Thermo-Electric for short trips

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Ella Page
5 years ago
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Buying a camping fridge can seem like a daunting task, they are not all the same, so many brands, confusing technical information. How do you choose one? It depends on how you plan to use your fridge.

1 Buying a camping fridge can seem like a daunting task, they are not all the same, so many brands, confusing technical information. How do you choose one? It depends on how you plan to use your fridge. Camping, 4wdriving, fishing, or is it going to live in the shack for 2 months? In this blog we break down the differences between camp fridges, look at how they work and which one is best for you. Thermo-Electric for short trips A thermoelectric fridge is more of a cooling box as it doesn t usually get cold as a fridge. These work using the Peltier effect, which is the ability to create heating or cooling when electricity passes through two different conductors. The Peltier Effect means that if you pass electricity through a special metal plate in a certain direction, you will make the plate hot, or if you pass it through in the opposite direction you will make it cold. A fan then blows air across the cold plate and into the box to cool it down.

2 Pro s small and inexpensive Generally cost under $200 With the absence of a compressor, these cooling boxes are often quite small, with plenty of space inside Con s high power consumption, limited cooling ability Can only cool to degrees below ambient temperature Consuming power at around 4 5 amps per hour, you can t leave these running off your car for more than a few hours Best Use day trips Great for picnics and short road trips. Popular with courier and truck drivers to keep lunch and drinks cold. 3 Way Fridge for long stays Can be run on gas, 12V and 240V power. When used correctly, they are a very efficient and reliable.

3 A 3-way fridge uses an absorption method which is a fully sealed system that relies on heat to get it started. Water and ammonia are heated in a generator and rises to a separator where the water and the ammonia gas are separated. The gas rises to a condenser where it cools and forms liquid ammonia which mixes with hydrogen and evaporates, removing heat from the cabinet. The mixture then heads to an absorber where the ammonia mixes with water again and the cycle continues. Pro s very, very efficient, on gas Around 1kg of gas can give you up to a week of operation and drop temperatures to the point of freezing items in the cabinet Gas, 12V or 240V makes them very versatile Can be bought new for as little as $300 but beware, as with anything, you get what you pay for! Con s Need ventilation and large current draw On 12V, a 3-way fridge will use up to 6amps an hour which is a huge current draw These fridges often come with a bubble level to make sure you keep them flat, or they won t work!

4 Cannot safely run on gas inside a car or caravan, good ventilation is required. This means you will need to take it out of your vehicle every time you want to stop and run it on gas, which will be every night due to its current draw. Produce a lot of heat which needs to rise out of the back and top of the fridge. You will need to pack carefully giving it lots of room, which means it really shouldn t be used in an enclosed boot or box. Best Use long stays Extended stay sat a shack or if you intend on setting up camp for long periods. Also suitable for 4wdrivers and caravaners but have a temperamental nature requiring more care than a compressor fridge. Compressor Fridges are popular all-rounders These are the most popular camping fridge due to low current draw and high cooling efficiency. Common names such as Waeco and Engel are famous for their compressor driven fridges. I ll try and keep it simple a compressor is used to pump refrigeration gas around the system. The gas is compressed to a liquid and sent to the cooling elements where it evaporates, removing heat from the cabinet. The gas then gets pumped through outer fins

5 releasing the heat before returning to the compressor. Pro s efficient, robust and versatile Will cool very effectively and can often reach temperatures of -18degrees even on hot days Efficient operation on 12V, 24V and 240V power. Depending on internal and external temperatures, power consumption averages out to around 1amp per hour. Built strong and are designed to handle the harsh outback environments. Safe to leave running in the car, but still, need some ventilation to keep the compressor cool. Con s expensive Expensive, although the introduction of cheaper generic brands has helped to bring the price down. You get what you pay for is definitely a principle that should be applied here Only operate on electricity. Most will have the option of having a 240V transformer built in but the smaller sizes are often 12V only. Best Use does it all Camping, 4wdriving or an extra fridge/freezer at home, they will do it all. Check out our range of fridges here, or for immediate answers to your questions contact us at Snowys.

Refrigerator and Heat Pump Objectives

10 CHAPTER Refrigeration Cycles 10-1 Refrigerator and Heat Pump Objectives The objective of a refrigerator is to remove heat (Q L ) from the cold medium; the objective of a heat pump is to supply heat