ouR escaPOD mods

It's too big for the area in front of the closet where you had your smaller battery?

$308/kwh, getting cheaper all the time....

Originally posted by StephenH I'm already happy with it. Given that we made the trip with the cooler and experienced similar power draw, I think we will do okay with the CRX-1100. During ARRL Field Day I observed the meter but did not record use then. That was before I added extra insulation, which I expect will really help with the power use. I have an AC-DC clamp-on meter. However, it would not be suitable for observing long term because it would be detecting spot use, not tracking or recording use. What do you use to isolate the refrigerator's power so you can track just that power use?

Sounds like a good plan. If you look at the high end "expedition" rigs they all seem to be going fully electric now, with large Li battery packs, solar arrays, and high capacity alternators.

The other thing you could consider is to keep your existing battery and add another one with a marine style rotary switch (bat 1, batt 2, both and off) so you have full control over your electrical storage system

I think the thing that folks are missing is that unlike an absorption fridge which always uses pretty much the same amount of energy a compressor fridge is more like owning a car.

Two people own the same car, but one uses 100 gallons of fuel a month and the other uses 10. Why? The one using 100 gallons drives like a demon, has a long commute, and tows a trailer. The one using 10 gallons is retired, drives like a little old lady, and only uses the car to go to the store a couple times a month. No one would ever say that any two ppl will burn the same amount of fuel just because they own the same car.

Ditto for the compressor fridge. There are way too many variables (ambient temp, internal temp setting, what you're putting in and taking out, how often and how long you leave the door open, etc) to say "if you get xx fridge you can power it with yy solar array and zz batteries.

Sorry that it's not that simple but that is the way with most things in life. It's really the same reason some folks here are perfectly happy with their absorption fridges while other ppl think they're junk.