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I just got back from my first 10 day trip in my Excursion 33D and I'll vote for
love" the residential fridge. We had no problems at all with our park-to-park travels. I don't know how much boondocking I'll be doing, but if I get into it extensively, I'll look into a significant solar panel set up. The only time my auto-genset kicked on was to run the AC units as we were getting into Florida. On the way back, outside temps were moderate and the fridge never caused my batteries to dip down enough to start the generator. I guess the alternator was enough to keep it charged for the fridge. I had propane in a trailer and it was a real pain to get started sometimes. Residential fridge with a big inverter is expensive, but much nicer.
Size matters. So does propane paranoia. If you are driving a unit big enough for 4 House batteries they start to make sense. If not you asking for a lot of generator time.
The other feature seems to be all the stuff in the door and icemaker. Two things I am happy to do without because it is just that much more to worry about. Some people just have to have it along with their outside TV and party kitchen in the back. ;-)
Our travel days are fairly short, and we travel between campgrounds the have electricity. We know that living 35 years in Florida, with a very unreliable electrical grid, IF you leave a modern residential refrigerator closed, it will maintain an acceptable temperature for almost 24 hours.
That said, we have a residential refrigerator in our full time travel trailer. It is located in the same space as the old two way frig, and has much, much more useable food storage area. It also self defrosts.
Would not have a trailer without one, now.
Boon docking? That is a different scenario.
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Camping Rig: 2006 Outback 27 RSDS--
2005 Dodge 3500 - Dually- Cummins
Full time since June 2006
Size matters. So does propane paranoia. If you are driving a unit big enough for 4 House batteries they start to make sense. If not you asking for a lot of generator time.
The other feature seems to be all the stuff in the door and icemaker. Two things I am happy to do without because it is just that much more to worry about. Some people just have to have it along with their outside TV and party kitchen in the back. ;-)
my first motorhome had a 12v swamp cooler and no gen....
we used to thump tack a towel with ice cubes to the ceiling so it would cool down..propane stove.fridge, heat,water heater....
no TV"s we sat out by the camp fire ....motorhoming/ camping...get away..
My residential refrigerator draws 8 amps @ 12 volts, thru my inverter.
Any M/H, alternator will deliver that current all day.
If your towing, you should easily get that much thru the trailer connection.
My refrigerator consumes about 100 AH, a day. That's 1 pair of 6 volt, GC2s, drawing down to 50% charge. If you run a 50 amp charger 2 to 2 1/2 hours a day, your even.
Cooking meals and making hot water will require generator time anyway.
Newmar Owners Club Freightliner Owners Club Spartan Chassis
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: ON THE ROAD...SOMEWHERE
Posts: 6,973
Added the residential refer over a year ago. We don't boondock much and have an AGS if needed. With our 4 Lifeline AGM batteries (220 AH useable to 50%) we can go about 7-8 hours before the AGS kicks in at 60% SOC. That includes running a 2800W PSW inverter, Genie DirceTV receiver and second box, refer, 2 TVs going, computers and lots of odds and ends. That is little or no difference compared to the Norcold 1200 LRM in gas mode.
For us it was a no brainer to get a refer that is always cold, bigger capacity, weighs the same as the Norcold, quieter and look good too. LOL
Not including the door space, the interior space for the same cabinet dimensions (H + W + D) is quite a bit larger. And, from "hot ambient start" it gets cold quickly. I don't hate propane at all ... I just prefer the 120vac residential.
If you only use your MH at non hookup places like we do then it seems like the dumbest idea ever. If you only go to places that have hookups would seem to be the best idea ever. So it all comes down to what you want to use your MH for. For me if I wanted to be in a place with hookups I'd stay in my driveway
If you only use your MH at non hookup places like we do then it seems like the dumbest idea ever. If you only go to places that have hookups would seem to be the best idea ever. So it all comes down to what you want to use your MH for. For me if I wanted to be in a place with hookups I'd stay in my driveway
To each his own, but we've stayed in both US and Canadian national parks and have had full-hookups. We're in a beautiful COE park at the moment with 50A and water.
As full-timers, we don't "camp" we "RV". We're not interested in roughing it, but that doesn't mean we don't like to explore the continent. Having a residential fridge completely changed our ability to stock up on local foods as we travel. Last fall we came back from the Canadian Maritimes with 15 pounds of frozen halibut steak. Try that in a Norcold!
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Joel (AKA docj)--
RV Technology Specialist
Linear Mode
