Residential Refrigerator

[SecondLife]

Does anyone have residential refrigerator in your travel trailer? If so what brand? I am thinking of putting one in my trailer. Thank you in advance for your inputs.

[patperry2766]

I can't back this up with empirical data other than what the tech told me when he was repairing my Samsung fridge & microwave. He said that the Korean brands (Samsung & LG) make good appliances, but when they break, sometimes it can take significantly longer to get the replacement parts, and with all things considered, Maytag, Whirlpool, Kenmore have a lot more parts available.

This was a couple of years ago, so things might have changed since then.

[atreis]

Any will work - measure the space, including depth, and find the one that fits best. Consumer Reports provides good information about brand reliability.

[Deep_Trax]

SecondLife wrote:
Does anyone have residential refrigerator in your travel trailer? If so what brand? I am thinking of putting one in my trailer. Thank you in advance for your inputs.

We purchased a 2016 Lacrosse travel trailer back in Jun 2015. Our travel trailer came with a Whirlpool 20 CF residential refrigerator in it. We love it and would hate to go back to a traditional LP/AC RV refrigerator.

The thing I really like about this residential fridge is that the fridge and freezer compartments both get down to normal operating temps in 2-3 hours.

We camp with an RV club and it is becoming fairly common for our fellow campers to ask if they can keep something in our fridge or freezer!

[Gdetrailer]

ccxnola wrote:
My Dometic 7732 got to be more trouble than it was worth!! And there is no direct replacement - but Dometic has a 'recommended' replacement that is $3200 + shipping + install + needed cabinet modifications!!

I started to search for a household fridge that would fit into the opening and found several - but none would go into the rig thru the entry door as they were simply too big. One place even suggested removing the windshield to get the old one out and the new one in - just not practical and cost-effective!!

Long Story short, I purchased a Whirlpool 10.6 cu ft two-door in black from Best Buy (Black Friday sale). It fits into the rig via the entry door (23.5 inches) with the fridge & freezer doors removed. PLUS there is now an added space about 7 inches wide and 23 inches deep alongside the fridge as it is narrower than the 7732. AND that space is now an added pantry with several shelves for storage! WIN - WIN

Total cost? $526 for the fridge, added 3-years service plan and delivery to the RV shop for installation. PLUS $1100 to remove the 7732, install the Whirlpool and custom build the pantry with a secure door. So at $1626 I have a professional installation of a new fridge.

If I had the skills, tools and cabinet making skills, I could have saved that $1100!!! (OH - it does take at least two people to man-handle the 7732 out and the Whirlpool into the rig.)

I figure we mostly are staying at places with 120v electric service and the infrequent boondock nights, the generator will run for awhile and the fridge will stay closed most of the time - so I did not go to the expense of a big battery bank and inverter to run the fridge when we are off-grid as that is not a usual situation for us.

In my case, I removed the entire aluminum DOOR FRAME, that gave me an additional inch or so to work with. Inside framing dimension for a 24" door is a little over 24" but with the aluminum door frame in place the opening was about 23"..

For some folks they have had to resort to removing a window then use a forklift to get the fridge to the window opening..

But you definitely must measure the perspective fridge and your openings carefully.

[ccxnola]

My Dometic 7732 got to be more trouble than it was worth!! And there is no direct replacement - but Dometic has a 'recommended' replacement that is $3200 + shipping + install + needed cabinet modifications!!

I started to search for a household fridge that would fit into the opening and found several - but none would go into the rig thru the entry door as they were simply too big. One place even suggested removing the windshield to get the old one out and the new one in - just not practical and cost-effective!!

Long Story short, I purchased a Whirlpool 10.6 cu ft two-door in black from Best Buy (Black Friday sale). It fits into the rig via the entry door (23.5 inches) with the fridge & freezer doors removed. PLUS there is now an added space about 7 inches wide and 23 inches deep alongside the fridge as it is narrower than the 7732. AND that space is now an added pantry with several shelves for storage! WIN - WIN

Total cost? $526 for the fridge, added 3-years service plan and delivery to the RV shop for installation. PLUS $1100 to remove the 7732, install the Whirlpool and custom build the pantry with a secure door. So at $1626 I have a professional installation of a new fridge.

If I had the skills, tools and cabinet making skills, I could have saved that $1100!!! (OH - it does take at least two people to man-handle the 7732 out and the Whirlpool into the rig.)

I figure we mostly are staying at places with 120v electric service and the infrequent boondock nights, the generator will run for awhile and the fridge will stay closed most of the time - so I did not go to the expense of a big battery bank and inverter to run the fridge when we are off-grid as that is not a usual situation for us.

[Gdetrailer]

donn0128 wrote:
Most common seems to be a Samsung.

Samsung RF157 WAS the "popular" LARGE fridge for large trailers, 5vrs, motorhomes since it was a large fridge with a shallow depth with 20 plus cu ft of space..

That model has been discontinued.

Many other fridges can be used and for smaller fridges there is a category called "apartment" type fridges. Typically 8 - 13 cu ft in size they are pretty well suited for RV retrofits..

You can often find them under the names of Magic Chef, GE, Haier and a few others which are built by the same company. I have a Haier 10 cu ft fridge that is now going on it's 9th year of use in our RV..

Just look around Home Depot and Lowes and look for the 10 or so cu ft size..

When retrofitting you will need to make the fridge cabinet deeper, home fridges tend to be several inches deeper than a RV fridge.. So you will have to build out the cabinet a few inches or if OK with fridge sticking out you could leave as is..

But you do need to make sure the home fridge will make it into your RV.. So measure carefully before buying..

We love ours..

[donn0128]

Most common seems to be a Samsung.