Residential Refers

[Craig P.]

It seems like I have never owned an RV with a refer that I was totally satisfied with. Living in a warm climate, the lack of cooling efficiency has always been an issue.

A good friend recently bought a new Allegro Bus with a residential refer. First look and I was green with envy. I instantly thought, can older coaches be retrofitted with residential refers? If so, what are the pros and cons? Would it require a bolstering of the electrical system?

Craig

["007"]

Here is a thread that maybe of interest to you.

[paz]

The pros are obvious - bigger capacity, better cooling, auto defrost, faster ice making.

Tiffin provides 2 extra batteries and an inverter with 1000 watts extra capacity when you get a residential fridge. If you put in a residential fridge, one con would be that you would likely have to add battery and inverter capacity.

Another con is added weight of a residential fridge. The motor and compressor are heavy. Plus, it can hold a lot more food.

One of the biggest cons is you might have to remove a window to get the old fridge out and the new fridge in.

Another con is the probability of having to modify the space to fit the new fridge.

I don't know if I would replace an RV fridge with a residential one; but if we ever buy a new or newer used RV, a residential fridge will be a must for us.

[Techie]

We upgraded (after the Norcold 1200 failed) to a 21.5 cu ft residential fridge.

I have some pix in the Systems & Appliances section.

The biggest cost for us was the additional (plus replacement of existing) batteries and the inverter upgrade (MSW->PSW) that was required. Part of this (the inverter) is so that we wouldn't have any long term issues with the fridge not getting pure sine wave power. The battery part was two-fold -> first, we didn't want to mix old and new house batteries as that is just asking for an earlier failure for the new batteries; second was that we wanted to be able to go 12-24 hrs on battery power only and so wanted increased capacity. Had we been willing to forgo the long battery power option we could have just gone with the existing batteries (we had 2x8D AGM's and now have 4) but the genny would be kicking in far more frequently.

In our case the only major cabinet modification was to remove some woodwork above the old fridge.

We now have a real fridge/freezer, fast to cool & make ice, no more concerns over another failed cooling unit, etc. Long-term, when we do have to someday replace batteries it will be more expensive due to the increased number of batteries, but if the fridge ever needs replacing it's not going to be as big a deal since list price for our res fridge was only about a grand.

Now, we were lucky in that they were able to install the fridge though a side window rather than the windwhield, but it still required a forklift so it is not a one-man job by any stretch of the imagination.

[wa8yxm]

A refrigerator is really nothing but a box with some workings usually under it now days so retro-fitting is mostly a job for a cabinet maker (Re-cutting and/or framing the hole)

However some things to consider:

Residential Fridges usually need at least a 15 amp circuit (There is often one nearby by the way... for the washer/dryer so no need to upgrade less it is already in use) and of course if you are boondocking or Wall-mart-ing overnight.. You need to run generator or have a heck of a lot of batteries.

Standard RV "Absorption Cooling Units" as they are properly called, run on as little as 350 watts of Electric or on propane.. So you don't kill batteries on an overnight.

PLUS.. And this is the real kicker....

Both Norcold and Dometic now offer a new line of High Effiecency COMPRESSOR units.. I have a small chest freezer made by Engel as I recall, same technology.. These power sippers draw not 15 amps at 120 volts.. Nor even 15 amps at 12 volts.. but LESS THAN FIVE AMPS at 12 volts. Mine is 36 watts. Running, that is 3 amps, the fuse feeding it is 10 amps. At 12 VOLTS (THAT IS 1 AMP AT 120 VOLTS)

And the Dometic/Norcold units are DESIGNED for RV use.

[Brigadoon]

Where did you find the info on the Norcold High Effiecency COMPRESSOR units? I've not been able to locate them on Thetfords website.

["007"]

It seems like boaters have some problems with refrigerators also and they convert to these compressor types.

Conversion kit

Haven't found any large units like 1200 most are smaller to fit in boats.

[Bill Adams]

There is no requirement that you change a MSW (modified sine wave) inverter to a PSW (pure sine wave) inverter if you upgrade to a residential fridge. It may also not be necessary to increase the size of your existing inverter.
We have had a GE Profile in our coach since 1999 and use a 2000 watt MSW inverter. 11 years and going strong! You will need a good battery bank and if you dry camp a lot you will have to run your generator more than you used to but otherwise it's a great upgrade.
As a poster noted above, you are going to need to take a windshield out to get the new fridge in. I helped my brother-in-law do his upgrade and he had a glass company come to the RV park, remove the glass, wait while we moved one out and moved the other in, and then reinstalled the glass. The glass was out of the coach for about an hour.

[wa8yxm]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brigadoon Where did you find the info on the Norcold High Effiecency COMPRESSOR units? I've not been able to locate them on Thetfords website.

I don't recall and I failed to bookmark.

I do have a pair of bookmarks for Dometic products though

products - Dometic


DE-0061/EV-0061

Here is a small (1.7 cubic foot) Norcold

DC (12V) Compact RV Refrigerator 1.7 Cu. Ft. - Only $699.99 - Current Stock 999 - Largest Inventory and Lowest Price on the Internet! - Norcold Part # 07-0176 - UPC Code: 610848059759 Product # 07-0176

[Lorna]

Make sure you either buy a "built-in" refrigerator or allow at least 2 inches on each side of the fridge if you get a standard freestanding unit. Adding a fan to help cool the compressor in high temps is a bonus. We bought our units (small ones) from http://www.compactappliance.com/Comp...efault,sc.html . Some of their units get to be the large apt size (but smaller than the huge house ones). You may be able to find one that will fit thru your door.