Residential Fridge battery run time

[austinjenna]

I know there are variables involved here on the manufacturer of the fridge, battery etc... But for those of you that have one assuming the standard group 27 battery the dealer gives you - how long can you run that fridge on just the battery?

[StirCrazy]

willald wrote:

goducks10 wrote:
I would suggest upgrading your charger to a Progressive Dynamics that has the option to bulk charge anytime. Even if your batteries drop down 30-40% a standard WFCO won't bulk at more than 13.6-8. You waste a lot of time trying to quick charge at 13.6.

Not sure who this was directed to, but in my case, putting in a PD converter would be not only a huge down grade and not very smart, it would also be nearly impossible without redoing much of the electrical system.

Our RV has the Xantrex Freedom XC 2000 Inverter/charger unit.

not sure I would agree with you on that one. Xantrex is a upgrade from WFCO, but I wouldnt say a upgrad over PD. but since you chose to go with a inverter/charger all on one unit I wouldnt change if I were you either. PD would be a quality upgrade on the actual parts but like you said not worth it in your case.

[JRscooby]

I must be blocked so my replies don't get thru

[austinjenna]

Doubt you'll get a new camper with a residential fridge and 1 battery, but in general, OE power and a residential compressor fridge is still a poor combination.
I know you think you have just a specific short term situation that you will need to run off of an inverter, but it's quite possible that you're not considering all scenarios. You only travel an hour or 2? Charging while traveling? Run onboard genny or install a heavy duty dc dc charger?

I'm not even sure what you are talking about. If you read my initial post I was wondering how long it would run on 1 battery because currently with my gas/electric fridge I start it up the night before in the storage lot then the next morning when I bring it home its cold, then load cold items into it and done.

I was wondering if I could do the same thing with a residential fridge and it seems from the responses the answer is no unless I add more batteries.

My storage lot is 2 miles from my house, so picking it up, turning on the fridge, it will not cool down in the 5 minute ride home to start stocking it up.

I know the batteries charge while driving.

[Grit_dog]

time2roll wrote:
I calculated 2x 30# cylinders should last about 45 days (seems short). With portable cylinders I don't have to break camp to run out for a refill. Anyway as a part timer I can't see staying in one spot for much over a week.

My last fill was $28 for 30# would compare to $200 to fill with gasoline.

Yes, that's short. LP fridge doesn't even use that much.
Fridge in our AF TC, 1 30lb bottle, month long trip, plugged in for about 5 days at one spot and normal daily run of the genny to charge batteries a couple hours, ran the fridge, hot water for a family of 4 and occasional stove use and was still very heavy at the end of that month.
They really do sip propane.

[Grit_dog]

willald wrote:

Grit dog wrote:
...Bottom line, resi fridge unless the camper is parked at a power source 99% of the time is an effort in futility...and warm beer and soggy freezer!

As one thats owned a total of 5 RVs over the course of last 22 years, 4 of which had absorption style frigs, the last of which has a residential refrigerator.....I have to respectfully disagree with this.

On the contrary, a residential fridge, when set up correctly with the right battery bank, an appropriate inverter to run it, and a generator to recharge when needed....Works very, very well for someone not planning to be near electrical hookups very much (boondocking).

As noted previously, I am able to run the frig up to 2 days without electrical hookup, off just batteries without ever cranking up the generator or burning any fuel. Run the generator for a few hours each day, I can run indefinitely, as long as the 80 gallon fuel tank holds up.

And, when I do finally need to refuel, I just need to get gasoline, not LP gas that can be more difficult to find. With an 80 gallon fuel tank, and the generator only using 1/2 gallon per hour maximum when running full power....I could camp for almost 2 months before we would need to break camp and refuel at all. I doubt that any RV with the older absorption style frig running on LP gas could go that long without refueling.

That doesn't sound to me like 'an effort in futility'. Sounds to me more like a very good setup for boondocking. I prefer this setup muuuch better over the previous RVs I had with the older absorption style refrigerator.

Weird, I think we agree, but it's probably more fun to just clip a short portion of what I wrote, to have an excuse for a nice story...

I actually said something very similar to your response, just not in the portion you responded to.

And each end user has different uses, needs and goals.
Me being the occasional weekend warrior, 50/50ish between having hookups or not, the additional time and expense to have a mack daddy onboard power setup is not warranted. Whereas, if you use your RV much more frequently, and have the want or need for a large battery bank, big inverter, multiple means of charging, etc, it is the right way to go for you and your use.
CHeers!

[time2roll]

willald wrote:
And, when I do finally need to refuel, I just need to get gasoline, not LP gas that can be more difficult to find. With an 80 gallon fuel tank, and the generator only using 1/2 gallon per hour maximum when running full power....I could camp for almost 2 months before we would need to break camp and refuel at all. I doubt that any RV with the older absorption style frig running on LP gas could go that long without refueling.

I calculated 2x 30# cylinders should last about 45 days (seems short). With portable cylinders I don't have to break camp to run out for a refill. Anyway as a part timer I can't see staying in one spot for much over a week.

My last fill was $28 for 30# would compare to $200 to fill with gasoline.

[AllegroD]

willald wrote:
On the contrary, a residential fridge, when set up correctly with the right battery bank, an appropriate inverter to run it, and a generator to recharge when needed....Works very, very well for someone not planning to be near electrical hookups very much (boondocking).

^^^ This.

[willald]

Grit dog wrote:
...Bottom line, resi fridge unless the camper is parked at a power source 99% of the time is an effort in futility...and warm beer and soggy freezer!

As one thats owned a total of 5 RVs over the course of last 22 years, 4 of which had absorption style frigs, the last of which has a residential refrigerator.....I have to respectfully disagree with this.

On the contrary, a residential fridge, when set up correctly with the right battery bank, an appropriate inverter to run it, and a generator to recharge when needed....Works very, very well for someone not planning to be near electrical hookups very much (boondocking).

As noted previously, I am able to run the frig up to 2 days without electrical hookup, off just batteries without ever cranking up the generator or burning any fuel. Run the generator for a few hours each day, I can run indefinitely, as long as the 80 gallon fuel tank holds up.

And, when I do finally need to refuel, I just need to get gasoline, not LP gas that can be more difficult to find. With an 80 gallon fuel tank, and the generator only using 1/2 gallon per hour maximum when running full power....I could camp for almost 2 months before we would need to break camp and refuel at all. I doubt that any RV with the older absorption style frig running on LP gas could go that long without refueling.

That doesn't sound to me like 'an effort in futility'. Sounds to me more like a very good setup for boondocking. I prefer this setup muuuch better over the previous RVs I had with the older absorption style refrigerator.

[Grit_dog]

austinjenna wrote:
Thanks. I am not talking about boondocking or solar panels just simply starting the fridge for it to cool down before I bring it home to load up and head out.

It sounds like it will only run a couple of hours on 1 battery

Doubt you'll get a new camper with a residential fridge and 1 battery, but in general, OE power and a residential compressor fridge is still a poor combination.
I know you think you have just a specific short term situation that you will need to run off of an inverter, but it's quite possible that you're not considering all scenarios. You only travel an hour or 2? Charging while traveling? Run onboard genny or install a heavy duty dc dc charger?

Bottom line, resi fridge unless the camper is parked at a power source 99% of the time is an effort in futility...and warm beer and soggy freezer!

[willald]

goducks10 wrote:
I would suggest upgrading your charger to a Progressive Dynamics that has the option to bulk charge anytime. Even if your batteries drop down 30-40% a standard WFCO won't bulk at more than 13.6-8. You waste a lot of time trying to quick charge at 13.6.

Not sure who this was directed to, but in my case, putting in a PD converter would be not only a huge down grade and not very smart, it would also be nearly impossible without redoing much of the electrical system.

Our RV has the Xantrex Freedom XC 2000 Inverter/charger unit. It provides really, really good multi-stage battery charging; Every bit as good if not better than what any PD converter would provide.

Although I do agree that for a lot of RVs, a Progressive Dynamics converter with multi-stage charging is a great upgrade over what it comes with from the factory. I did that upgrade on a previous RV we used to own.

[goducks10]

I would suggest upgrading your charger to a Progressive Dynamics that has the option to bulk charge anytime. Even if your batteries drop down 30-40% a standard WFCO won't bulk at more than 13.6-8. You waste a lot of time trying to quick charge at 13.6.

[willald]

MNRon wrote:
willald - I have a similar set-up (or had until switching to Lithiums a month ago). 630AHr AGMs, Magnum 1k inverter on Samsung residential fridge, also a Magnum 3k inverter with 125A charger for whole-house.

We found that our fridge alone would average 160AHr/24hr period. So if *nothing* else ran we could power the fridge for ~48 hours. I also am not adverse to running down to ~40% SOC once in a while. Practical experience with boondocking over a few years was that I didn't even think about battery capacity concerns if we plugged in every other night. When boondocking for a week or so I needed to average running the generator about 3hr/day, but didn't have to run it every day (but couldn't skip more than a day, and then needed to make up for the 3hr/day average).

Thanks, Ron, this is very helpful, and is probably very close to where I am. Will just plan on running the generator for a few hours most days when boondocking, and keep a close eye on charge levels. Will most likely work fine.

[MNRon]

willald - I have a similar set-up (or had until switching to Lithiums a month ago). 630AHr AGMs, Magnum 1k inverter on Samsung residential fridge, also a Magnum 3k inverter with 125A charger for whole-house.

We found that our fridge alone would average 160AHr/24hr period. So if *nothing* else ran we could power the fridge for ~48 hours. I also am not adverse to running down to ~40% SOC once in a while. Practical experience with boondocking over a few years was that I didn't even think about battery capacity concerns if we plugged in every other night. When boondocking for a week or so I needed to average running the generator about 3hr/day, but didn't have to run it every day (but couldn't skip more than a day, and then needed to make up for the 3hr/day average).

[way2roll]

time2roll wrote:
I frequently take cold food in a cooler out to storage. Load the absorption fridge and turn it on at the same time. And as soon as the rest is ready I roll. By the time the food might get slightly warm it is cooling down just fine. Never an issue.

Now if thinking about putting two cases of warm beer in there it may take a few days. Chilled food, frozen food is fine.

I tell my wife "honey, the more cold beer I add the better the fridge works. I'm saving our food"

😉

[time2roll]

I frequently take cold food in a cooler out to storage. Load the absorption fridge and turn it on at the same time. And as soon as the rest is ready I roll. By the time the food might get slightly warm it is cooling down just fine. Never an issue.

Now if thinking about putting two cases of warm beer in there it may take a few days. Chilled food, frozen food is fine.