Residential fridge

[Adam1219]

So I will be buying a new DP soon. This will be my first with a residential refrigerator. How do you plan the use before each trip?

With my small RV one I would go turn it on two days before our trip and let it cool down using LP.

How do I prepare with a residential fridge?

[CLIFFTALL]

A few hours should be plenty.

[boomersooner]

We have power at our storage facility, so it is always powered on. When we bring it home we have the 50 to 30 Amp "dogbone", then the 30 to regular 110 adaptor. In my drive way I just plug it into an outlet in my garage. If you have no available power you can run it off the inverter but only for a limited amount of time (enough time to get it cold before your trip). Some have said the inverter can run the fridge for up to 24 hours, I have never done that so will let someone who has weigh in on how long the fridge can run on the inverter.

[bigchick]

we do not have shore power in the lot where we store our 5th wheel with residential refrigerator.

the night before we leave we take over some milk jugs full of ice and put them in the refrigerator and freezer sections. this really helps pre-cool it.

when we leave we take over all the stuff we are going to take with us including and frozen and refrigerated stuff and put it in the refrigerator. we do have a generator and we start it and let it power the refrigerator. also make sure any optional refrigerator features (ice maker, quick freeze, etc) are turned off. it takes us 3/4 of an hour to pack stuff and get hooked up. we then turn the inverter on and the generator off. then off we go.

we have driven some long days doing this and our two group 27 marine / starter batteries have always run the refrigerator all day. they get some recharge power from the 7 pin cable. the refrigerator reaches its set temperatures within a couple of hours and then it does not have to run full time like it does when we first start out. also don't put anything into the refrigerator that is not pre-cooled. no warm beer, soda, water, that you have not pre-cooled.

[Sbrownstein]

Residential reefers cool muc faster than adsorption units. Our storage area in Florida does not have shore power so we run the genny while we load up and put everything that really matters into the freezer section of our Frigidaire. Once we start driving I shut down the generator and everything works off the inverter. Within 2 hours we move non frozen stuff into the refrigerator section and all is well.

[Milford 47]

I allow 4 hours for the freezer to get down to zero degrees

Usually takes less unless it is extremely hot

[Adam1219]

Originally Posted by Milford 47

I allow 4 hours for the freezer to get down to zero degrees

Usually takes less unless it is extremely hot

On batteries or running the generator?

[Sbrownstein]

On batteries, on Generator or on the road. Putting everything in the freezer helps as well. Never takes more than 2 hours to get below freezing. Reefer section doesn't cool much till the freezer is below 40, but that is with my frigidaire eith dual cooling coils.

[DRosado]

We keep our RV at home with 50 amp service. Frig is on most of the time. For the times that we have had it off, it takes about 3 hours to get really cold. You can shorten the time, by putting ice blocks or bags of ice in the freezer. During the aftermath of a hurricane, we lost power for several days. The frig had been off. We cranked up the generator and turned on the frig. Again took about 3 hours to get to optimum temp.

[Milford 47]

Originally Posted by Adam1219

On batteries or running the generator?

Depending on where we are. Either or in the shop it is plugged in

[rrtribble]

My Res says to start up 2 days before placing food in it to insure it is cold enough. I have mine parked next to house and plugged in. I like to go on a minute's notice so I leave mine on 24/7. I do place 2 gallon jugs with water in the freezer to aid in cooling. Have had no problems with it.

In addition, I haven't seen any abnormal usage cost for it either. When the weather is at or near freezing I turn on my Aqua Hot which keeps the water lines from freezing.

Hope this helps - Enjoy - Richard

[Chuck&Pam]

Originally Posted by DRosado

We keep our RV at home with 50 amp service. Frig is on most of the time. For the times that we have had it off, it takes about 3 hours to get really cold.

Same here!

[HighDesert]

Originally Posted by Chuck&Pam

Same here!

Same here, only I have a 30 amp service off the shop. Hmmm - probably should upgrade it to 50.

[golfdover]

Originally Posted by Adam1219

So I will be buying a new DP soon. This will be my first with a residential refrigerator. How do you plan the use before each trip?

With my small RV one I would go turn it on two days before our trip and let it cool down using LP.

How do I prepare with a residential fridge?

Our fridge is making ice cubes within 2 hours after turning it on.