Residential refrigerator

[WDW_BWV]

How well do residential refrigerators work in motorhomes? Is being level as critical? Are they more efficient in hot weather? What do you see as the good OR NOT so good points?

We've focused on two new motorhomes. One has a traditional and the other has a residential model.

[Executive45]

Folks...he's NOT changing out a fridge...:E

He's LOOKING at TWO different rigs...one with a residential fridge and one without. He asked for opinions as to the advantages one had over the other....Dennis

[kdk]

To the OP; If you decide to do this a good choice of manufacture would be a Samsung if in fact you have a modified sine wave inverter. If your inverter is pure(or true) sine wave then any one of them will work. Samsung refers require 120 volt AC power supply but this is immediately rectified internally to a DC voltage and all components lights, control panel,compressors (mine has 2 one for refer and one for the freezer), ice maker ect. all run on DC voltage. They actually consume less energy than a Never Cold. Also in choosing a refer make sure the warranty will not be voided if it is installed in an RV. Just my 2 cents; kdk

[John___Angela]

sew0177 wrote:
How do you get the fridge in the coach? I can't imagine just heffting it though the door. My 2004 Fleetwood Revolution has a 2000 watt inverter (MSW) with 4 batteries.

Just realized you have the same coach as I do assuming you have a 40C revolution. We took our front window out when we did it. We actually had to replace it anyway. 650 bucks re and re .

Re your inverter. You may hear otherwise from others on the forum but in my opinion you should replace it with a true sine wave inverter of the same size.

Cheers.

[creeper]

Love, love, love our residential fridge. The only con I see is if you're a boondocker. We have a 100 watt solar panel, 4 batteries and 2000 watt sine wave inverter. Have yet to test how long it will run on the inverter for those times we're without power.

We've had problems with every RV fridge we've owned. Really tired of half melted ice-cream .

[John___Angela]

We changed ours out a few years back. We already had a large battery bank and solar system so for us it really didn't change much. We are power hogs in the sense of lots of TV use, big computer monitor, microwave, Kuerig etc etc etc. All fed through 2 large inverters. Our fridge is NOT our biggest power user. When we are dry camping we run the genny for 30 to 45 minutes at meal prep times. That along with our solar array we really don't pay attention to what the fridge uses. I know from testing after we put it in that it draws around 1 amp at 110 volts but only when it is cycled on which is about a third of the time.

I can't imagine ever having another RV fridge. Our is 22 cubic feet. It stuck out almost 3.5 extra inches but I trimmed it in so it actually looks factory installed.

To each his own. Some that are only able to have a couple batteries and can't do a big solar install need to stay with the Norcold 1200 models. There is not one right way to do stuff. For some the propnae jobbys work just fine. Not for us.
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[TNGW1500SE]

I put 2x4's on the tailgate of the truck and slid an "apartment size" fridge right in the door. Wife helped. Only lost one drawer due to height difference. I would never want to go back to that old propane fridge. Now it gets cold fast and even freezes ice cream with twice the room inside. I don't use an inverter. I just run my generator every 4 hours or so. I'd say I could go a lot longer without starting the generator but I give it some juice every 4 hours. If you always camp plugged in. It's a no-brainer. OH! And the chance of the fridge catching fire goes way down. I wouldn't buy a RV with a propane fridge again.

[kdk]

I installed a Samsung 23.5 cu.ft. counter depth. Took the doors off both refers and both went out and in the entry door. The Samsung was actually lighter in weight and smaller than the norcold. The counter depth box is 24" deep and door width was 26" so it fit. A little wood work but fit in same spot. I have 4 6 volt trojans and can run the ref, evening tv, lights and cpap machine and still have about 12.1 to 12.3 volts in the morning.My system runs the refer on a dedicated 1000 watt inverter which also supplies the cpap.

[sailor_lou]

Mine (Samsung RF197) also fit through the RV door once the fridged doors were removed. I enlisted help from a friend and the two of us passed it in with no problems.

Lou
05 Travel Supreme Envoy

[jd620]

I just finished installing a Samsung RF18HFENBSR in my 2005 Fleetwood Excursion. I did not have to take a window out I was able to get it in thru the door opening. Took the door stop off and tied the door open to the mirror. Took the weather stripping off around the door and 3 of us were able to muscle it in. Also took the doors off the refrigerator itself. It was about 6 inches taller than the Norcold 1200 so I had to modify the cabinet. Overall it was well worth it.

[Sprig]

I made the switch from RV to residential refrigerator. I note that you are buying new, but total long term cost was something I thought about quite a bit.

I can supply my own electricity with solar but I can not supply my own propane.

The RV refer would have cost 4500 vs the 1500 I paid for the residential. That $3K can offset the cost of the needed electrical upgrades.

Unlike other posters above, when I have added the planned extra solar up top, I don't think that boondocking will be any problem at all. I expect that my issue will be filling the gray tank.

I also find that while traveling, finding propane that is easy to access is a PITA. Since I no longer have any risk to my food if I run the propane dry, I no longer have to worry about monitoring it as closely as before.

Mentally I also feel a bit of a relief that I don't have a burning flame inside my RV.

I don't really see any down side, just differences. With inverter and solar technology today I see no good reason to do it the old way.

[harold1946]

WDW.BWV wrote:
WOW what great responses! You have confirmed with my suspicions were about which decision to make. Thank you!

Have any of you installed solar panels on the roof of your vehicle in order to supplement your batteries? If so where did you have it done and what am I looking at in terms of cost or needs?

Some use an energy audit form to estimate how much power the may use. I prefer using a rule of thumb method of 100 watts of solar for each 100 amp hour of storage capacity of the battery bank.
I installed the PV system myself. 645 watts of solar, supporting a 580 amp hour battery bank.
The cost of solar panels has dropped considerably over the years with some priced at less than $1.00/watt.
I too am a convert to a residential refrigerator and prefer it over an absorption unit and we boondock 90% of the time.

[harold1946]

WDW.BWV wrote:
WOW what great responses! You have confirmed with my suspicions were about which decision to make. Thank you!

Have any of you installed solar panels on the roof of your vehicle in order to supplement your batteries? If so where did you have it done and what am I looking at in terms of cost or needs?

Some use an energy audit form to estimate how much power the may use. I prefer using a rule of thumb method of 100 watts of solar for each 100 amp hour of storage capacity of the battery bank.
I installed the PV system myself. 645 watts of solar, supporting a 580 amp hour battery bank.
The cost of solar panels has dropped considerably over the years with some priced at less than $1.00/watt.
I too am a convert to a residential refrigerator and prefer it over an absorption unit and we boondock 90% of the time.

[Ivylog]

My rig came with 50 Watts of solar for charging the house batteries when in storage BUT it had a controller large enough for 200 W so I added 150 W myself. Solar panels are now $1/W and if you were converting a rig to residential and adding solar something like this plus a $15 transfer switch and a $150 charger would be an easy system to do yourself.

[WDW_BWV]

WOW what great responses! You have confirmed with my suspicions were about which decision to make. Thank you!

Have any of you installed solar panels on the roof of your vehicle in order to supplement your batteries? If so where did you have it done and what am I looking at in terms of cost or needs?