how big of a generator is needed
so the wife and i are going to bite the bullet and get our first travel trailer. i am curious as to how big of a generator we will need to buy for when we are not hooked up to elec power. i have...
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As others have said a residential refrigerator is a poor choice for off grid operation, an RV propane/electric refrigerator is MUCH MUCH better for off grid camping.
Having said that a modern residential refrigerator will average less than 250 watts under most operating conditions in moderately warm weather, maybe under 200. The problem is during normal refrigeration operation when the compressor is running it will probably draw about 700-800 watts, and when in defrost mode it will probably draw about 1,200 watts. Now sure defrost will only happen for a few minutes at a time a couple of times per day (varies by model), but your generator must support worst case not average load, so you always need an extra 1200 or so watts available for when the defrost mode kicks on. For practical purposes this puts the bottom end generator option for an RV with a residential refrigerator at about 2000 watts. This would provide enough power to run a few lights, watch TV (modern flat panel TV's only draw 20-30 watts), probably run a mid sized battery charger/converter and still handle that 1200 watt defrost cycle whenever it occurs on the refrigerator.
A roof top RV air conditioner draws about 1,200 watts while running, but has an initial start up surge, depending on the generator you will need a 2,400 watt or larger generator to handle the air conditioner startup surge, a 3,000 would be better.
A small microwave oven over consumes 900 watts of electricity when running, a coffee pot consumes about 1,200 when running, etc.
Having said that a modern residential refrigerator will average less than 250 watts under most operating conditions in moderately warm weather, maybe under 200. The problem is during normal refrigeration operation when the compressor is running it will probably draw about 700-800 watts, and when in defrost mode it will probably draw about 1,200 watts. Now sure defrost will only happen for a few minutes at a time a couple of times per day (varies by model), but your generator must support worst case not average load, so you always need an extra 1200 or so watts available for when the defrost mode kicks on. For practical purposes this puts the bottom end generator option for an RV with a residential refrigerator at about 2000 watts. This would provide enough power to run a few lights, watch TV (modern flat panel TV's only draw 20-30 watts), probably run a mid sized battery charger/converter and still handle that 1200 watt defrost cycle whenever it occurs on the refrigerator.
A roof top RV air conditioner draws about 1,200 watts while running, but has an initial start up surge, depending on the generator you will need a 2,400 watt or larger generator to handle the air conditioner startup surge, a 3,000 would be better.
A small microwave oven over consumes 900 watts of electricity when running, a coffee pot consumes about 1,200 when running, etc.
