Backwoods Solar has NovaKools for sale

[hbn7hj]

https://backwoodssolar.com/product-c...eid=fd9f054131

[booster]

Originally Posted by hbn7hj

https://backwoodssolar.com/product-c...eid=fd9f054131

Do they actually have them? Description says all models available to special order. I ran into similar when I was looking for our Isotherm last summer. Similar jargon but didn't have any and couldn't get any.

[hbn7hj]

This was their email.

Backwoods Solar is starting to see more Nova Kool refrigerators arrive at our warehouse. While supply is still limited we do have a few models in stock and ready to ship including models R-1200-ACDC, R-3100-RF-ACDC, R-3800-RF-ACDC and R-4500-RF-ACDC. See what we have to offer here. Or call Backwoods Solar at 208-263-4290 to get current availability of your favorite model.

[GallenH]

I can't remember the consensus: Is it better to get the AC/DC or just the DC?

[GallenH]

And.......are there any reliable specs on amp draw? As I recall there was a line between the 3800 and smaller (2.2amps) and the 4500 and up (4.4amps).

[hbn7hj]

Originally Posted by GallenH

And.......are there any reliable specs on amp draw? As I recall there was a line between the 3800 and smaller (2.2amps) and the 4500 and up (4.4amps).

You get what you can get. AC/DC gives you more options. Both size fridges have the same compressor. You can adjust it to have the draw you want. The larger fridge was rated for more amps because it probably had more heat loss due to size.

If you need the larger fridge and it fits, get it. If it draws too much power put some insulation around it. Again, they both have the same compressor.

(If I am wrong someone speak out)

[booster]

Originally Posted by hbn7hj

You get what you can get. AC/DC gives you more options. Both size fridges have the same compressor. You can adjust it to have the draw you want. The larger fridge was rated for more amps because it probably had more heat loss due to size.

If you need the larger fridge and it fits, get it. If it draws too much power put some insulation around it. Again, they both have the same compressor.

(If I am wrong someone speak out)

This is exactly right.


As I have said many, many, many times, don't get messed up looking at the amp draw of any frig. It is an almost useless spec for trying to figure out how much power the unit will use. All you tell is what the absolute maximum use would be. You get very different run time percents with different speeds so the power use at 4.4 amps would be no where near double the use at 2.2 amps, likely in the 5-10% higher power use increase range because of efficiency change due to speed.



The higher amp draw is only because they probably need the capacity for the larger frig, so no choice in that unless also as mentioned you add insulation or stay is cooler climates.


For the lowest overall power use, you are best off getting the the slowest compressor speed you can run and still keep the frig cool enough as the efficiency is better at lower speeds. That generally makes smaller, better insulated frigs have higher overall efficiency compared to larger frigs that use the same compressor.



I have not looked at the efficiency of the even larger frigs that use the next size up BD50 compressors, but some of them may get more efficient again because the bigger compressor could be run slower.

[hbn7hj]

I say this more for the joke than reality but if you don’t start crimping wire you are gonna croak before this gets done. Has it been three years?

[DaveBad]

$11,921,357.00 ?

[booster]

One other thing that I will point out on the speeds that may or may not already be known.


We always tend to see the data for the speed as set points in stock frigs that don't have the fancy automatic energy saving electronic controls (that may actually take more power in many situations).



In reality the speed is a continuously variable thing between 2000 and 3500 rpm of the compressor. The amps moving similarly and are not necessarily the same all the time at the same speed because amps change with temps outside and inside the frig.


The speed is controlled by a resistor in the thermostat wiring and can be replaced by a different resistance to change speed, a multistep selector switch with different resistors at each step (this is what we use), or even a continuously variable rheostat of the correct resistance range.


You are not limited to what the factory gives you and getting variable settings available all the time and using them to best advantage can definitely save you quite a bit of energy. All that kind of data is available from the discussion of my testing of our new Isotherm Cruise 85 frig last summer and fall.

[GallenH]

Originally Posted by hbn7hj

I say this more for the joke than reality but if you don’t start crimping wire you are gonna croak before this gets done. Has it been three years?

A fair critique! I move at glacier speed. But these last 2 years have been beset with medical issues that I'm still dealing with. Hopefully they'll be resolved soon in a manner that I can get down to business (AKA: cutting some wire).

best to you h! glenn

[themexicandoctor]

Originally Posted by hbn7hj

I say this more for the joke than reality but if you don’t start crimping wire you are gonna croak before this gets done. Has it been three years?

Never a truer statement but then again, I too dilly dallied around replacing Dometic 2354's twice over 10 years thinking I was kissing a Frog that would turn into a Princess.

In retrosoect, I was just kissing an Amphibian for 10 years.

The Princess in our Rigs is a Novakool R3800 or R4500, they both fit but I chose the smaller 3800 not just for the ambiguous 2.2 versus 4.4 amp draw but because the 4500 is 20% plus bigger & I was brand new to Solar.