Running a Fridge on your solar system

One of the most important home appliances is a fridge. These days fridges require less power than before but because they require more power to start between 900watts to 1000watts, they cannot be run by a 12 volt system. 12 volt systems max out at 780watts mostly.

Modern day fridges require 100 to 150 watts to run and over a full day, a fridge is likely to use between 1 to 2 kilowatt-hours (kWh). However things are not this simple. The actual energy consumption of your fridge or freezer will depend on many factors.

These include:

Type.

For example, a commercial display fridge can use ten times more than your bar fridge at home.

Size.

Anything with a larger volume, such as side by side fridges, use more electricity.

Location.

If the fridge is in a warm position, or poorly ventilated, it will use more power.

Season.

All refrigerators use more power in summer than in winter as the ambient temperature is higher.

Usage.

If the fridge door is opened frequently or held open, the compressor will need to work harder to keep things cool. Also, an empty fridge may need to work harder than a reasonably-stocked fridge because more 'cool air' is replaced with 'warm air' each time the door is opened.

Temperature set point.

The factory setting may keep the fridge cooler than is needed in your home.

Age.

Older refrigerators are usually less energy efficient than new high star rated fridges.

Condition.

If the seals are in poor condition, your fridge will be less efficient.

At a minimum you will need a 24volt system with a minimum of 1200watts to run a refrigerator on your system. We recommend that you run a fridge on a 2kva (1600watts) or 3kva system (2400watts). With the 1.5kva Luminous and Schneider hybrid inverters we have successfully run fridges with 440AH battery bank during the day.

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