Community Forums

dnhxx · 01-25-2017, 10:51 AM

Hello,

We will be buying our fist motor home and it looks to be a Bay Star, most likely a 3401, but maybe the 3208. We will be using it to go full time for up to two years traveling across the country. We plan on dry camping just as much as at campgrounds, maybe more. We would like a larger refrigerator than the 8cu ft propane, but the 10 cu ft residential Frigidaire is the only option.

We have done much research and see the advantages of the residential fridge, less maintenance, gets colder, last longer, more reliable. But how long will it run on the batteries? How often and how long will we have to run the generator? If we are not in a campground, then running the generator is not so bad, just an inconvenience, but if we are in a campground with no hookups, it could be a problem if the generator hours are restricted.

Also does the Bay Star comes with an auto start generator? If you are driving, and the two extra batteries for the refrigerator get too low, how will you know?

Finally, does anyone know approximately how much wattage would be required in solar panels to keep just the 10Cu ft Frigidaire running?

thank you

Don and Gina
Dallas,TX

(any other advice on what to order or not to order for a Bay Star would be appreciated)

Sky_Boss · 01-25-2017, 11:09 AM

You will get a bazillion comments/opinions. The bottom line is...IT DEPENDS! LOL

Let's start with the easy answer...while driving your alternator will charge batteries that power the inverter providing AC to a residential refer. NOT A PROBLEM.

As to solar power needs while dry camping...I leave that up to experts.

Even if the Bay Star doesn't come with AGS, you can add it. Pretty simple.

Going back to batteries and solar power the weakest link is total battery storage. If you are pretty frugal with power usage and have AGS, you can probably get by with stock batteries as long as you have enough solar capability. Keep in mind that solar capability relies on proper panel usage and sufficient sunlight.

Regarding the residential refer features. Hands down it will be much more consistent in performance compared the an RV refer. However, as you know, you don't have a backup source to make it work. Power draw on residential refers is not huge but more than a refer on gas. For our full time needs we love our residential refer but many FTers also do well on an RV refer.

Personally, if I was putting a new coach together and was going solar I would look seriously into Lithium Ion batteries as part of a total solution. More usable power, smaller and lighter package and can be charged relatively quickly. Pros and cons on this too but IMHO, pros outweigh the cons.

So, it really does depend on your goals.

Stuart W · 01-25-2017, 11:12 AM

In my opinion, and there will be many opinions on this: 50% dry camping = non residential. We have the side by side Norcold with ice maker and love it. Congratulations

britcon · 01-25-2017, 11:15 AM

I would choose the Residential refrigerator over the propane. Much more user friendly systems. Have a number of friends using Norcold fridges that have experienced major ( $$$ ) failures.
When you are staying at a commercial RV park, and even at many state parks, you will have at least 30Amp service available, so no issues with power.

Boondocking / dry camping becomes a function of battery capacity vs. use.
As a rule of thumb, you would probably need to run the generator for at least and hour in the morning and maybe a little longer at night.
If you need the AC or even Microwave when dry camping, generator will need to run.

Autostart on the Generator is a good option, particlarily if you are leaving pets inside while away ( in case of power failure at RV Park, AC still will work ).

Can't answer your solar question.

twogypsies · 01-25-2017, 11:23 AM

We full-timed 16 years and used public parks (many with no electric) or boondocked 90% of our time. The propane refrigerator was very satisfactory with no repair issues. We used solar. We stayed where we didn't need AC and used a stovetop coffee pot, made toast in a frypan and had no need for the microwave. So this way can be done easily.

Luv2go · 01-25-2017, 11:50 AM

We dry camp 90% of the time. We switched from a Norcold 2 door (N810) to residential last year and would not switch back, even though our electric usage has increased about 75AH per day. On our 400AH LiFePO4 coach battery we can make it about 1 1/2 days with no sun now where before we could comfortably make 2+ days. We have about 600W of solar. When we ski using the coach we now run the generator once per day for about 2-3 hours now where before it was 1-2 hours per day.

We switched specifically because the fridge failed at both hot and cold extremes, the last straw was a failure when we were skiing in -10 degree F temps. Chances are you will never see that cold a temp so you would be mostly worried about failure at high temps. Ours started struggling at above 95 degrees F.

Newmar generally does not equip coaches for boondocking, you'll probably want to increase the size of your fridge battery bank.

Stuart W · 01-25-2017, 02:03 PM

Curious question: has anyone thought about how you would get a residential fridge out of the motor home if it need to be replaced? I ask this because some of the ones we looked at seemed pretty large. I would imagine repair in place would be the best option. Not to say residential is not a good choice.

LJowdy · 01-25-2017, 02:38 PM

Unless you have a mid 2000's Country Coach with the huge entry door, the front windshield has to be removed to replace the refrigerator. Many refrigerator repair shops will not work on a household refrigerator unless you unbolt it and pull it out so it's accessible.

Sky_Boss · 01-25-2017, 02:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stuart W

Curious question: has anyone thought about how you would get a residential fridge out of the motor home if it need to be replaced? ...

It all depends on size. My Norcold 1201LRM went out and my Samsung 197 went in the front door after their doors were removed. They even got it in without removing the passenger seat. In some cases they take out one of the big side windows and I've even heard taking out one side of a split windshield.

TinMan Trvlr · 01-25-2017, 09:20 PM

We chose a residential fridge after experiencing a $1600 repair bill on a propane fridge in a previous RV. Much better performance and less likely to fail. Our residential fridge would drain our 6 X 232 Ah original equipment batteries to below 50% in 8 hours, requiring us to run the generator a minimum of 6 hours per day to keep up. That frequently was more time than the National Monument Ranger or Camp Host would allow. Their schedule allowed from 8 a.m. till 9:30 a.m., and from 5 p.m. till 7 p.m. Not enough hours to keep up with the fridge drain on the batteries overnight and during the day when the generator couldn't be run.

We put 1300 watts of solar on our roof, and now when parked out in the open in "Sunny Arizona" or California we no longer have to run the generator at all, as the solar has the batteries 100% charged by 3 p.m. No noise, and no fuel costs for most of the time when we are in the open. We can even avoid being billed for power when in full hook up RV parks.

Our coach is parked for the winter, but in the spring we will be replacing the factory supplied batteries which failed last summer after 2 years of use due to us not knowing how to maintain proper charge levels, and not knowing how fast unswitchable parasitic drains would discharge the batteries to damaging levels when the coach was stored without being connected to shore power.

Previous poster is right, coach builders don't build these for boondocking, either in terms of battery capacity, nor in terms of black and grey water capacity. Upgrade your electrical storage capacity where necessary, add some good solar, get a reliable way to move waste water to disposal, and enjoy the freedom to get away from the noise and the crowds in the "boonies".

vsheetz · 01-25-2017, 10:25 PM

We dry camp often. Have residential refrigerator. Don't find it to be a problem. With our coach the RR option included six rather than the standard four batteries.

2Escapees · 01-26-2017, 08:43 AM

Residential refrigerators are very efficient. There is not much difference in energy consumption between a gas/electric and residential refrigerator, at least in the range of choices available in our motorhome. We have the 10cf Frigidaire in our Canyon Star 3710 and it only uses 90 amps per day of 12 volt power thru the inverter. The standard Norcold uses about 20 amps of DC and the optional 12cf Norcold consumes 90 amps per day. We also dry camp a lot and have upsized from Group 24 to CG2 golf cart batteries - 4 total. The refrigerator will consume about 25% of the battery capacity in a 24 hour period absent any charging.

Without solar panels (planned in the future) we run the generator about an hour at breakfast and again at night for an hour. Run times can be longer in cold weather due to furnace usage. We previously had a coach with a large french door GE refrigerator, 6 batteries and 600 watts of solar and only ran the generator two hours a day (total) even while dry camping at Quartzite in January. The furnace ran quite a bit at night as that rig was larger and not as well insulated as our Newmar.

Sky_Boss · 01-26-2017, 10:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LJowdy

Unless you have a mid 2000's Country Coach with the huge entry door, the front windshield has to be removed to replace the refrigerator. Many refrigerator repair shops will not work on a household refrigerator unless you unbolt it and pull it out so it's accessible.

Sorry, not my experience at all with MY coach. Both my old and new refers went through the front door and I had work done by a Samsung certified tech with refer in place. Of course, if you have problems with the compressor that would be a different story.

Of course a different model refer and different model RVs will have different conditions to work with.

dnhxx · 01-26-2017, 10:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2Escapees

Residential refrigerators are very efficient. There is not much difference in energy consumption between a gas/electric and residential refrigerator, at least in the range of choices available in our motorhome. We have the 10cf Frigidaire in our Canyon Star 3710 and it only uses 90 amps per day of 12 volt power thru the inverter. The standard Norcold uses about 20 amps of DC and the optional 12cf Norcold consumes 90 amps per day. We also dry camp a lot and have upsized from Group 24 to CG2 golf cart batteries - 4 total. The refrigerator will consume about 25% of the battery capacity in a 24 hour period absent any charging.

Without solar panels (planned in the future) we run the generator about an hour at breakfast and again at night for an hour. Run times can be longer in cold weather due to furnace usage. We previously had a coach with a large french door GE refrigerator, 6 batteries and 600 watts of solar and only ran the generator two hours a day (total) even while dry camping at Quartzite in January. The furnace ran quite a bit at night as that rig was larger and not as well insulated as our Newmar.

What size of solar panels are you estimating you will need? Do you think 600 Watts will be enough with the 10 cu ft frigidaire to not run the generator for a couple of days?