Dale
Thank you - just the video I wanted/needed to see....simple, easy - Take Care
What a great idea.Thanks for sharing.
Love it👍
Brilliant thanks
Honestly, the price diff. Between your converted freezer 300$ vs domestic of that size 2000$ tax included. You end up with almost 2 lithium batteries with your converted freezer. That’s awesome.
great channel, your hikes are inspirational
I'm wondering if anyone has modified an existing frig to accept DC power without using an inverter. My understanding is that almost all consumer appliances convert the AC to DC current before using that DC current to turn a motor or run some other function. This conversion causes power loss. Now add an inverter, and you're converting twice and your power loss increases. My question is has anyone bypassed that AC/DC transformer, and then seen what kind of efficiency you can get? That might be really impressive.
Very nice video
Simply brilliant
you just saved me a lot of money! THank you!
we always love the cheap option, glad we could help. Good luck! :)
That's so cool...
Thank you for sharing, well done. God bless.
lithium has dropped to 300 bucks only problem you need a heat pad if used under 32f or 0 c freezers are double the price he paid. the Honeywell thermostat is used by a lot of off grid . still not a bad way to go