question on inverter use / 120 v refrig / other crazy ?

If his inverter is like my Harbor Freight one, it has USB ports that work to charge a phone even when the inverter is turned off. So there's not much waste of electricity.

BFL13 wrote:
You are supposed to run the range hood fan to outside venting while using the propane stove top. There is also a 12v light in the range hood so you can see what you are doing. The stove top itself does not need 12v.

"Supposed to" is perhaps a bit strong; "probably would want to" seems about right to me. In terms of water vapor, combustion fumes, etc. it can be effective enough to use window vents and/or ceiling vents.

My RV's range hood doesn't even vent to the outside; the fan sucks air through the little metal grease filter in the middle of the hood and recirculates it out to the left and right, still under the hood. It's a great useless noisemaker. The light is nice, though.

Will 1 KW inverter run the fridge? IT might, which implies might not

Fridge is good for 8 hours door closed without power in most cases. (Less if it's like 120 in the RV)

You are supposed to run the range hood fan to outside venting while using the propane stove top. There is also a 12v light in the range hood so you can see what you are doing. The stove top itself does not need 12v.

I've never come upon a propane RV stove that needed electricity (either 12V or 120V) to function. The furnace does need 12V power, as do the lights and usually the built-in propane and CO detectors.

More efficient than using the little inverter to charge phones, etc. would be to get a 12V phone charger. It may require installing a lighter socket or two in convenient places. Whether the efficiency difference matters any in practice to your brother in law is another matter entirely.

If his hunting camp is out in the woods, solar may not be the most practical solution to power.

OP here. Thanks so much for all the info and advice. Based on the comments I suspect the fridge will be used for storage for now unless he gets a bigger genny / solar / bigger inverter.

Solar and more / better batteries make sense but I don't think he wants to spend those $$ right now.

He only uses it for a place to hang out during the day. Maybe an overnight or two on occasion. He has a small gas heater mr buddy or something like that he uses but not while sleeping. I did advise him to get new co and smoke detectors no matter what he does.

The cook top works and apparently the furnace. Would this old stove top require 12v power or would it depend on the model? The current owners just recently put two new propane tanks on board and they are full.

I was thinking that for now he could just hook the battery up to the 12v fuse panel ( or whatever it is called ) and then he could have 12v lights and juice for the furnace / stove top if needed. Would that make sense? This would bypass the converter and eliminate all a/c power.

Of course he would have to keep the battery charged occasionally with his little genny or take it home and charge it on ac. unless he goes solar. He could use his little inverter to charge phones etc.

Thanks

Putting a fridge in an RV is no fun. I just replaced the OEM 6cuft with a newer fridge same size. The old fridge came out onto the floor ok with a struggle sliding it partly onto a table chair first. Son and I. You need help.

Then the issue was getting the fridge out the door--too narrow. Door and door frame removed (big job))leaving a hole about 1/16" wider than the fridge seemed like. Might have been 1/8" really :) What a battle! Getting it down the steps to ground level was another issue involving the chair and some wood.

Luckily or else they make them that way, the OEM gas line was able to go on the new fridge's line, but if not, you need to adapt the LP connection.

The big thing is the very exact measurements. Watch out for the front frame on the fridge that sticks out the sides and the top. With the 1/16" to play with through the door hole, you can't angle it to get one side out and then rotate it through and out (or in for the new one) Of course the door hole was just wide enough higher up, but not enough lower down, so we had to lift the fridge up and out/in as part of the struggle.

Some on this forum have reported they had to get their fridges in and out of a window where the door wouldn't work for them. Yipes. Anyway, it isn't all that simple as it might seem. :(

In my experience, small 120v fridges have a start-up surge around 1200 or 1500 watts.

Once they get past that surge, their running wattage is about 75-150w.

He will need a bigger inverter and more batteries. Or a large block of ice.

winniman wrote:
Tell him to find a used propane fridge, and change it back to original. Im not sure how old you have to go to get the old style fridges and furnaces that had the pilot lights. They didn't require any 12 volt power at all, but you had to manually light them. Residential fridges don't work for boondocking unless you have a substantial investment in batteries and solar panels.

+1 Go to the local scrap yard and ask them to keep an eye out for somebody scrapping a camper. Offer them $20-$50 if you can remove the fridge after hooking up a battery and gas bottle to make sure it works.

winniman wrote:
Tell him to find a used propane fridge, and change it back to original. Im not sure how old you have to go to get the old style fridges and furnaces that had the pilot lights. They didn't require any 12 volt power at all, but you had to manually light them. Residential fridges don't work for boondocking unless you have a substantial investment in batteries and solar panels.

This would be the best scenario......Or find a different trailer with everything he needs. Refrigerators are the most expensive things in an RV.