Traveling with residential fridge

[MetalGator]

We will hopefully be taking delivery of our new Class A motorhome in the next couple of weeks. The motorhome has a residential fridge. I am assuming that the inverter will keep the fridge running while we our underway? I am also assuming that while underway the coach batteries will be getting charged. Having said that, assumptions can get you in trouble! Since we live in Florida, most of the time we will probably be running the generator to run at lease one of the AC units while underway but I was wondering if we would be OK running the fridge on an all day drive without running the gen.

[Mile_High]

The new 18cf Norcold with ice maker draws:

6.61 Amps cooling on 110VAC or
3.41 Amps cooling on 12VDC with gas
? - unknown idle

A 20' French residential fridge:

7.2 Amps 110VAC startup only
❤️ Amps 110VAC compressor running
<1.5 Amps 110VAC defrosting
<0.2 Amps idle

On 110V, the residential is going to be more efficient. On gas, these newer large capacity absorbtion fridges tax your batteries quite a bit. They pull down your 12v about the same as headlights. I've had our old 8 ft dometic run several days on a single battery back in the day.

[tropical36]

time2roll wrote:

Two Jayhawks wrote:

time2roll wrote:
You should have no issues in transit. Camping off-grid is when it gets interesting.

We are not big off grid campers but I have friends with residential units that claim it's not very interesting at all. Curious what your take would be.

Depends on how the RV is set up.
Certainly a residential fridge will draw more from the battery than a propane/absorption fridge.

I think you'll find that the exact opposite is true.

[Mile_High]

georgelesley wrote:

Mile High wrote:

georgelesley wrote:

time2roll wrote:

Two Jayhawks wrote:

time2roll wrote:
You should have no issues in transit. Camping off-grid is when it gets interesting.

We are not big off grid campers but I have friends with residential units that claim it's not very interesting at all. Curious what your take would be.

Depends on how the RV is set up.
Certainly a residential fridge will draw more from the battery than a propane/absorption fridge.

We have a inverter and the refrig is not wired to run off the inverter Check with the dealer to see if yours is so wired and the inverter is sized accordingly. Assume nothing verify everything.

George, Unless I'm reading wrong, I don't see where a 2014 Sunova ever was offered with a residential refrigerator. I see an 8 cf absorbtion standard, 10 cf and 12 cf as options, but all absorbtion type. There would be no reason for those to run off the inverter, because they already have the capability to operate on 12v/gas.

It did not come with a residential fridge but I wanted to run the 12cf Norcold we have on 110v as i do not like to run with propane on I do not wish to ignite that controversy again just my personal preference. When refers would run on 12v that is what we used when traveling our 1000w inverter would handle it but the wiring would have been difficult and not worth the trouble.

I understand. It just made me curious why Winnie would not install an inverter for a residential fridge, but now that I understand what you are trying to accomplish, what you said makes sense. With the RV absorbtion fridge, the manufacturer would not feel the need to have it on inverter.

[Mile_High]

tropical36 wrote:

Mile High wrote:

georgelesley wrote:

time2roll wrote:

Two Jayhawks wrote:

time2roll wrote:
You should have no issues in transit. Camping off-grid is when it gets interesting.

We are not big off grid campers but I have friends with residential units that claim it's not very interesting at all. Curious what your take would be.

Depends on how the RV is set up.
Certainly a residential fridge will draw more from the battery than a propane/absorption fridge.

We have a inverter and the refrig is not wired to run off the inverter Check with the dealer to see if yours is so wired and the inverter is sized accordingly. Assume nothing verify everything.

George, Unless I'm reading wrong, I don't see where a 2014 Sunova ever was offered with a residential refrigerator. I see an 8 cf absorbtion standard, 10 cf and 12 cf as options, but all absorbtion type. There would be no reason for those to run off the inverter, because they already have the capability to operate on 12v/gas.

Really, I haven't seen a modern RV fridge that would run on 12vdc. Used to see them in the old TT's, years ago and trying to run on a single 12v car battery, mounted on the hitch, but not nowadays.
Could be wrong though and just saying that I haven't seen one, for a very long time.
Giving this further thought, you could be saying that the fridge requires 12vdc control power for the propane mode, as all RV fridges do.
I reviewed the specs. as well and as you say, it only has a power converter, no inverter and a 120vac/gas combo, RV fridge.

You are correct, I tried to mean control panel by using "12v/gas" but I should have explained better.

Boy you jogged a distant memory - back to my 3-way fridge in the 84 HR Alumilite MH we had 🙂

[georgelesley]

Mile High wrote:

georgelesley wrote:

time2roll wrote:

Two Jayhawks wrote:

time2roll wrote:
You should have no issues in transit. Camping off-grid is when it gets interesting.

We are not big off grid campers but I have friends with residential units that claim it's not very interesting at all. Curious what your take would be.

Depends on how the RV is set up.
Certainly a residential fridge will draw more from the battery than a propane/absorption fridge.

We have a inverter and the refrig is not wired to run off the inverter Check with the dealer to see if yours is so wired and the inverter is sized accordingly. Assume nothing verify everything.

George, Unless I'm reading wrong, I don't see where a 2014 Sunova ever was offered with a residential refrigerator. I see an 8 cf absorbtion standard, 10 cf and 12 cf as options, but all absorbtion type. There would be no reason for those to run off the inverter, because they already have the capability to operate on 12v/gas.

It did not come with a residential fridge but I wanted to run the 12cf Norcold we have on 110v as i do not like to run with propane on I do not wish to ignite that controversy again just my personal preference. When refers would run on 12v that is what we used when traveling our 1000w inverter would handle it but the wiring would have been difficult and not worth the trouble.

[tropical36]

Mile High wrote:

georgelesley wrote:

time2roll wrote:

Two Jayhawks wrote:

time2roll wrote:
You should have no issues in transit. Camping off-grid is when it gets interesting.

We are not big off grid campers but I have friends with residential units that claim it's not very interesting at all. Curious what your take would be.

Depends on how the RV is set up.
Certainly a residential fridge will draw more from the battery than a propane/absorption fridge.

We have a inverter and the refrig is not wired to run off the inverter Check with the dealer to see if yours is so wired and the inverter is sized accordingly. Assume nothing verify everything.

George, Unless I'm reading wrong, I don't see where a 2014 Sunova ever was offered with a residential refrigerator. I see an 8 cf absorbtion standard, 10 cf and 12 cf as options, but all absorbtion type. There would be no reason for those to run off the inverter, because they already have the capability to operate on 12v/gas.

Really, I haven't seen a modern RV fridge that would run on 12vdc. Used to see them in the old TT's, years ago and trying to run on a single 12v car battery, mounted on the hitch, but not nowadays.
Could be wrong though and just saying that I haven't seen one, for a very long time.
Giving this further thought, you could be saying that the fridge requires 12vdc control power for the propane mode, as all RV fridges do.
I reviewed the specs. as well and as you say, it only has a power converter, no inverter and a 120vac/gas combo, RV fridge.

[Mile_High]

georgelesley wrote:

time2roll wrote:

Two Jayhawks wrote:

time2roll wrote:
You should have no issues in transit. Camping off-grid is when it gets interesting.

We are not big off grid campers but I have friends with residential units that claim it's not very interesting at all. Curious what your take would be.

Depends on how the RV is set up.
Certainly a residential fridge will draw more from the battery than a propane/absorption fridge.

We have a inverter and the refrig is not wired to run off the inverter Check with the dealer to see if yours is so wired and the inverter is sized accordingly. Assume nothing verify everything.

George, Unless I'm reading wrong, I don't see where a 2014 Sunova ever was offered with a residential refrigerator. I see an 8 cf absorbtion standard, 10 cf and 12 cf as options, but all absorbtion type. There would be no reason for those to run off the inverter, because they already have the capability to operate on 12v/gas.

[georgelesley]

time2roll wrote:

Two Jayhawks wrote:

time2roll wrote:
You should have no issues in transit. Camping off-grid is when it gets interesting.

We are not big off grid campers but I have friends with residential units that claim it's not very interesting at all. Curious what your take would be.

Depends on how the RV is set up.
Certainly a residential fridge will draw more from the battery than a propane/absorption fridge.

We have a inverter and the refrig is not wired to run off the inverter Check with the dealer to see if yours is so wired and the inverter is sized accordingly. Assume nothing verify everything.

[Bill_Satellite]

The Residential fridge will not draw more amps than your engine alternator can replace so unless you are going to be dry camping for extended periods you will not need to run your generator at all. We just made a 3 day trip from Houston to Denver and everything was exactly the same when we arrived at our campground as when we left. That includes opening the fridge from time to time to get me a cold Coke or the DW some more cold water. If you "must" run your generator then this is a complete non-issue as that's exactly the same as being plugged into shore power.
If we dry camp we do need to run the generator in the evening but that's so we can cook and watch TV and keep all the lights on and still have a fully charged battery in the morning. The next morning we run the generator for maybe an hour so the coffee maker and microwave don't put too much of a strain on the batteries but otherwise, we are pretty much good to go. Some are offended that an RVer should have to run a generator. For me.....I have one....I use it when necessary....I don't care what anyone else things. The generator uses about 1/2 gallon per hour and that's not going to bankrupt me. Well, it almost did when I had to run it 24 hours a day for 9 days straight while working in New Orleans after hurricane Katrina but the work we were doing paid for the fuel +++++.

[time2roll]

Two Jayhawks wrote:

time2roll wrote:
You should have no issues in transit. Camping off-grid is when it gets interesting.

We are not big off grid campers but I have friends with residential units that claim it's not very interesting at all. Curious what your take would be.

Depends on how the RV is set up.
Certainly a residential fridge will draw more from the battery than a propane/absorption fridge.

[2oldman]

household refer and inverter2009

Household refer Class A 2009

residential fridge- boondocking 09

Residential refer Class A 2010

Norcold w resi, class a 2014

resi Feb 2016

[tropical36]

MetalGator wrote:
We will hopefully be taking delivery of our new Class A motorhome in the next couple of weeks. The motorhome has a residential fridge. I am assuming that the inverter will keep the fridge running while we our underway? I am also assuming that while underway the coach batteries will be getting charged. Having said that, assumptions can get you in trouble! Since we live in Florida, most of the time we will probably be running the generator to run at lease one of the AC units while underway but I was wondering if we would be OK running the fridge on an all day drive without running the gen.

Ours still has the RV fridge and a real power hog. We run it on the inverter, underway, as we did with our old gas coach and with it just having two 6v batteries. It's also on invert for short periods with engine off, but will switch over to gas, when without power for the night. With a residential, our 4 12v house batteries should supply it adequately. Then again it depends on what else you might be doing with the power when sitting still.

[Ivylog]

A residential refrigerator needs two batteries in addition to the normal 4-6 that a coach should have at a minimum. Two will run it for 24+ hours...longer than the house batteries will last before needing charged. Now that I have LED lights and TVs I charge an hour and a half in the evening in a half hour in the morning when making coffee to keep my battery jo now that I have LED lights and TVs I charge an hour and a half in the evening and a half hour in the morning when making coffee to keep my batteries up.

[Mile_High]

As said, in transit you will have nearly all features on inverter, and the rest will come on with the gen. We even dry clothes in transit.

You'll have to play with the "off-grid" to see. Using 11.5 volts as the minimum, I think I only get 35-40 hours running the fridge, but I'm not positive. I have 6 AGM batteries for the coach and 2800 Watt inverter.