Getting Rid of a Residential Refrigerator

It occurred to me that the magnesium sulfate trick will become more popular. It seems that you can extend the life of your batteries by 2 to 3 years.
Just "google" rejuvenating batteries using epsom salt.

Hum, guess I will chime in because Palazzo came up. As far as the residential fridge goes, I absolutely love it. After having 3 RV's without a residential fridge, I would never go back. To one's post about the length of time a residential fridge can go on batteries and an inverter, I think common sense here has to prevail. The length of time I have gone on batteries and generator so far have been 5 days.

Keep in mind, you are running a compressor motor that runs on an inverter. Inevitably that will run your batteries down. Keeping the fridge closed and turning to a higher temp setting will most certainly extend that time. While those can complain that only 1 or 2 days are achievable on batteries alone they are probably correct. I for one will not take that chance, that is what a generator is for. I successfully can theoretically go as long as I want on batteries, so long as I charge them each day. I accomplish this by running the generator a maximum of 1 hour per day.

Where the common sense part comes in is keeping a check on your battery voltage. That is what the display status on your inverter/charging center is for. Use it and enjoy your residential fridge while disconnected from shore power.

chasfenwick wrote:
avoid a residential refrigerator like the plague

OP: You inadvertently put everyone who owns a residential fridge on the defensive. Yikes!

Thor Palazzo and other entry coaches have insufficient batteries to run a Residential, yet it is the only option. Last weekend the Palazzo Salesman Admitted:E he promised people 3 days run time but they were only getting 1.

For all the reasons you mentioned, I too prefer adsorption. Unfortunately many/most of the best floorplans and manufacturers no longer offer this option.

Many folks seem happy with theirs, given their use patterns, but this does not diminish the validity of your preference (and in some cases concerns).

The biggest obstacle to a conversion I see would be ensuring that there is not a supportive wall structure exactly where the vent holes need to go.

Since the "Industry standard" has shifted to Residential, perhaps the conversion money could be spent on batteries/solar instead.

I'm facing the same dilemma. Maybe a list of Manufacturers / Models that offer adsorption would be helpful to all. Tiffin Phaeton offers it as an option, hopefully there are others.

chasfenwick wrote:
This marathon thread says as much about people as it does about refrigerators. Thanks to the several of you who actually understood my concerns and addressed them. Clearly there are pluses and minuses to both residential and RV fridges. I may end up with residetial, but it will certainly not be all positives. Few choices in life are black and white. One beauty of the RV fridge run in propane mode is not having to be constantly worrying about state of charge of batteries. Fridge will run on propane, typical tank size, for a VERY long time. Believe it or not, right this minute I am riding down interstate highway in RV, fridge running on propane, and I could care less what the state of the
coach batteries may be.

Well you shouldn't need to worry about the state of your coach batteries as they are being maintained via alternator while running down the road.

BUT boondocking battery load management is always necessary even when fridge is on propane because of the need for proper DC voltage to operate fridge controls.

So whether absorption or residential fridge you still have to manage energy loads.

Proper planning prevents poor performance.....part of the 7 P's

chasfenwick wrote:
This marathon thread says as much about people as it does about refrigerators. Thanks to the several of you who actually understood my concerns and addressed them. Clearly there are pluses and minuses to both residential and RV fridges. I may end up with residetial, but it will certainly not be all positives. Few choices in life are black and white. One beauty of the RV fridge run in propane mode is not having to be constantly worrying about state of charge of batteries. Fridge will run on propane, typical tank size, for a VERY long time. Believe it or not, right this minute I am riding down interstate highway in RV, fridge running on propane, and I could care less what the state of the
coach batteries may be.

I never worry about my batteries running down the road as my alternator keeps the well charged. Now I also run the generator running down the road to run two roof Acs so I am comfy in the summer.

With good batteries and a good solar panel. A residential refrigerator will run just as long as an absorption fridge! Without a generator running.

Religion? Politics? Civilization going straight into the toilet? Unemployment, monetary policy, and the 1%? Refrigerators are looking like an appealing alternative!

hanko wrote:
Me thinks most of you have way to much time on your hands. Cant you all find something better to argue about other than refrigerators, you sound like a bunch of old ladies

Don't know about all that and this mega thread has provided some insight to many, I'm sure. Thing is, I sure wish one could get that many responses to a difficult tech issue, when one arises.

This marathon thread says as much about people as it does about refrigerators. Thanks to the several of you who actually understood my concerns and addressed them. Clearly there are pluses and minuses to both residential and RV fridges. I may end up with residetial, but it will certainly not be all positives. Few choices in life are black and white. One beauty of the RV fridge run in propane mode is not having to be constantly worrying about state of charge of batteries. Fridge will run on propane, typical tank size, for a VERY long time. Believe it or not, right this minute I am riding down interstate highway in RV, fridge running on propane, and I could care less what the state of the
coach batteries may be.

Hi Doug,

I resent having to add ARP protection to my fridge. What's worse is I don't really know if it does work.

I resent a cool down time of 6 hours with zero cycling from an ambient temperature of 20 c (68 f).

I resent the lack of a cooling fan in the "chimney"

I resent having to add freeze protection for winter time.

I resent the 2:3 duty cycle that causes an absorption fridge to use nearly 6 kwh per day.

I resent that the Norcold in my former 1987 class c appears to work better and has MUCH more storage capacity than my 2004 Dometic unit.

I resent that the 12 volt setting on the Dometic is pretty much of a joke (though it draws the same amperage as the 120 volt AC mode). There is one caveat to that statement. 12 volt works well--when I'm plugged into shore power and it is being "fed" 13.2 volts. But--why the heck would I do that?

I resent having to be nearly perfectly level when I stop in a parking lot for 15 minutes.

The only thing I gain from the Dometic is the ability to burn propane (at my expense) instead of using power from the battery bank/alternator/solar.

The OP's cost for moving from residential to absorption are going to be high. If he can special order from the factory, that would be the best solution.

It may be more economical by far for him to add enough solar to cover running the fridge.