Choosing a residential refrigerator

[Txice]

I want to thank everyone for their suggestions and experiences. Will let you know what we do. This is a great forum, wonderful people. I wrote a check Friday for work the shop had already done and asked if they wanted to see my license as I'd always used my credit card in the past. They waved me off and I said "I guess you don't have too many of us (RV owners) writing bad checks"; to my surprise she said four, two by her best friend. But, overall we are a part of a wonderful community. Thanks again

[jleamo1]

Originally Posted by Txice

We need to replace our Norcold 1200. We've decided on a residential refrigerator. We have a 2002 Monaco Dip. The refrigerator is on the passenger side and sits on top of the furnace. I guess some refrigerators are on a slide but this one isn't. I've measured the doors at 64" tall and 34" wide. My guy who works on the RV says we have a couple of inches at the top but can't mess with the bottom unless we don't want the furnace.
Has anyone already done this and what refrigerator did you buy? We are having a problem finding one to fit. Mike

I wanted one that required little modification to the existing cabinet, if I gained any more space over the 1200 series which I believe was 12 cuft It was a bonus. I also wanted one that would run on the existing MSW 2000 watt inverter, I didn't want to replace that yet wit a PSW. Next how was it getting in the coach was another factor.
We went with a GE 15.5 cuft refrigerator, it only needed me to remove the wheels from under it and notch the cabinet on the right side for the upper hinge to clear.
I removed a side window and passed the Norcold out (doors off) and the GE in (also doors off), reinstalled the window. My friend just installed the same model in Stainless in his Tiffin, he was able to pass it through the emergency window, just by unlatching it and flipping it up.
Things to remember, seal off the outside and roof vents, leave space on top and bottom when you install trim to allow air flow. It was the simplest modification yet to this coach and we wished we had done it sooner.

[Spaceball]

Originally Posted by Txice

Jeremy, Thanks for the help. The Sunfrost is really interesting. And, pricey! It's something we'll look at closely as it looks short enough to fit our hole. The 1/2 on the 34 1/2 wide might be a deal breaker, but since the Norcold is dead and going to come out regardless we should then have a better idea of what will fit. Thanks and let me know what you come up with. One of the two previous owners took out the inverter and replaced it with a converter/charger. We are going to put the inverter/charger back. Trying to manage the cost.

Yeah that sunfrost is only an option if I win the powerball LOL I'm trying to manage cost as well, RV ownership seems to be similar to aircraft ownership... forget physics, money is what keeps us in the air haha

I found another contender that I am seriously considering based on dimensions: https://www.lowes.com/pd/Maytag-20-5...ack/1000118739

The dimensions would pretty much fill the entire void of my Norcold, so no wasted space, I have up to 69" of height to play with without deleting my pan drawer (which leaves out any counter-depth fridge as they all start at 70" tall). The door handles are recessed and the doors themselves would be mostly flush with my adjoining hallway wall, so it would transition aesthetically to the hallway IMO. I would only have to miter the RV trim on the upper dead space above current norcold which would be super easy to do.

In the reviews I did see at least one person bought it for a motorhome and was happy with it. However there are some negative reviews about noise, and another about it not getting cold enough. But they may not be getting the doors shut, as other reviews say you need to be conscious about shutting them completely

The other one I'm debating is a smaller 16CF unit, similar depth and height but not as wide which would leave me with 5-6 inches of combined gap on the sides: https://www.lowes.com/pd/Whirlpool-1...steel/50285259

An idea on that smaller one would be to slide it all the way over to one side leaving all the gap to one side, and maybe make a small broom closet out of the gap with a small hinged cabinet door or something. But I'm leaning toward the larger fridge that would fill the entire void.

The Frigidaires I'd been looking at before are out for me as I found in the Q+A sections of homedepot and lowes that Frigidaire will not honor warranty if installed in a motorhome.

I cannot decide between black or stainless though on the finish. Both would look good in my layout.

Hope your search is going well, just thought I'd share where I was in mine