Getting Rid of a Residential Refrigerator

chasfenwick wrote:
What I had been hoping for was to elicit info on a shop somewhere in Central U.S. that is skilled in making these conversions, has developed something of a reputation for doing upgrades of various kinds.

What remains unclear to me is what exactly makes the RR's so appealing. Why, especially if given a choice, someone would want one. I mean, if you are going to be hauling around 30 gallons of propane anyway . . . Propane is an excellent store of energy. Or do you guys put in electric furnaces, water heaters, and cook tops too?

Good morning. Well, advantages are in the eye of the beholder but I'll share mine

* Larger fridge for same size footprint. A 12 cubic foot norcold is typically replaced by an 18 to 22 cubic foot residential.

* They are less maintenance although our Norcold was not a lot of maintenance. Went through a couple boards in 8 or 9 years before it cooked in an ugly way but others go years with no trouble. Couple cleanings per year is a good idea of course.

* No worries of being off level. This is kinda handy for us as we dry camp and overnight in less than level spots. :) Not always able to put the Jacks down. No biggy.

* No worries while running it under way and having to remember to turn it off at fuel stops.

* I like the water and ice in the door but I think you can get absorptions with that as well.

* This next one is iffy for some. Price. A nice residential will cost around 1000 bucks. Much more for an absorption. But my experience has been that if you intend to use it for dry camping the final cost is probably a little north of 2200 as you will need 500 watts of solar and a quality inverter (possibly sine wave depending if the fridge requires it. Don't let anyone tell you solar is complicated. Very straightforward and logical. In your case if the unit was already in the unit I would count on 1200 to 1500 to make dry campable with no generator. Many don't need this ability so it makes sense that a manufacturer wouldn't necessarily equip it this way.

I'm sure others will chime in with other advantages. I can't think of one disadvantage with a proper install other than maybe the one gentleman who didn't like that it cycled on and off.

Hope this helps. Ask away any questions.

We do run our generator every morning at breakfast during high load like toaster, coffee maker and microwave but we did this before too so i can't comment on how much more we run our generator. Maybe an extra hour if it is day after day of bad weather. Depends. We are power hogs and generally speaking it is not our residential fridge that gobbles up the power. Big ass TV's and computer and basement wine cooler to name a few. Sad isn't it. Its how we roll. :) We actually have an 800 watt system on the roof but about half of that is for our other stuff.