Gas or Electric (residential) Refrigerator?

[DryCamper11]

Six months ago we were in a head on accident that destroyed our RV and despite still being shell shocked we're now considering having a new one built to our specs.

The last 3 trips in the old Beast had multiple 3-4 week boondocking periods (no connections of any type) and the new coach needs to allow us to do the same.

The wife firmly wants the same old propane fridge we used for years, but everyone seems to be buying residential fridges today. Is it practical to boondock for 3-4 weeks with a residential R in New England/Canada?

Obviously 8 6 volts minimum, possibly 12, but initially we'd have no solar and rely on gen and inverter. We'll have 180 A of DC charging capability. Later we'll travel to the high sun lands of the Southwest, and probably add solar then.

I've read lots of comments, but I've had the smartest advice from this forum. I'll admit I also lean towards propane, as I've had good luck over the last 45 years using it, but I've read of many with problems, and those selling the coach seem kind of shocked we're putting a propane R in this type of coach.

Comments welcome.

[time2roll]

8 to 12 6v? L16?

I would seriously look at lithium to save weight and easily use 80% to 100% capacity vs 50% lead-acid.

http://www.lithiumion-batteries.com/products/12v-300ah-lithium-ion-battery/

shop around

[DryCamper11]

Wow, thanks for those great comments. We'll go propane. I just needed some more thoughtful comments from knowledgeable people that we aren't making a big mistake. I doubt we'll ever sell it, so resale isn't a big concern. Boondocking is important to us (with 2 months of frozen meat in the freezer) and I really don't want to worry about battery level keeping the fridge going.

Now we just need to decide 2 or 4 door. 🙂

Thanks!

[westend]

Being forcibly tied to utilities for basic functionality isn't what RVing is about in my opinion.

Mine neither but I have a 120V fridge. I run it off inverter and solar does the battery charging. Generator is for backup.

With the cost of solar continuing to come down in price and, if a rig can handle multiple batteries, residential fridges can make good sense. Anyone who is thinking about installing a 120V fridge should sharpen his pencil and see what the requirements are. It certainly isn't 8 batteries and a massive solar array. More like 250W-300W of solar panel and 300-400 AH of battery capacity.

[John___Angela]

Stefonius wrote:
I will NEVER buy an RV without an LPG fridge. Not only do we boondock at times, but I like the convenience of being able to cool the refrigerator a day in advance of a trip while the fifth wheel is parked in a lot without electricity.

Being forcibly tied to utilities for basic functionality isn't what RVing is about in my opinion.

Although those are valid reasons, a robust solar system (now a days cheap) will allow pre-cooling of your fridge. And with a residential fridge you only need to pre-cool and hour before.

[Stefonius]

I will NEVER buy an RV without an LPG fridge. Not only do we boondock at times, but I like the convenience of being able to cool the refrigerator a day in advance of a trip while the fifth wheel is parked in a lot without electricity.

Being forcibly tied to utilities for basic functionality isn't what RVing is about in my opinion.

[MrWizard]

Your having it built to your specs
I offer another idea
An off grid solar home DC powered 'Dan Foss compressor' fridge, it's still electric
Works like a residential, but uses a dc powered variable speed compressor
Better insulated, uses less power and the inverter is Not needed for the fridge
Several brands, one well know is the called Snow Cold, I think

[rk911]

DryCamper11 wrote:
Six months ago we were in a head on accident that destroyed our RV and despite still being shell shocked we're now considering having a new one built to our specs.

The last 3 trips in the old Beast had multiple 3-4 week boondocking periods (no connections of any type) and the new coach needs to allow us to do the same.

The wife firmly wants the same old propane fridge we used for years, but everyone seems to be buying residential fridges today. Is it practical to boondock for 3-4 weeks with a residential R in New England/Canada?

Obviously 8 6 volts minimum, possibly 12, but initially we'd have no solar and rely on gen and inverter. We'll have 180 A of DC charging capability. Later we'll travel to the high sun lands of the Southwest, and probably add solar then.

I've read lots of comments, but I've had the smartest advice from this forum. I'll admit I also lean towards propane, as I've had good luck over the last 45 years using it, but I've read of many with problems, and those selling the coach seem kind of shocked we're putting a propane R in this type of coach.

Comments welcome.

in your case an 2-way RV fridge makes sense. our boondocking days are pretty much over and the one thing we had to have in the new MH we purchased last year was a residential fridge. it is sooooo much nicer and a whole lot less stressful for me than that *&*%&*( RV fridge.

[ScottG]

I just researched this very subject. I found that even with small Energy star rated fridges (9~10 cu/ft), you still need several times the power of a propane unit during the day to keep a modern electric fridge running. That means appx 1000 watts has to be replaced in your batteries every day.
If you have enough solar to keep up with that or you dont mind running a gen, you'd be fine but otherwise, you'' ll be running low on batt.

[RDMueller]

DryCamper11 wrote:
those selling the coach seem kind of shocked we're putting a propane R in this type of coach.

Comments welcome.

I think that's because so many of the units they sell will be connected to the pedestal nearly 100% of the time. If that's the case, then sure, residential is absolutely the way to go. But since you like to dry camp, propane just makes more sense. Could you do residential? Of course, and many have. Also, it sounds like you have a good handle on what would be required to make it work. It just comes down to whether it's worthwhile to you or not. For me, when I dry camp I do everything I can to minimize electrical use so as to do the least amount of charging.

[Oasisbob]

Propane is really your most logical option. Folks who use residential units seldom boon dock and if they do a noisey generator is part of the plan. Has to be. At this point solar will not pencil out and is weather reliant

[Isaac-1]

I think this is just another case of if everyone else was jumping off a cliff....

The fact is industry studies show that most people that buy motorhomes never boondock so they are building RV's to sell to that crowd with bigger nicer looking residential refrigerators.

[BFL13]

The 120v fridge sucks battery down constantly, so you have to be on top of battery monitoring constantly.

You can get by with a generator and no solar as long as that fits in with off-grid campground gen hours, or quiet times if no posted hours. You can get by with solar and no gen if the sun shines enough.

The problem is anxiety to always have enough battery no matter what. BTDT (but in a smaller way with the 120v fridge in the TC)

IMO go for the propane fridge and not have that anxiety. Who needs that? 😞

BTW there is a better sort of propane fridge you could get--forget name--they cost more, but sounds like that is not a problem 🙂

[2oldman]

resi v. gas2016
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

[korbe]

"....everyone seems to be buying residential fridges today."

Not me. I would plan on as much LPG as possible for the goal of extended dry camping. I also believe an inverter isn't necessary. But for us, we understand that while we are dry camping we don't watch TV, use the microwave, or use a hair dryer.