How many watts does a refrigerator use....
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TECH Fanatic
Joined: Dec 2005
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How many watts does a refrigerator use.... for start up and when running? I'm looking at HF 12V converters, to power the frige when the power goes out. I've been using my parents generator, but man those things eat gas! So I was thinking I could build my own, power station. Use a lawn motor engine, that will turn an alternator, that will recharge the 12V battery, that will run the converter, that will run the fridge. When that battery dies, swap it out, and charger it.
What are your thoughts?
Thanks.
What are your thoughts?
Thanks.
Launching!
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 238
Likes: 0
From: NOR-CAL
for start up and when running? I'm looking at HF 12V converters, to power the frige when the power goes out. I've been using my parents generator, but man those things eat gas! So I was thinking I could build my own, power station. Use a lawn motor engine, that will turn an alternator, that will recharge the 12V battery, that will run the converter, that will run the fridge. When that battery dies, swap it out, and charger it.
What are your thoughts?
Thanks.
What are your thoughts?
Thanks.
3-4 amps
Last edited by VETTEX2; Sep 11, 2012 at 12:44 PM.
for start up and when running? I'm looking at HF 12V converters, to power the frige when the power goes out. I've been using my parents generator, but man those things eat gas! So I was thinking I could build my own, power station. Use a lawn motor engine, that will turn an alternator, that will recharge the 12V battery, that will run the converter, that will run the fridge. When that battery dies, swap it out, and charger it.
What are your thoughts?
Thanks.
What are your thoughts?
Thanks.
The current draw is not only higher during defrost mode but is also much greater during motor start. For those reasons you need an inverter (or generator) with enough reserve capacity.
You could use an inverter but we need to remeber that every time you convert one form of energy to another ther is usually a loss of enrgy in the form of heat generated. For a short term the inverter should work fine but the battery charge will probably discharge quickly, especially if the frefer is in the defrost mode. In the event of a long term power outage you will need a generator or other device to run a charger to keep the battery mantained while it is powering the inverter which is pwering the refer, with an efficiency loss at each step.
In other words, the generator is probably the best method for anything but a very short term power outage.
