Residential Refrigerators While Boondocking
I'm new to the world of having a residential refrigerator in my RV. Does anyone have any tips on how to get the most out of a residential unit when mostly boondocking? Thanks.
Forum Discussion
naturist wrote:
The possibility of going boondocking would be WHY RVs typically come with absorption (ie, gas) refrigerators, not residential ones.
A residential fridge is going to draw a lot of power, particularly when the compressor starts. This will require a rather largish inverter, which will suck down batteries pretty fast. No doubt you've discovered that already.
The number one suggestion I'd have is to avoid opening the fridge up for any reason while boon docking. Open door time is the major warm-up factor in a fridge's day.
Well certainly many RV's come with absorption fridges but its getting tough to find a middle to upper end motorhome that doesn't have a residential fridge. I would think absorptions will be available for awhile yet but certainly residentials (compressor type) are making big inroads into the RV world. With the price of solar nowadays I can't think of any real advantages to absorption units over residentials in coaches or larger fifth wheels that have room for larger battery banks.
