willald wrote:
Grit dog wrote:
...Bottom line, resi fridge unless the camper is parked at a power source 99% of the time is an effort in futility...and warm beer and soggy freezer!
As one thats owned a total of 5 RVs over the course of last 22 years, 4 of which had absorption style frigs, the last of which has a residential refrigerator.....I have to respectfully disagree with this.
On the contrary, a residential fridge, when set up correctly with the right battery bank, an appropriate inverter to run it, and a generator to recharge when needed....Works very, very well for someone not planning to be near electrical hookups very much (boondocking).
As noted previously, I am able to run the frig up to 2 days without electrical hookup, off just batteries without ever cranking up the generator or burning any fuel. Run the generator for a few hours each day, I can run indefinitely, as long as the 80 gallon fuel tank holds up.
And, when I do finally need to refuel, I just need to get gasoline, not LP gas that can be more difficult to find. With an 80 gallon fuel tank, and the generator only using 1/2 gallon per hour maximum when running full power....I could camp for almost 2 months before we would need to break camp and refuel at all. I doubt that any RV with the older absorption style frig running on LP gas could go that long without refueling.
That doesn't sound to me like 'an effort in futility'. Sounds to me more like a very good setup for boondocking. I prefer this setup muuuch better over the previous RVs I had with the older absorption style refrigerator.
Weird, I think we agree, but it's probably more fun to just clip a short portion of what I wrote, to have an excuse for a nice story...
I actually said something very similar to your response, just not in the portion you responded to.
And each end user has different uses, needs and goals.
Me being the occasional weekend warrior, 50/50ish between having hookups or not, the additional time and expense to have a mack daddy onboard power setup is not warranted. Whereas, if you use your RV much more frequently, and have the want or need for a large battery bank, big inverter, multiple means of charging, etc, it is the right way to go for you and your use.
CHeers!
