Solar Fridge

Posted by Darren Humphrey on Fri, Jun 7, 2024

I posted this the other day, but it’s worth repeating. You can convert an energy star chest freezer into a refrigerator using an inkbird ITC 308 temperature controller (or similar). You set the low point for around 35F and the high point for about 40F.

A new 15 cu ft energy star chest freezer uses about 750 Watt Hours a day. https://www.lowes.com/pd/GE-Garage-Ready-15-7-cu-ft-Manual-Defrost-Chest-Freezer-with-Temperature-Alarm-White-ENERGY-STAR/1000309139 (277 KWH per year / 365 days = 758 Watt Hours a day) When connected to the temperature controller, that power usage drops dramatically, to as low as 150 Watt Hours a day, assuming the fridge is full and you don’t open the door at all. Each time you open the door, you’re going to let some heat in and use some more Watt Hours.

If you don’t need 15 cubic feet, you can get a smaller one, like this 10 cubic foot model which only uses 598 Watt Hours a day as a freezer. https://www.energystar.gov/productfinder/product/certified-residential-freezers/details/2215216 (218 KWH / 365 days = 598 Watt Hours a day) By the time you figure in inverter loss, standby losses and powering the inkbird, you might clock in around 400 to 500 Watt Hours a day. This is substantially lower than your kitchen fridge, which will easily be 3-4x higher. With 400 watts of solar, you need about 1 hour of full power sun exposure to run the freezer as a fridge for a day. Total cost is about $950 for the freezer and temperature controller.

Ink bird \https://amzn.to/4c9Eq4K