Residential fridge

[FF286]

I have noticed a lot of the new campers for sell around here have a Residential fridge instead of rv model around here. While the storage space would be nice how would it work for boondocking. We mostly stay at state parks but occasionally will go somewhere like Cade’s cove in the smokies that do not have power. I wouldn’t want to run a generator all day. I assume solar panels would be the best option but we’ve had over a week of rain here and I’m not really sure the suns still up there.
I’ve still got a few years before I retire but I hope to be able to travel more when that happens, and sounds like there’s a lot of free camping once you go west of the Mississippi.

[CA_Traveler]

The Samsung 18 cu ft res refers are very efficient and draw about 130Ah through an inverter. The typical 4x 6V golf cart batteries have 220Ah capacity to the 50% SOC point. So basically the batteries will need charging every day and that often means a combination of solar, gen and driving unless you are on shore power.

I've seen a few wind turbines that produce power when the wind blows but noise and setup are concerns.

[Keithk3628]

Thanks guys, that makes sense, I think I will stick with the RV fridge, 2 12 volt batteries I could do, but 6 batteries is too much i am thinking, but things change, if I start doing any boon docking I will think 2 12 volt.

[jacqui583]

I have heard that the residential fridges are better for units that are basically parked most of the time or in a motorhome with really good suspension; that they don't stand up as well to being bounced down the road as a traditional trailer fridge. Is there any truth to that? When you think about it when you buy a new fridge for your home you are always supposed to let it sit for a period of time before plugging it in.

[time2roll]

Some make a residential work off-grid. You are looking at 6+ batteries and 600+ watts solar. Still you will need a generator periodically. May not be worth it unless camping near full time. Otherwise go with the regular RV propane or electric 2-way fridge.

[pulsar]

rkassl wrote:
RV refrig for me all the way. I don't want to depend on a battery pack to keep my milk cold.

I can understand your feelings, we were leery of the residential refrigerator, given the amount of time we are off the grid. However, our coach can standard with the residential refrigerator, the 6 batteries, mentioned before, and a 2800 watt inverter. At first, I did a frequent check of the batteries. Finally, I realized that it wasn't necessary. (And i've really enjoyed not having to check the water level of the batteries.)

Our refrigerator draws 7.1 amps and each battery is rated at 115 amp-hours.

A big advantage, for me, is no more defrosting. Most every year, we have made a trip of 5 to 9 weeks. I hated defrosting the refrigerators in our previous coaches.

There are other uses for the battery bank and inverter. For example, we can run the microwave - Sarah has to have her hot cup of tea!

Although we had reservations, we are sold.

Tom

[ford_truck_guy]

Keithk3628 wrote:
Thank you Fordtruckguy and Sgfrye, appreciate the explanations, I of course knew you had inverters but I was wondering if they would power a regular big residential fridge. Do most rigs using residential fridge have to use more batteries in parallel than the standard one battery.

I will have to look more into this, I keep a Honda 2000 to run 2 refrigerators at home during power outages here in Florida, maybe I could switch the refers over to inverter and batteries and save the Honda for other stuff.

When ordering our Fifth Wheel ,IF you choose the residential appliance package upgrade ( whirlpool stainless ) you automatically got the inverter and a battery upgrade to group 31' and a second battery.. All for the cost of the option.

[sgfrye]

Keithk3628 wrote:
Thank you Fordtruckguy and Sgfrye, appreciate the explanations, I of course knew you had inverters but I was wondering if they would power a regular big residential fridge. Do most rigs using residential fridge have to use more batteries in parallel than the standard one battery.

I will have to look more into this, I keep a Honda 2000 to run 2 refrigerators at home during power outages here in Florida, maybe I could switch the refers over to inverter and batteries and save the Honda for other stuff.

my rig came prepped with 2 12volts deep cycle. so i can't comment how fridge would run off only 1. lots of people go with the 6v golf cart battery setup that boondock.

the only other thing we use on the road which works through the inverter is the water pump which is minimal. i travel with about 10 or 15 gallons of water in the fresh water tank to use bathroom while on the road. makes fuel and bathroom stops quicker than using public restrooms. one of the reasons we bought TT was to have our own things on the road and traveling. ie shower, bathroom, beds etc.

one note on the 12v batteries i learned. we have a slideout and electric tongue jack. i plug TT 30amp shore power cord in at home to charge batteries and campgrounds. these run off the inverter also. they take alot of power. i always if possible close or retract slide and lower or raise electric jack while plugged into shore power. saves juice in the batteries. if we are on the road and stop for a quick lunch. i will open slide enough to open fridge for food and its no problem.

[Keithk3628]

Thank you Fordtruckguy and Sgfrye, appreciate the explanations, I of course knew you had inverters but I was wondering if they would power a regular big residential fridge. Do most rigs using residential fridge have to use more batteries in parallel than the standard one battery.

I will have to look more into this, I keep a Honda 2000 to run 2 refrigerators at home during power outages here in Florida, maybe I could switch the refers over to inverter and batteries and save the Honda for other stuff.

[egrove]

What about the DC compressor fridges I've been hearing about? Anyone have any experience with them? Sounds like you get the best of both, a compressor based system instead of absorption but much less power consumption?

[sgfrye]

ford truck guy wrote:

Keithk3628 wrote:
How do you make a residential fridge work between campsites, I guess I am assuming it is not in any kind of cool mode except without 120 volt power. I know my RV fridge is using propane and 12 volt battery pwr before arriving at campground to keep cold.

This post just made me wonder now that a lot of manufacturers are including residential refer's.

They will usually have an inverter installed to power the fridge.. Mine is a Pure Sine Wave 1000 watt inverter and I can run from PA to Key West without the fridge turning off..

IF I did mostly boondocking, I would want an RV fridge.

x2 on this

we don't boondock but load the fridge up night before traveling and everything stays nice and cold and frozen in freezer.

our tt came with the residential fridge so its what we use.

if we boondock i would go rv-propane for sure

with that said i have tested our fridge running on the 2 deep cycle batteries in 90 plus degree days last summer without other loads on the batteries it ran 2 days with plenty of battery power left. so the newer fridges are more energy efficient

[ford_truck_guy]

Keithk3628 wrote:
How do you make a residential fridge work between campsites, I guess I am assuming it is not in any kind of cool mode except without 120 volt power. I know my RV fridge is using propane and 12 volt battery pwr before arriving at campground to keep cold.

This post just made me wonder now that a lot of manufacturers are including residential refer's.

They will usually have an inverter installed to power the fridge.. Mine is a Pure Sine Wave 1000 watt inverter and I can run from PA to Key West without the fridge turning off..

IF I did mostly boondocking, I would want an RV fridge.

[Keithk3628]

How do you make a residential fridge work between campsites, I guess I am assuming it is not in any kind of cool mode except without 120 volt power. I know my RV fridge is using propane and 12 volt battery pwr before arriving at campground to keep cold.

This post just made me wonder now that a lot of manufacturers are including residential refer's.

[rkassl]

RV refrig for me all the way. I don't want to depend on a battery pack to keep my milk cold.

[RobWNY]

When we ordered our 5th wheel, it came standard with a 10.7 cu. ft. refrigerator. We had them swap it out with an 8 cu. ft. RV fridge so we could boondock without having to worry about our batteries being drained too quickly. We saved a few $'s too