Residential Refrig and Dry Camping

Gjac wrote:
After a few years and feeling more comfortable with leaving the propane on and seeing how little propane is used I no longer run of the inverter and gave up on the idea of installing a 12v element.

For boondocking, a propane fridge is excellent. I had one in my old coach for three years and loved it. Never a problem.

I think the advantages of residential have more to do with the increased amount of storage in the same footprint and less cost because they are ubiquitous. They are super reliable and easy to get repaired if something goes wrong.

If I already had a propane fridge, I probably wouldn't bother switching unless something went wrong with it. In other words, I wouldn't let the type of fridge deter me from buying a particular coach I liked. He'll be able to boondock just fine with the residential model.

eheading wrote:
JerseyJim, why are you opposed to 3 way refrigerators?? The only purpose of the 12V operation is to allow you to use that while traveling. This eliminates the need to have propane appliance operating while driving. We used to have one before our refrigerators got too big, and I thought it was a great operation.

Ed Headington

I noticed when I changed out my heating element in my Norcold 682 there was another slot for a second heating element. I just assumed it was for a 12 volt element and thought about adding it. I have a 1000 watt inverter and a 180 amp alternator and used to run the fridge on it while traveling when I first bought the MH and reading about the "dangers of propane on this forum". After a few years and feeling more comfortable with leaving the propane on and seeing how little propane is used I no longer run of the inverter and gave up on the idea of installing a 12v element.

Very interesting thread as I have traded and will have my first residential refrigerator in Oct. I never had any complaints about the RV refrigerator and in our last coach it was quite large with four doors. Ironically the one in our new coach is identical to the one at home. The fact that they have become very energy efficient is important. I plug in an older one in my garage to use for beverages when we have a big crowd and if I leave it plugged in for a month or two I see the difference on electric bill so the older ones ate electricity.

JerseyJim, why are you opposed to 3 way refrigerators?? The only purpose of the 12V operation is to allow you to use that while traveling. This eliminates the need to have propane appliance operating while driving. We used to have one before our refrigerators got too big, and I thought it was a great operation.

Ed Headington

Gasser, 2 6V coach batteries. Propane 2-way fridge is my vote. Keeps things going for at least a week. Mine does NOT run the microwave...simply the fridge and lights. The TV is not used...(would need the INverter)keep in mind the Inverter will use up the coach batteries in a matter of hours...so in my case, not a good idea. I keep the inverter off. Don't think I've ever used it for anything.
I would NOT get a 3-way fridge. Again...the power draw on the battery or batteries would severely limit the time of use. 2 way..again is, IMO the way to go.

Duel fueled WH? Sure. When dry camping or hooked up to 30 AMP, I never use the electric part of it. Always the propane. 50 AMP? Electric. Tankless? Don't know much about them, except a friend has a brand new 5th...and cannot get it to work. Going back to their dealer this week. Stick to what is KNOWN to work. "New" (tech) doesn't mean "better".

Whatever your choice, g'luck!

Bill.Satellite wrote:
Pretty cool. I full time so my needs are very different but it's always interesting to read how different RVers use their rigs.

True. A lot of info here is shared. The 3-way RV refers are of high-interest to me - as are the dual-fueled capable WHs, and perhaps the on-demand, propane-fired, tankless WH units available these days.

What I'm really waiting on are Class C interior space heaters fueled by the AquaHot style of smaller water boilers.

The fridge, yes, the rest of the 12V things run off the batteries. Microwave, lights, TV, etc.. He explains in the next post how he is able to do that.

He is running it on propane.

Bill.Satellite wrote:

Gjac wrote:
I have a 20 year old Norcld and can go 7 days and my 2 6 v GC batteries are at 50% SOC without using the genset.

I can't imagine how 2 6V GC batteries would have enough power to allow this. You would think that just turning on the lights, watching TV, doing a bit of cooking and similar day to day activities would draw the batteries down more than that in 7 days. No disrespect intended, I just truly don't know how that works. I guess I would need to dramatically change my way of doing things.

Pretty cool. I full time so my needs are very different but it's always interesting to read how different RVers use their rigs.

Bill.Satellite wrote:

Gjac wrote:
I have a 20 year old Norcld and can go 7 days and my 2 6 v GC batteries are at 50% SOC without using the genset.

I can't imagine how 2 6V GC batteries would have enough power to allow this. You would think that just turning on the lights, watching TV, doing a bit of cooking and similar day to day activities would draw the batteries down more than that in 7 days. No disrespect intended, I just truly don't know how that works. I guess I would need to dramatically change my way of doing things.

I dry camp and don't watch TV only water pump and a few lights when inside the MH. Spend most of the night around campfire and use some battery operated HF lights inside. I always run out of water before battery power.