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JUST TOM · 04-06-2005, 09:22 AM

DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY INPUT ABOUT THE RESIDENTIAL REFRIGERATORS? I AM CONSIDERING BUYING A COACH THAT HAS THIS OPTION. I DRY CAMP A LOT AND NEED TO KNOW THE REAL BATTERY (6)CAPACITY. THIS UNIT DOES HAVE A GEN SET BUT I'M NOT SURE ABOUT HOW THAT WORKS. ANY INFO WOULD BE APPRECIATED. THANKS.

JUST TOM · 04-06-2005, 09:22 AM

DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY INPUT ABOUT THE RESIDENTIAL REFRIGERATORS? I AM CONSIDERING BUYING A COACH THAT HAS THIS OPTION. I DRY CAMP A LOT AND NEED TO KNOW THE REAL BATTERY (6)CAPACITY. THIS UNIT DOES HAVE A GEN SET BUT I'M NOT SURE ABOUT HOW THAT WORKS. ANY INFO WOULD BE APPRECIATED. THANKS.

Allegro Happy · 04-06-2005, 12:02 PM

Welcome Just Tom.

Did you know if you use all capital letters it is considered SHOUTING? I'm not sure if the fridge would run off of batteries? Maybe Propane? If it has a generator, you turn the generator on and it is like real electric. Maybe someone else can answer but we had a regular fridge in our house type TT and it only ran on electric.

Zimectrin · 04-06-2005, 01:41 PM

Do not have one but,,,,,,

You will have to secure the doors when you travel. This can be difficult.

The doors are not built to take the forces applied to them when you turn a corner and the results are not a pretty sight.

We saw this happen at an RV show when the dealer took a coach for a test drive and the fridge had been loaded with snacks, drinks, etc. for the personell. First turn the door came open, banged into the side of the retracted slide denting the once beautiful staninless finish, and the contents of the fridge were a disater on the floor.

Everyone was saddened to see this, but all were wiser for the experience.

04-06-2005, 02:36 PM

For my point of view, this is the wave of the future. The residential unit are more efficent and have a large capacity. They also hold there temperature better.

Now for my brass point of view. I think it's about time the residential good got into the RV Products. Look at what Norcold and Dometic have been charging for their RV products and what they offer. Their way over priced for what you get and break downs are not uncommon. For the same price as what I would pay for a Norcold 4 door frig/freez, I can almost buy 2 residential frig/freez units and enjoy a bigger better product without the gas. I don't think the extra $000.00 for stainless steel is worth the money, but if looks are what you want as well as the features of a resdiential, then thats the way to go.

Now, when it comes to cooking, the gas range is tops. There is a big push for more coaches to go total electric, I still contemplating the thought, even thought the million dollar coach have already done it, my Journey DL is from a million dollar coach.

Tomcat F15

Gary RVRoamer · 04-06-2005, 04:18 PM

A residential fridge runs on 120 VAC electric power. The genset will run it fine but you probably don't have enough inverter/battery power to operate it for very long, maybe a couple hours of actual run time. The power draw is similar to an air conditioner, though probably a bit less.

Since you say you dry camp a lot, I recommend you do not get the residential fridge. RV fridges aren't the greatest, but one thing they do well is operate for days on a miserly amount of propane.

RV Wizard · 04-06-2005, 07:25 PM

I agree with RV Roamer. If you boondock on a regular basis or even for a long weekend, you should opt for a gas/electric model. We have the 4 door Norcold and would not purchase a coach with out it.

04-06-2005, 08:23 PM

....I on the other hand would stay away from anything RV-refer wise.....you really only need to run a chest freezer for an hour a day if the lid is kept closed to keep everthing cold and a Wood's freezer is only $149 out the door at Home Depot for a 5 cubic ft model....Refers usually wind up as expensive storage for things you don't know where else to put....look closely at yours at home.....and that is expensive storage......geof kaye

Jim & Barb · 04-07-2005, 07:10 PM

I have looked at these and not gotten any real good answers. These are getting more common in high end DPs. I was told that the Amana draws about 6 amps ( 120 ) so most inverters should handle it. I don't know what the duty cycle is either. Most units that have these have bigger battery banks. What method do you use to recharge your batteries - solar or generator ?? That might be a big factor in boondocking...

04-07-2005, 07:15 PM

....generator on about 1 hour a day at most....Woods uses about 3.7 amps and needs an hour to get cold enough for the whole 24 hours.....the Woods has all foam insulation-no figerglass....it seems to do the job quite well if one keeps the lid closed and it is a top loader not a front loader.....geoflkaye

Lorna · 04-08-2005, 11:50 AM

A lot of the bus converters (self) put "household" refers in their buses. So far I haven't heard of any of them pulling the household versions out in favour of an RV refer. ou will need a latch to keep it closed under transit (just like the RV ones). The new refers are very energy efficent. I have noted several that use less AC than the RV type. But then the RV type is under no pressure to be more efficent. A good inverter (sized to handle the motor surge) and a house bank of 4 to 6 6 volt batteries should handle things. You might want to check out the Energy Star Appliances to look up the model that is going in your RV.

Beabop · 04-09-2005, 12:33 PM

We had looked at an Alfa that had a residential frige, I also was afraid to go that route as we boondock on a reg basis. Maybe my inverter would keep up but didn't want to be the first to test one. My 4 door Norcold is super and I am not sorry we opted for a coach with gas/electric.

Steve Val · 04-10-2005, 06:07 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by RV Wizard:
I agree with RV Roamer. If you boondock on a regular basis or even for a long weekend, you should opt for a gas/electric model. We have the 4 door Norcold and would not purchase a coach with out it. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I agree - our first DP had the Norcold in it, and I didn't see the need for it. Carol talked me into keeping it. Now, I would not consider anything else.
There has been quite a bit written on all electric coaches on other forums recently. I guess they're fine if you're going to places that have power. I would like the option - gives us a little more freedom.