Why switch to a Residential Refrig, thinking out loud !!

> Why switch to a Residential Refrig---.
Cooling is more precise. Costs much less to replace. Easier to remove for replacement or service. Chance of fire almost eliminated. Larger capacity. Doesn't have to be perfectly level. Don't have to turn it off when fueling your rig. High end manufacturers are installing them routinely.
Dave

wait a minute, he evidently has a perfectly fine RV refrigerator and you want him to rip it out and put in one he can't run while boondocking? keep in mind that more of these did not catch fire than those that did. :)
bumpy

I have been going thru the thoughts of installing a residential fridge when we returned home from our winter trip. But as fate would have it. Smelled ammonia gas in motorhome when we were 4 days away from arriving home.
Since we were on our way to Shipshewana,IN to get one of our recliners reupholstered. I gave National Refrigeration a call. They were recommended to me by a fellow RV.NET member. Got a new cooling unit installed along with a ARP boiler temperature control. Spent the night in their parking lot. Hooked to their 50 amp cord. Next Morning Leon started the repair. Took Leon and his helper a little over 2 hours to complete the whole job. Very good job. MH was cleaner inside than when they started.
Whole price was less than it would have cost me to buy and install a residential fridge. Plus no work required by me. I would have had to install a added bank of batteries to supply enough power to inverter for the fridge and other items.
DW would have liked to have a residential fridge for it's added size. I would have liked the residential for it's less chance of having a fire. (Need to install a fires extinguisher yet.) But our Dometic fridge has been almost trouble free for 10 years. Looking forward to it doing it for another 10 years.
It does not always work out to getting a repair like this done without interrupting a trip. Most end up getting new fridge instead of interrupting their trip. As I stated at beginning of this post. If we had made it home. There would be a residential fridge in our MH.

Bumpyroad wrote:
wait a minute, he evidently has a perfectly fine RV refrigerator and you want him to rip it out and put in one he can't run while boondocking? keep in mind that more of these did not catch fire than those that did. :)
bumpy

I am a full timer and boondock 90% of the time. I was not aware I could not do it with my residential. Should I rip it out and go to an absorbtion? I think not, for all the reasons Dave mentioned.

Sounds like we are getting into a Ford vs Chevy debate. To each his own. A residential fridge is not something I would choose. As for the RV being perfectly level to operate, I don't believe that is true anymore. I park on slope for days when I visit my dad. The fridge works just fine on gas or electric.

For the installation space available, you will end up with a lot more interior cooled space with residential, as compared to the RV adsorption models. If my adsorption model fails, definitely will go to residential, but I don' boondock.

Brian, like you fire is my main concern as I've seen way too many burned MH's from Norcold fires. I installed one of these in the roof vent and a smoke alarm behind my 1200. Several years ago I replace my cooling unit with a Amish one and left those items plus the Norcold band-aid recall box. Since I store my MH inside I only run the refer one day before leaving and when I get home.
Now if there was a decent sized residential unit that was the same size (only 64" high) that would come in the door then maybe... but there is not.

hey, my residential will kick your absorbtion's arse. put em up

Seriously if you have a good running rv fridge, hows the old saying go? if its broke dont fix it, something like that

Although the residential refrigerator is probably preferable, I'd leave it alone for all the reasons mentioned above. But the biggest reason would be fit and finish. You will have a hard time finding a model to fit perfectly in your existing space.

Besides, having the ability to run on propane is definitely a benefit if you don't have an inverter and are boondocking.