Convert RV fridge to residential

[Cptnvideo]

We are in the process of buying a Solitude 378MBS to fulltime in.
We will be adding 1200 watts of solar, 3kw inverter and 3 SOK Lithium batteries. We plan to boondock at least 50% of the time (probably a lot more).
The Solitude has a 18CF RV fridge in it and we think one of the new residential fridges would be better - after reviewing all the pros and cons of each.
We have no idea what this would cost or where to have the conversion done.
Thoughts?

[BackOfThePack]

Cptnvideo wrote:
"Electric isn’t even needed except for water pump and furnace. Get priorities straight."

Your 3 way fridge won't run without electric (battery). Neither will lights. Without electric from either solar or generator, your batteries will eventually become useless and at that point, nothing will function in your RV.
I've got my priorities straight.

Electric not needed for lighting.

Amp draw for 3-way ref/frz is minimal.

Only furnace fan & water pump (which could be manual) have enough demand to warrant battery use.

Have a look at 1950s trailers. The difference here from car-camping pre-war is the propane system built-in to service stove/oven, water heater, lighting, furnace, and refrigerator/freezer.

Need & Desire aren’t the same.

Priority is Propane System (and capacity) first, with Water System (and capacity) a very close second (as it could be re-filled from stream or well).

**What limits self-sufficiency over time (X-nights aboard) is the determinant.**

Solar is “nice”. That’s it.

Besides high expense (and limited life) it has too many points of potential failure.

No one stops you from having the additional system at its higher-cost, despite lower reliability and a shorter life if that’s the way you want to do it.

I’ve solar on mine. Keeps a pair of batteries charged. But won’t change the time factor in needing re-supply.

That said, I’m all in favor of maximizing each system. If I hadn’t shore power, then what? If I lost propane, then what? Lost even 12V, then what? A worthwhile exercise to avoid or delay having to abandon the RV for other lodgings (at the heart of why I’m no fan of motorhomes as the drivetrain/chassis — alone — does this regularly).

— An example of this is retro-fitting an electric furnace to utilize the existing fan & ducting (CheapHeat, by Rvcomfortsystems).

Solar has its place in the mix.

Separate gensets really don’t (bandaid). Ones TV might be so equipped, but that’s not the RV itself (as one can lose its services separately from the RV).

Propane gensets were once fitted to TTs (maybe still are), but their performance was lacking, to say the least. As a fallback it’s an expensive, limited-use component and likelier to shorten self-sufficiency even sooner.

.

[JimK-NY]

Cptnvideo wrote:
Why is it that I have not seen one person that regrets going from a propane fridge to a residential fridge?
Solar is extremely reliable but if ours should ever fail, we have a backup generator. Solar allows us to boondock practically indefinitely in peace and quiet. The only limitation is dumping and water. We can even go without propane if we don't mind waking up a little chilly.

If I could I would switch to propane in a heartbeat. My current RV does not have side or roof vents to permit that.

My small (4 cuft) refrigerator has a very efficient Danfoss compressor. Depending on ambient temps, my unit can easily pull well over 50 AH/day. The bigger unit I replaced pulled well over 100 AH and a residential refrigerator is likely to pull twice that amount. Fifty, 100, even a couple hundred AH/day does not sound like much if you have a large battery bank and a large solar array. That changes instantly if you camp in the forest because it is beautiful or too hot to camp in the sun or if you have some rainy days, or if you camp in the winter with the sun very low in the sky. Anyone who has depended on solar knows how poorly solar panels work with even just some partial shade. Personally I hate the need to run a generator for hours when a propane refrigerator can work for a month or months on a tank of propane.

[Cptnvideo]

"Electric isn’t even needed except for water pump and furnace. Get priorities straight."

Your 3 way fridge won't run without electric (battery). Neither will lights. Without electric from either solar or generator, your batteries will eventually become useless and at that point, nothing will function in your RV.
I've got my priorities straight.

[Cptnvideo]

Why is it that I have not seen one person that regrets going from a propane fridge to a residential fridge?
Solar is extremely reliable but if ours should ever fail, we have a backup generator. Solar allows us to boondock practically indefinitely in peace and quiet. The only limitation is dumping and water. We can even go without propane if we don't mind waking up a little chilly.

[BackOfThePack]

Propane systems are dirt simple, reliable & safe as well as cheap.

None of which can be said for solar electric.

Solar panels are nice when they work. Sort of like wind turbines. I’ve had them thirty years. Great marginal addition.

3-way reefer in current trailer is 20-years old this year. High hours of use.
If one has problems, search for answers (badly-built trailers feature bad installations).

Maximize each system to work well with the others. And, to a goal of being without re-supply up to X-nights-aboard with Y-people and Z-gallons fresh water. There is no point in overdoing that system which doesn’t matter when other supply causes one to have to move or to go to town.

Fit the pieces together. There’s plenty one can do IF he wants to provide EVERY service via ONLY propane, or 12V or 120V (Upgrades & additions).

Propane & Water are the essential systems in a camper. They are at the defining point of what is meant by “self-sufficient”.

Electric isn’t even needed except for water pump and furnace. Get priorities straight.

There’s nothing “simple” about solar electric. It has multiple failure points built-in. (When that happens, your 3-way will switch over to propane).

[Cptnvideo]

Mike, ours is a 20cf Whirlpool. I'll have to look into the E saver.
But we were at 100% SOC by 9 am MST this morning.

[23mikey]

Cptnvideo, your setup is similar to ours. Factory installed residential Samsung 18cuft had it's own 1000w inverter, for traveling. I have added 1200w solar and 3kw inverter. With adequate sun our batteries (4x100ah Li) are back to 100% by mid-day. The one thing I found to be most helpful on the Samsung is to turn ON the E-Saver feature. I believe it turns off the door seal heater to keep moisture and condensation to a minimum. Really only needed in high humidity areas and a definite energy hog.

Safe Travels,
Mike

[Cptnvideo]

Phemens, we're not quite as efficient as you but we might have a larger fridge.
We've been boondocking for 5 days (and the first time since the residential fridge install). Batteries went into absorb charge at 2:30 MST. We wake up with about a 50% charge. Main TV only draws 3 amps when on, but that microwave sure does draw the current. When my wife turned it on to heat lunch, the system went from 55 amps going into the batteries to 55 amps going out.

[Cptnvideo]

After having issues getting the RV fridge to remain under 43° while on propane (and 2 different techs could not find anything wrong with the system), we decided to replace it with a Whirlpool 19.4 cu ft residential fridge. And we couldn't be happier. The res fridge draws 5.2 amps per hour from our battery bank. (This is going by the 569 kwh annual draw as stated by the manufacturer.) 569000/365/24/12.5 = 5.196 amps

[Cptnvideo]

Thanks, phemens. From what I've been reading, the newer res fridges are very efficient. And if you look at the annual kwh and divide it out to daily, it is very low.

[phemens]

ajriding wrote:
Bad idea for boondockiing. Those who install resi fridges tend to drive from outlet to outlet and are always plugged into hookups. This is just not a good solution for an RV.
Running an inverter to run a fridge is just not a good use of available battery power. You will be replacing batteries more often due to cycling them regularly.

There are electric DC fridges that will run more efficiently and could work for boondocking.

Are you not wanting the propane fridge because of high outside/ambient temps? That makes sense as the propane absorption fridges do have limitations and needs at higher outside temps.

The best solution is to address the weaknesses of the propane fridge or to install a DC fridge that uses a Danfoss -style compressor. The chest fridges are the most efficient, but there are front opening fridges also. There are also kits to convert a propane fridge to a compressor DC fridge, but this is only for a few select models and requires some know-how and time.

My advice is that you will be glad to have spent extra money to do it right than to have dying batteries constantly from trying to run a resi fridge off grid

Sorry, I disagree. Converting to a residential fridge was the single best thing we did on our rig. We boondock exclusively and have a setup almost identical to the OP's proposal. It works great and it certainly does not draw down the battery bank. We typically make very free use of the available battery capacity (600 AH Li) and wake up to 70-75% available, which is topped up before noon. Our batteries have never been below 50%.

[ajriding]

Bad idea for boondockiing. Those who install resi fridges tend to drive from outlet to outlet and are always plugged into hookups. This is just not a good solution for an RV.
Running an inverter to run a fridge is just not a good use of available battery power. You will be replacing batteries more often due to cycling them regularly.

There are electric DC fridges that will run more efficiently and could work for boondocking.

Are you not wanting the propane fridge because of high outside/ambient temps? That makes sense as the propane absorption fridges do have limitations and needs at higher outside temps.

The best solution is to address the weaknesses of the propane fridge or to install a DC fridge that uses a Danfoss -style compressor. The chest fridges are the most efficient, but there are front opening fridges also. There are also kits to convert a propane fridge to a compressor DC fridge, but this is only for a few select models and requires some know-how and time.

My advice is that you will be glad to have spent extra money to do it right than to have dying batteries constantly from trying to run a resi fridge off grid

[time2roll]

I would tend to wait on the fridge as it could consume 40% to 60% of your solar. See how the consumption goes and when all is well, go for it. If you find a preference to have extra capacity to run the air conditioner a few hours the fridge could push the limits of production and storage.

[Cptnvideo]

ScottG wrote:
Are you certain that 18 cu/ft fridge isn't residential? I think that's normally what it comes with as shown in the link below.
Link to floorplan

Well, vents on the outside and a Norcold name convinced me.