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SunDanzer 12 VT Freezer

thomas rubino

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Location: latitude 47 N.W. montana zone 6A

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posted 4 years ago

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Hi All;
The truck arrived today! Our new 12 volt chest Freezer is here! It wasn't supposed to arrive until Monday!

A SunDanzer DCF 390 10 -31 vt chest freezer!
Uses 800 watt hrs a day or 67 amp hrs at 12 vt!
Almost 4" of insulation. 14.7 cubic feet
Runs on a 275 watt array!
Not cheap @ $1650 delivered... worth every penny to us!

Currently the 600 watts of solar panels that are supposed to run this freezer, are snow bound and will not get up on the roof until late spring.
Meanwhile , for tonight I stole the battery from my work car. Hooked it up to the freezer and the compressor started running!
A small high frequency 4 amp battery charger that is hooked into my house power, will keep it charged.
We are heading out in just a bit to transfer the food over!!! No more Power sucker freezer!

Tomorrow we head into Missoula . A pair of 220 amp hr 6 vt battery's will come home.
That same charger will keep them charged until the solar panels get installed.

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For all your Montana Masonry Heater parts (also known as) Rocket Mass heater parts.
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Phil Gardener

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Posts: 336

Location: Near Philadelphia, PA

posted 4 years ago

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Very nice! Glad to hear more about how it does for you!

thomas rubino

rocket scientist

Posts: 6322

Location: latitude 47 N.W. montana zone 6A

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posted 4 years ago

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4 Hours after turning it on, temp was 8 F with an empty box.
Didn't take long to transfer food over from the old one to the new. Helped that we just unloaded it after Christmas to move it home. All the questionable stuff went away.
This morning temps are 8-10 F and the battery's are fully charged! Hoo Ray!!!
Using the high frequency trickle charger is working great!
Off to Missoula this morning to buy a pair of 6vt deep cycle battery's.
And oh yeah it's Valentines day ...Think I'll take my sweety out for dinner!

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For all your Montana Masonry Heater parts (also known as) Rocket Mass heater parts.
Visit me at
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thomas rubino

rocket scientist

Posts: 6322

Location: latitude 47 N.W. montana zone 6A

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posted 4 years ago

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Brought home the new 220 amp hr 6 vt battery,s last night.
Got the old freezer out the door and the new freezer slid into place.
Temperature has been solid at 10 -12 F.
If I move my wireless sender lower in the freezer I get readings closer to zero, but the sender quits sending.
New battery's all hooked up. 4 Amp charger back in place.
My work car has its battery back!

It's so cool to NOT need to run the genset just to keep the freezer cold!!!

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For all your Montana Masonry Heater parts (also known as) Rocket Mass heater parts.
Visit me at
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Rufus Laggren

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Posts: 1234

Location: Chicago/San Francisco

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posted 4 years ago

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Man, you sound so HAPPY! That freezer looks to be heading into a long and honorable life of hard freezing! <g>

Congrats.
Rufus

Phil Gardener

pollinator

Posts: 336

Location: Near Philadelphia, PA

posted 4 years ago

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Looking really good! What temps can the freezer handle in the room? Can you put it in an untempered space to reduce your energy demand in the winter?

thomas rubino

rocket scientist

Posts: 6322

Location: latitude 47 N.W. montana zone 6A

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posted 4 years ago

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Hey Phil; Pretty much whatever temps we get, is OK. Its in a barn.
Owners Manual said if room temp was colder than freezer, (why would it bother me ?) I could turn the thermostat warmer...
And this summer when its 95 + I might need to turn it colder... Well geez who would have thought ? :)
It will hardly run much at all in winter.
In the summer , 600 watts of panels will keep it as frozen as in winter!

Rufus; I can't begin to say how happy we are!!!
We have waited a long time to have our big freezer at home!
Running it with just a battery charger is working out better than expected.
This freezer is just Awesome!

For those of you on grid power. Imagine having one of these , innocently running on a car battery.
When the storm knocks out your power for 3 days... Might come in handy.

When I get time I will put it on the gear review page and give it ten out of ten!

For all your Montana Masonry Heater parts (also known as) Rocket Mass heater parts.
Visit me at
dragontechrmh.com Once you go brick you will never go back!

Phil Gardener

pollinator

Posts: 336

Location: Near Philadelphia, PA

posted 4 years ago

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That sounds cool! :>)

Su Ba

pollinator

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Location: Big Island, Hawaii (2300' elevation, 60" avg. annual rainfall, temp range 55-80 degrees F)

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posted 4 years ago

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Thomas, this sounds so great. I think you'll love this freezer well into the future. We have had ours now for quite some time and are still totally happy with it.

It's never too late to start! I retired to homestead on the slopes of Mauna Loa, an active volcano. I relate snippets of my endeavor on my blog : www.kaufarmer.blogspot.com

Larisa Walk

pollinator

Posts: 370

Location: South of Winona, Minnesota

posted 4 years ago

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Don't put those PV panels on the roof if you live in snow country. Better to have them on a ground rack where you can keep the snow swept off them. You can use the power in winter to run other loads and put your food into a cooler in an outdoor shed or entryway. An advantage to living in a refrig for several months of the year ;>).

thomas rubino

rocket scientist

Posts: 6322

Location: latitude 47 N.W. montana zone 6A

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posted 4 years ago

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Hi Larisa;
Thank you for your thoughts. There is a good reason for me to put those panels up high. All my panels are.
Called open range... cattle can stop by and visit any time they want. Moose, deer , elk , any of them could decide to scratch up against a panel rack.The results would be not good.

This 600 watt system is strictly to run the freezer, its in a barn. The barn already has 110 power from my house system(hydro) that supplys the lighting.
It's not practical to run my 12 vt house power all the way out there, too much line loss.
Giving the freezer its own 12 volt supply is the answer. If the panels are snow covered then it must be cold... freezers are cold... they go hand in hand.
Come summer, when I need the power , there will not be any snow left on the roof.

Power draw on this freezer is so low that the 220 amp hrs of battery's will run it for weeks without the sun.
If it got really bad I would simply hook up the high frequency charger i'm using now to refresh the charge.

For those that can, a pole mounted sun tracking system is the way to go.

For all your Montana Masonry Heater parts (also known as) Rocket Mass heater parts.
Visit me at
dragontechrmh.com Once you go brick you will never go back!

Alden Banniettis

Posts: 97

Location: Linneus, Me.

posted 4 years ago

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I have always wondered whether my chest freezer would work ok if it is out in an unheated barn. It has always been my understanding that they are designed to operate at room temperature, or not below 55 deg. I think a techie told me that when I bought my chest freezer. Has anyone had a problem with a fridge or freezer being in an outbuilding that goes down to 20 below?

thomas rubino

rocket scientist

Posts: 6322

Location: latitude 47 N.W. montana zone 6A

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posted 4 years ago

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Hi Alden;
I believe I have heard that in the past as well.
I suspect it has something to do with the A/C motor , or possibly the amount of insulation in the box and how the compressor sheds its heat.
Might be as simple as they wanted you to put in a basement where it remains cool and power consumption would remain low.

This 12 Vt Sundanzer with danfrost compressor specifically stated no problem with cold external temps.

For all your Montana Masonry Heater parts (also known as) Rocket Mass heater parts.
Visit me at
dragontechrmh.com Once you go brick you will never go back!

bruce Fine

Posts: 1510

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posted 4 years ago

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that's very nice but expensive, just wondering is there an advantage of having 12v freezer rather than just using a 12v to 110 inverter and running a 110 v super efficient freezer that is 1/3 the cost.

thomas rubino

rocket scientist

Posts: 6322

Location: latitude 47 N.W. montana zone 6A

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posted 4 years ago

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Hi Bruce;
Main reason for us, is we shut off the power at night. Not a good idea in the summer with a 110 freezer.
I did search out super insulated chest freezers. 95% do not say how much insulation they use, just that they are very energy efficient.
I found one, that clearly stated 4" insulation , full size 110 chest freezer... a piddling $2200 + hmmm makes $1650 seem down rite reasonable.

Do you know of a true super insulated 110 make & model?
My on grid friends are jealous of my new freezer but don't want to bother with running one 12 vt. They would love a good 110 choice.

For all your Montana Masonry Heater parts (also known as) Rocket Mass heater parts.
Visit me at
dragontechrmh.com Once you go brick you will never go back!

Gerry Parent

Rocket Scientist

Posts: 1809

Location: Kaslo, BC

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posted 4 years ago

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If function over fashion is the main concern and its sitting in your basement away from visual, then why couldn't a person just put rigid foam on the outside to super insulate it?

Silence is Golden
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Caleb Mayfield

pollinator

Posts: 217

Location: Western central Illinois, Zone 6a

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posted 4 years ago

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Gerry Parent wrote:If function over fashion is the main concern and its sitting in your basement away from visual, then why couldn't a person just put rigid foam on the outside to super insulate it?

Gerry, I wondered this as well. I did some research a while back and it turns out chest freezers "hot" coils are on the outside of the insulation against the typically metal skin in order to shed heat. You would need to dismantle the freezer, pull the hot coils away, add insulation, and then reassemble.

Something I have not entirely talked myself out of yet. I have this idea in the back of my head kicking around to try and get an older freezer and do just that, only swapping out the compressor for a DC one that is rated for the voltage of my solar setup. Then I would have it recharged and be good to go. Probably a lot more effort than it's worth in the long run.

James 1:19-20
Not all those who wander are lost - J. R. R. Tolkien

Gerry Parent

Rocket Scientist

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Location: Kaslo, BC

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posted 4 years ago

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Now that you mention it, I do recall feeling heat on some parts of the exterior metal skin on my grandmas freezer a long time ago. Always a good idea to make sure an 'improvement' doesn't end up biting you in the rear without knowing the dynamics of how things work.

Silence is Golden
For all your RMH needs:
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thomas rubino

rocket scientist

Posts: 6322

Location: latitude 47 N.W. montana zone 6A

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posted 4 years ago

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Update; Its been almost a month now and the sundanzer is working flawlessly! Power use with the little charger plugged in is (at this time of year) unnoticeable. Top of freezer temps rock solid at 10-12 F.

Our winter is very open this year ,hardly any snow down low. I removed the plow off the truck yesterday. March 7th might be a new record for doing so....
Watch,now a huge storm will develop and dump 2' ... just because I opened my mouth and bragged! I hope not, but the plow goes right back on if need be.

The mud has dried on the driveway. I could get a manlift in the yard right now and go up on the barn roof to install the solar panels.
But with it working so good why rush? Dozen other projects are clamoring for my attention... I mean who else will do them?

For all your Montana Masonry Heater parts (also known as) Rocket Mass heater parts.
Visit me at
dragontechrmh.com Once you go brick you will never go back!

Gerry Parent

Rocket Scientist

Posts: 1809

Location: Kaslo, BC

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posted 4 years ago

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Great to hear your freezer is working so good! Liz must be proud of her man!

I'm a little jealous of you being able to take your plow off. Just this morning we got a little over 2" of snow. Sure makes it pretty though, especially with all the mud that I know is underneath.

Silence is Golden
For all your RMH needs:
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Cristobal Cristo

Posts: 557

Location: Sierra Nevada foothills, 350 m, USDA 8b, sunset zone 7

posted 1 year ago

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Thomas,

I would also like to purchase SunDanzer freezer (already have a fridge), but only if it can run without any battery. Have you tried running it off the solar panels only, in summer? If yes, would it keep the items frozen through the night?

thomas rubino

rocket scientist

Posts: 6322

Location: latitude 47 N.W. montana zone 6A

3199

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posted 1 year ago

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Hi Christobal;
Believe it or not, I still have 600 watts of panels leaning against the wall inside the shop...
I have not needed them enough to get a lift over here to install them.
My two 6 volt batteries and a small charger plugged into the house power continue to do the job flawlessly.
Around here, in the inland North West. I would not attempt to run using only solar panels even in the summer, we just get too many cloudy or smokey days.

For all your Montana Masonry Heater parts (also known as) Rocket Mass heater parts.
Visit me at
dragontechrmh.com Once you go brick you will never go back!

David Baillie

pollinator

Posts: 920

Location: Central Ontario

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posted 1 year ago

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Cristobal Cristo wrote:Thomas,

I would also like to purchase SunDanzer freezer (already have a fridge), but only if it can run without any battery. Have you tried running it off the solar panels only, in summer? If yes, would it keep the items frozen through the night?

hi Cristobal, running a freezer hard during the day and turning it off at night adds a tremendous amount of stress to the compressor. Best to add an inexpensive 12 volt battery to the mix as Thomas does to give the freezer a long healthy life.
Cheers David

Cristobal Cristo

Posts: 557

Location: Sierra Nevada foothills, 350 m, USDA 8b, sunset zone 7

posted 1 year ago

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David,

This is how I'm running my SunDanzer refrigerator. It stood to the abuse for seven years and that's why I want to buy another product from them, especially after reading a lot of reviews that conclude that there are only two types of new fridges/freezers: unreliable and extremely unreliable.

Thomas,

Is is possible to connect the SunDanzer freezer, single solar panel and a small battery without any additional electronics? Does the SunDanzer have built in charge controller? If not, then what would you suggest? I'm off grid.
If one day I will be connected to grid I know I will be able to run the same freezer with solar panel during the day and 110 V at night.

Maybe he went home and went to bed. And took this tiny ad with him:

A rocket mass heater heats your home with one tenth the wood of a conventional wood stove

http://woodheat.net