Residential Frig / Dry camping
We are contemplating a new motorhome which comes with a residential frig. Apparently it is also serviced by its own two batteries and a 1000 watt inverter. Has anyone tried dry camping for any length ...
Forum Discussion
Ivylog wrote:
I put off going residential partly because of the size of the refer's and we bondock often. Finally found a unit that almost fit without any modifications for my NoCold 1200... 1/2" too high and 21 cu ft. You can see my DIY install here. Having spent $1200 on a Amish cooling unit, new control board $200, ARP controller $100, auto fire system $200 over the last five years... in hind sight I should have gone residential when my cooling unit went out.
My EnergyStar Whirlpool 21 cu ft draws 7.4 amps at 13V DC and 8 at 12V... less than a 100W bulb. Before going residential I had to run my generator 1-2 hours/day even with 250W of solar so I added a new 500 AH battery bank with it's own 1000W PSW inverter, 100A charger, and a transfer switch for the refer and my Sat receiver/DVR/TV. I can go two days before the refer batteries need recharging without any solar which is longer than the 800AH on the house side can go.
OP, it's good that it has two batteries which will let you go 24 hours before needing to recharge.
NO it won't go twenty four hours before needing recharge. Like I said we have several that have two batteries for their residential refrigerators and they had to start the generators two hours in the morning and two hours in the afternoon when we were at Furnace Creek by Death Valley.
