Getting Rid of a Residential Refrigerator
I want to move up from Class C to Class A but, from what I am reading, one would want to avoid a residential refrigerator like the plague. I love the Norcold in my Jayco Melbourne; it is a marvel of ...
Forum Discussion
Most class A's have propane refrigerators until you get up into the $200,000+ DP's. Then you typically find a residential refrigerator that while less expensive to purchase, and you do not need to install it near a sidewall, it is more expensive to install, and requires a fairly large (400 pound) battery bank and pure sine wave inverter.
I would be looking for a RV with a propane refrigerator, and skip any with the electric ones. However if you do not plan on dry camping, then the residential refrigerator will work out fine! Just not my plan, as I hate campgrounds! They will work well while dry camping, they have all that figured out, and the Samsungs seem to hold up well to inverter use, and dry camping. Some members report dry camping 5 nights and only running the generator on the third day for a couple of hours. The battery bank is that big, and they also have several solar panels to help keep it charged.
Solar panels also help shade the RV too! I have a 400 watt system that is large enough to run everything in the RV and the TV for hours per day! Some like computers or have a CPAP and require a slightly larger solar system. The prices have come down dramatically in the past couple of years.
SunElec.com sells a framed solar panel for around $1.50 per rated watt. I would recommend 12 volt nominal panels, in the 100 - 150 watt size. PWM controller in the 20 - 30 amp range only cost about $20 - $35, leaving more of your budget for more solar panels!
Some #10 UV rated grey direct burial wire and run that down to the controller and battery, you are done.
I used 6" long 2" angle aluminum (Home Depot) with 3 - 3/16" holes for #10 screws into the roof and 5/16" hole for a 1/4-20 bolt into the solar panel frame to hold them on the roof.
Good luck finding a RV, then have fun camping!
Fred.
I would be looking for a RV with a propane refrigerator, and skip any with the electric ones. However if you do not plan on dry camping, then the residential refrigerator will work out fine! Just not my plan, as I hate campgrounds! They will work well while dry camping, they have all that figured out, and the Samsungs seem to hold up well to inverter use, and dry camping. Some members report dry camping 5 nights and only running the generator on the third day for a couple of hours. The battery bank is that big, and they also have several solar panels to help keep it charged.
Solar panels also help shade the RV too! I have a 400 watt system that is large enough to run everything in the RV and the TV for hours per day! Some like computers or have a CPAP and require a slightly larger solar system. The prices have come down dramatically in the past couple of years.
SunElec.com sells a framed solar panel for around $1.50 per rated watt. I would recommend 12 volt nominal panels, in the 100 - 150 watt size. PWM controller in the 20 - 30 amp range only cost about $20 - $35, leaving more of your budget for more solar panels!
Some #10 UV rated grey direct burial wire and run that down to the controller and battery, you are done.
I used 6" long 2" angle aluminum (Home Depot) with 3 - 3/16" holes for #10 screws into the roof and 5/16" hole for a 1/4-20 bolt into the solar panel frame to hold them on the roof.
Good luck finding a RV, then have fun camping!
Fred.
