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RV-Dreams.com Home -> RV-Dreams Community Forum -> Buying An RV -> What does "residential refrigerator" mean in RVs?
Post Info TOPIC: What does "residential refrigerator" mean in RVs?
Merikay


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What does "residential refrigerator" mean in RVs?
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As I read the information on the Alfa See Ya Founders LS I am going to see in a few days, I keep running into the words "upgraded residential fridge/freezer"  Does this mean that it is electric only and doesn't also run on propane?

 

Is this good or bad?



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Merikay MacKenna
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As I understand the concept, it will not run on propane, only on 120V electric. As far as good or bad, it is dependent on your use of an RV. Are you a "pavement princess"? Is anything less than 50 amp service "roughing it"? If you enjoy camping in what is euphemistically called "boondocks" you will not be happy with a residential refrigerator. My wife is happy with not roughing it. 50 amp all the way!!

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Bill and Linda


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Merikay wrote:

As I read the information on the Alfa See Ya Founders LS I am going to see in a few days, I keep running into the words "upgraded residential fridge/freezer"  Does this mean that it is electric only and doesn't also run on propane?

Is this good or bad?

As a general rule, yes, that means electric only.  Is this a problem?  Well, “it depends.”  For us, yes it is a problem, because we travel a lot and I don’t want to deal with having to run an inverter to keep it powered even though some may say “it won’t defrost.”  For those that don’t travel or don’t mind running an inverter, or a generator, then it’s not much of an issue.  It can be a lot more of an issue if you boondock more than a day or so.  Don't think you never will.  It does happen by choice every now and then and can be a lot of fun.

 

This is becoming more common as an offering. Whether is it is an issue is a personal preference based on what you like to do and what your comfortable with operationally.

 

Safe travels

 

Bill



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Racerguy


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Yes it does mean you must have electrical hookups.For us that would be no problem because we are RVrs not campers.It just depends on your requirements.

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Bill Adams


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No, it does not mean that the coach is all electric but it does mean that the fridge will only operate on 120V. The main thing this term means is that someone has removed the small RV fridge/freezer and installed a standard unit that you would normally see in a house. We have a household GE profile fridge just like you might see in any number of homes anywhere. We have a large battery bank and a fairly standard 2000W MSW inverter. We dry camp frequently (including our 2 week stint at Quartzsite every year) but we have to run our generator about 10 hours per day. That's a cost that we find to be acceptable. We still have a gas cooktop so we are not all-electric. The inverter is powered by the batteries while we are driving and the batteries are recharged by the alternator (190 amp) so we keep everything cold and well charged even on our longest drives. In most cases, when you see a coach which has been upgraded you will also find that they upgraded the inverter/batteries/alternator, etc., but just in case they did it on the cheap you will want to ensure that the previous owner did it right or you will have to spend several 1000 dollars to make it user friendly.

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bjoyce


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The Founder came with a residential fridge. It also comes with a generator so you can make your own 120 volt and not just use the inverter, but not during quiet hours.

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Bill Adams


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quiet hours? There are no quiet hours at Wal-Mart!biggrin



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Jack Mayer


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Bill, ten hours a day of genset usage? You must be running it for things other than just charging the deficit from the fridge..... ??? That is a lot of genset time....

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Bill Adams


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We like to turn on our lights, TV, computers, modems, routers, convection oven, water heater, battery charger, et al, after dark. If I don't run the generator during this time the batteries will not have enough juice to run the fridge during the overnight hours. That means the generator comes on around 5 until bedtime (11 ish) and then the nearly fully depleted batteries need a good charge in the morning (3-4 hours). Others may find that their coaches have different power demands, I was simply stating what our power requirements are.



-- Edited by Bill Adams on Sunday 14th of August 2011 04:38:33 PM

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Delaine and Lindy


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Noticed last year at the Tampa Super RV show that the residential fridge is begining to show up in Motorhomes more often. But you know as well as I do that the MH have onboard generators. I do believe the Rv type fridges have not kept up with time. There are lots of issues with both Domentic and Norcold. I do no boondocking or wally docking so that wouldn't be a issue for our use.. If I were in a MH I would for sure have the Samsung residential fridge. I know some who are in 5th wheels who have installed the residential type fridges, I will be watching them closely.... Have you checked the cost to replace the Dometic 4 door fridge????

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Colorado_Kid


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I have a residential refrigerator and only go out to campgrounds on my weekends so it is not a problem. I can tell you that keeping the fridge cold is no problem at all.



-- Edited by Colorado_Kid on Monday 15th of August 2011 07:38:58 PM

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