Residential Refrigerator – Good or avoid?

[a64armt]

OK, we are on the hunt for a 5er’ to not only facilitate a relocation but we are planning on getting back into RV travel and adventure. We are looking at some used units, including several Lifestyle RV’s. I see a few with “residential refrigerators” and inverters. I am curious what the thoughts are from experienced owners. I have considered some differences, these include;

Plus – More room, usually ice and water in door, more visually appealing, probably better for full time operation / reliability
Minus – Expensive to purchase / replace, required removal of slide to replace, requires narrow range of models for fit and application.


Thoughts?
OJ

[2012Coleman]

Great discussion - my fridge is located in the slideout and is vented out the side of the camper instead of the roof. Makes it harder to keep cool during the summer. I'm considering replacing it or upgrading it to residential.

[ReneeG]

So what I'm seeing is that if you camp primarily with hookups, then a residential fridge works, but if you don't and dry camp primarily, then you will need a sizable batter bank and inverter, plus solar (?). The expense here seems to negate the cost savings of a residential fridge.

[deltabravo]

I would go for one, but I'd also want a sizeable battery bank (400+ amp hours) and a high quality Pure Sine Wave inverter to run the fridge.

Solar too...

[time2roll]

I have read posts where 500 watts solar will not keep up with a residential fridge when off grid. May need to go 800+ watts or plan to use a generator at times.
Otherwise everyone seems to brag on how much better the residential fridge functions. In transit is not an issue.

[CavemanCharlie]

pnichols wrote:
I've read a lot in these forums on residential versus RV refrigerators.

It seems that the main unhappiness with RV refrigerators occurs in the larger cubit foot size ones - that are in large motorhomes, TTs, and 5'ers. Our small motorhome has only a 6.3 cf Norcold RV refrigerator in it, with 5 coldness settings.

It does just fine in the hottest weather set on only 3 or 4, out of it's 5 coldness levels. We can easily get by 2-3 weeks before having to reshop for refrigerated food.

That could be !! My 20 foot TT has a smaller propane fridge. The type where the freezer compartment door is inside of the fridge. The freezer is rather small but, it works for me. I am just a weekend camper and I don't need to bring that much frozen food with me. My propane fridge works well and I like it.

[pnichols]

I've read a lot in these forums on residential versus RV refrigerators.

It seems that the main unhappiness with RV refrigerators occurs in the larger cubit foot size ones - that are in large motorhomes, TTs, and 5'ers. Our small motorhome has only a 6.3 cf Norcold RV refrigerator in it, with 5 coldness settings.

It does just fine in the hottest weather set on only 3 or 4, out of it's 5 coldness levels. We can easily get by 2-3 weeks before having to reshop for refrigerated food.

[Smokeyrr]

I just replaced the fridge in our RV with a residential unit. I went with the Magic Chef 10.1CF. Good thing was that it fit through the door with no problems. I don't boondock either but I won't say that I never will. LOL Cost wise a replacement Dometic installed was about $1,400. The Magic Chef from Home Depot $389.

[Dutch_12078]

philh wrote:
How much power does a residential fridge typically draw. Some of reported it quickly drains batteries, and others have suggested it's really not that bad.

Here's the label on our residential fridge. The duty cycle is typically about 25%:

[DrewE]

philh wrote:
How much power does a residential fridge typically draw. Some of reported it quickly drains batteries, and others have suggested it's really not that bad.

Take a walk through Home Depot or Lowes or someplace like that and look at the energy star stickers in some comparable residential fridges. If you divide the yearly energy consumption by 365, you'll get the daily energy use in kWh, under their test conditions. 1 kWh or maybe a bit more seems to be about what I saw in my last quick walkthrough.

1 kWh roughly equates to 100 Ah from the DC system. Whether or not that quickly depletes your batteries depends on how large a battery bank you have and what sorts of systems you have to recharge it (such as solar).

My opinion: if you're basically always staying at places with electric hookups, or at places where you'll be running the generator most all the time anyway for other reasons, a residential fridge will be no problem with any installation. If you're camping without hookups or boondocking, you need to pay much closer attention to the battery bank size and probably would want a decent solar installation so as not to have to run the generator for a few hours daily. If you'll be camping without hookups in the woods or a cave, a residential fridge would seem to be a liability.

[Cummins12V98]

philh wrote:
How much power does a residential fridge typically draw. Some of reported it quickly drains batteries, and others have suggested it's really not that bad.

"DEPENDS" cold out not much, hot out a lot!

[navigator2346]

philh wrote:
How much power does a residential fridge typically draw. Some of reported it quickly drains batteries, and others have suggested it's really not that bad.

A residential refer will typically draw 3 amps ac. That equates to about 30 amps dc. But you have to remember that the refer does not run 24/7.

[philh]

How much power does a residential fridge typically draw. Some of reported it quickly drains batteries, and others have suggested it's really not that bad.

[Dutch_12078]

Dtank wrote:


Retired Firefighter huh!..:R

You need to explore the fire hazard potential - and if you're still happy with your gas/electric - add fusible link actuated extinguisher in the rear of the fridge compt.

You might want to take a look at the flammability of the R600 refrigerant seeing more and more use in residential refrigerators...

R600a (CARE 10) Isobutane

[CavemanCharlie]

DSDP Don wrote:
OJ.....you answered the one question I had.....how often do you boondock. I went through the misery of a 4 door NoCold and eventually replaced with it with a Samsung residential. I will NEVER go back to a propane refer. With that said, I own a DP with a built-in generator, 8 AGM house batteries and 450 watts of solar. If I were buying a 5th wheel, I would really have to decide if residential was the way to go, but since you generally use FHU's, it makes for a much easier decision.

With my Norcold, I would literally stand in front of the refer, picture where what I want was located and then quickly open the door and grab it, before I lost the cold air. With my residential refer, I'll stand there with the doors wide open and take my time deciding and retrieving what I need.

Yeah, but not all propane fridges are that bad. Though I know that some are.