Motorhome and Campervan Product Selector

An integral compressor is fitted to fridge either at the base or on the top and will fit within the quoted standard cabinet dimensions.

A remote compressor is separate to the fridge cabinet allowing it to be mounted in a separate location to the fridge cabinet.  As standard Vitrifrigo remote compressors are permanently connected via 1.4m a copper/aluminium pipe braised directly to the compressor, but can be fitted with couplings as an option if required – select the correct option from the drop down list of the product when ordering.

The fridge can be fixed into position by drilling through the side of the fridge. Or you can use a bracket or batten to secure it across the top.

Alternatively, you can use a fitting frame which can be fitted in two positions – with the door flush or with the door proud. See illustrations below:

All Vitrifrigo air cooled fridges use a forced air aluminium condenser attached to the compressor of the fridge.  These forced air condensers are extremely efficient using a fan to pull the air over the aluminium fins of the condenser to dissipate the heat – when used by Dometic they refer to this condenser as Tropically rated.

Minimum ventilation required for the compressor and condenser is 120mm x 120mm in and out, which is the same size as the aluminium finned condenser.  It is very important to promote flow across the condenser so a 120mm x 120mm or equivalent vent low down with a second equivalent vent above the compressor condenser to expel the hot air.  You do not need to vent the fridge to the outside of the vehicle, but for the best efficiency especially if you are planning to tour around the Southern Mediterranean we recommend adding a floor vent below the fridge compressor to allow cool air to be drawn up from below.  Drop out gas vents are ideal for this – ideally a minimum of 2x 75mm.

If the compressor and condensing set is mounted remotely to the cabinet it is the compressor and condensing set that requires the ventilation

In simple terms a 100 litre DC fridge will take approximately 1A an hour from your batteries running 24/7 in UK summer time.  This figure holds true for larder fridges or small fridges with ice boxes, but not the larger Ocean range above 60 litres with 3 Star freezer compartments where typical consumption is +25 to 50% – please refer to the specific product for estimated Amps per hour.

Regarding battery size, to a point the bigger the better.  Please be aware when sizing a lead acid or gel battery you can only use 50% of the Amp hours. SO, if you have 100 A/h battery you can only use 50 A/h.  If you have a Vitrifrigo 50 litre fridge (C50i for example) the fridge will take 0.5A/h over a 24 hour period, so 12A/h in 24 hours, so your battery will run your fridge for approx 3 days (48A/h) before you need to put any charge back in.

If you have a split charger you can charger the batteries from the alternator when moving or plug in to hook up when on site.  If you really want to go wild camping then solar is the answer as a correctly sized solar panel will give you enough power to run the fridge 24/7 in UK summer time. Again as a minimum sizing you need a minimum 40W panel and 1 Watt per litre for fridges of 40 litres and upwards.

All Vitrifrigo DC compressor fridges will run from solar power.  In our experience you need a minimum of 1W per litre using rigid photo-voltaic panels and 2W per litre for flexible panels.  You need to wire the fridge and run it through your DC leisure battery and the solar panel wired into the DC system to charge the battery via a quality voltage regulator.

Please follow the link below to see more details of a test we ran on a Mercedes Sprinter featured in Motorhome Monthly

For more information on the specification of your DC electrical system I recommend you speak to either Batteries and Solar in the SW of England or Kuranda UK in North of the UK, who can both assist with the specification and supply of batteries and solar panels

All Vitrifrigo DC fridges will run 12V or 24V as standard (the electrical box will automatically sense the voltage and run at either a 12V or 24V  power supply.  If you have a good sized leisure battery and a split charger and/of a correctly sized solar panel running the fridge from only DC power is fine and you should always have enough capacity to run the fridge 24/7 while you are touring.

If you have a larger fridge freezer, or only room for relatively small leisure batteries and spend lots of time on camp sites where 230V hook up is available it is well worth considering upgrading multivoltage controller allowing the fridge to run directly from both DC and AC power (12V or 24V and 230V AC).  We upgrade the fridges by changing the electrical box on the compressor to a multivoltage controller which automatically switches to AC power if available, only reverting to the DC battery power if the AC is no longer available.

As standard the Vitrifrigo fridge is supplied with their excellent Airlock catch which has a vent position to allow you to leave the door ajar when not in use preventing the fridge from smelling.  It is also possible to integrate the fridge using a sliding hinge kit so that the fridge door will open with your furniture door.  See instruction via the link below for details of fitting a sliding hinge kit

Super versatile able to run as fridge or freezer on either 12V or 24V DC and automatically switching to 240V when available. Go to our shop to select the portable fridge or freezer that suits your dimensions and requirements.

Go to our Marine Cold Box System Builder

If you have a particular requirement we have a custom and special projects department that can help you to find the ideal solution. Find out about our custom refrigeration process. Please send us a custom refrigeration enquiry.  See our portfolio of custom fridges.