Why switch to a Residential Refrig, thinking out loud !!

Re; how to keep rez fridge closed in travel....Winnebago installed robust cabinet door catches on the french doors and a simple latch for the freezer drawer. To power the unit....a four battery bank....100w solar for extra juice for the 2KW inverter. the 175 amp engine alternator keeps the fridge going while traveling and the solar puts back some of what is used on a sunny day. Generator needs to run for a while each day to replenish if no hook-ups. Only time we lost juice (fridge just shuts down when that happens) the rig was in a service bay at camping world for several hours out of sunlight and no plug-in. Probably could have set the auto gen start to handle that if I had asked first. I can get a whole case of light beer in there and still have room for food.

Can't speak for others but we routinely dry camp with a residential fridge and have for a few years. We run our genny 45 minute to an hour per day mostly during meal preparation so we can use the microwave, toaster, Kuerig coffee maker etc. On a day to day basis our TV draws more amp hours than our fridge. A robust solar system should be considered as part of a residential fridge install. We have dry camped with others who also have residential s with solar systems who also experience no problem. My advice would be to seek advice from users of residential fridges in RV's. There are really no downsides and anyone who has ever switched will tell you they would NEVER switch back. If shopping for another motorhome I wouldn't rule out a unit that had an absorption RV unit but I would have to build in the cost of switching to a residential.

Good luck in your quest and happy camping.

Matt_Colie wrote:
What a BTDT?

been there, done that.

What a BTDT?

When our original reefer died and I looked at the price to replace the 3.5CF with an RV unit, I got all choked up. That would kill our travel budget for the year. So, I got a dorm reefer about the same size (little larger CF, but smaller package and Hazard Fright 750 watt inverter. Both units are Chinese Cr*p. I had immediate problems with the reefer because it could not get enough cooling air up the sides where it rejects heat. So, I had to slide it to be centered in the actual space and add some small DC fans (stolen out of junk computer power supplies) to help get the warm air out.

The inverter is not one of your better pieces. But even with the running load only supposed to be 3 amps @ 120 (it really is a little better than 4) and the high duty cycle of a 90°+ day, the house bank of two GC2s won't carry us 24 hours.

I am now in a quandry. I would love to have a new 3 way, but I have come to learn that those seem to have a half-life of about 7 years. So I am just not sure that is something I want to deal with. One of the Norcold 12/120 electrics would be nice, but both are expensive.

So, we will continue this way until something makes me change again.

If I go with a 3-way ever, it will have FireFightin there. I have seen these work. The one I have in the APU sure worked.

Matt

byronlj wrote:

Then you said " keep in mind that more of these did not catch fire than those that did."
Dave

I guess you didn't see the :) after that statement.
bumpy

For those who are concerned about longevity of a residential fridge in an RV, we installed ours in '99 and it's still going strong today. I full time and have put over 220,000 miles on the coach since then. It does draw some amps (mine is about 3 AC amps while the compressor is running but it does not run all the time or even most of the time). Over night when no one opens a door I doubt it kicks in very much at all. In case the above poster was serious, NO, they do not run on propane but they run very well on an inverter. You just need enough battery capacity to handle the over night draw. For folks that do a lot of dry camping with a RR the addition of a good solar array will get the batteries back up to capacity pretty quickly but you may want or need to run the genny for an hour or two in the mornings. When driving, if your engine battery charges your house batteries (mine does) you will maintain or recharge the batteries as you drive so no battery capacity should be used during a long days drive.
I have not defrosted my freezer in the last 14 years. Anyone full-timing with a RV fridge able to say that? I also like the fact that I have no fire concerns and I have double the capacity of any RV fridge. I even have super filtered ice and water through the door so I don't have to buy bottled drinking/cooking/coffee water. I've got all I need and I don't have to open the door and lose my cooling.
Now, the additional reality is that my wife would NOT full time without one so an RV fridge was never an option for me.

Ok, both Norcold and Dometic had issues a few years back (Like about the time my rig was being minted) and both did recalls and modifictions to correct the problem or so they say.. Norcolds "Solution" caused issues of it's own and Dometic's Well.. I wonder how much good it will do if it needs to do good.

But still fridge fires are fairly rare.

The advantages of a "Home" type fridge Usually they have greater capacity, and the fire hazard is far less (never zero, but for different reasons).

The downside is they suck major watt-hours which is Amp Hours/10 out of your battery (Why 10 instead of 12.. Inverter efficiency) IF you boondock, This can be a problem... My RV-Type Absorption cooling unit pulls about 350 watts when I run it on A/C.. my alternator (This is a class A) will not replace power that quickly, a few hours and I get ye old low battery alarm from the Inverter.

Home fridges may draw less (Believe it or not) or more (Depending on the model).

How do assure the refrigerator doors stay closed on a residential unit? Don't most of them use a light magnetic catch on the door?

hanko wrote:

korbe wrote:
Can a residential type frig run on propane? If so, I may consider one. But with more and more rigs requiring shore power, the camping experience is definitely evolving.

are you being silly?

Yes

Old-Biscuit wrote:

Sez Hoo! wrote:
Sounds like we are getting into a Ford vs Chevy debate. To each his own. A residential fridge is not something I would choose. As for the RV being perfectly level to operate, I don't believe that is true anymore. I park on slope for days when I visit my dad. The fridge works just fine on gas or electric.

You do realize that the damage from off-level operation is accumulative.
Sorta like clogging arteries......everything is just fine until one day.....WHAM! But unlike clogged arteries, blockage in cooling unit is permanent and non-reversible.

You see...absorption fridges work by means of gravity. When operated off-level insufficient fluid flow to absorb the heat occurs.....causes overheating which causes 'plating' which builds up interrupting the flow which causes more overheating, more plating, more interruption of flow etc. etc. etc. until cooling unit DIES!

So please do not spread the rumor that off-level operation is OK.
It is one of the main reasons absorption fridges stop working.
Accumulative damage occurs every time....and it is Permanent.

I agree in general but it's no longer necessary to use surveyor's equipment to level your rig. generally speaking if the occupants of the RV are comfy (not rolling out of bed, etc) then the frig is good to go.