RV refrigerator

[spindrift]

I was just reading an article about the many advantages of the traditional absorption/DC/AC refrigerator over the residential refrigerators now making their way into many of our RVs.  For those of you who have made the transition to the residential refrigerator, what are your thoughts?

I suspect that for you full-timers, the larger capacity residential unit may be the attention-getter.

Edited June 12, 2023 by spindrift

[durangodon]

37 minutes ago, spindrift said:

the larger capacity residential unit may be the attention-getter.

When I replaced my RV fridge, the "attention-getter" for me was:

1.  Lower initial cost

2.  Quicker cool down

3.  More consistent temperatures

To me, the only real benefit to the traditional gas absorption fridge is that it can operate on gas.  That allows boondocking for those RV's with a lack of space for more and better battery power.  If an RV has the space, you can buy several batteries and a good inverter for the difference in cost between a household compressor fridge and a gas absorption RV fridge.

When my 8 cu ft RV fridge went out, replacement was over $3,000.  I bought a 10 cu ft residential one from Home Depot for $300.  Minor wood trimming, some hold down brackets, and closing off the outside vent is all that was required to do the replacement.

 

[Pat & Pete]

We had a Norcold 1200 series 4 door . It was great until the control boards started missing steps and finally just ran in one mode only . Tried new boards , which worked for a few years . Then even new boards wouldn't work , so ...

Not being particularly interested in spending 10 times the cost of a residential fridge for a direct replacement , we found a unit that fit and has the same capacity as the OEM . 

The only real disadvantage of going residential is it runs on AC only . 

But , being better insulated , it holds cold longer and ice cream actually gets hard in any part of the freezer .  

Edited June 12, 2023 by Pat & Pete

[Danfreda1]

Hi spindrift. We have a norcold rv refrigerator I think you saw it in Texas and we may have told you about it. Would not freeze ice cream or some fatty meats. Some things would thaw in the freezer. It was cold enough for norcold specifications not ours or our foods. We found out about a 12 volt conversion dual compressor that a company in Shipshewana does. There is more than one doing it. We could have put in a residential but wanted the same look size and white panel look that we have. It was about a 2000 dollar conversion but we couldn’t be happier that we did it. Our rv frig is a norcold 2118. Close to 5 grand new. It runs straight to the batteries (8 battle born). We went from about 600 watts running on the old cooling unit going through the inverter to 136 straight to battery. It was a 2 hour conversion from pull into building to pulling out. To do the build over again I would go straight 12 volt from the beginning. Ours is 18.5 cubic ft and we full time with it. J.C. Refrigeration was the place in Shipshewana and we highly recommend them for anyone else with a norcold

[spindrift]

8 minutes ago, Danfreda1 said:

Hi spindrift. We have a norcold rv refrigerator I think you saw it in Texas and we may have told you about it. Would not freeze ice cream or some fatty meats. Some things would thaw in the freezer. It was cold enough for norcold specifications not ours or our foods. We found out about a 12 volt conversion dual compressor that a company in Shipshewana does. There is more than one doing it. We could have put in a residential but wanted the same look size and white panel look that we have. It was about a 2000 dollar conversion but we couldn’t be happier that we did it. Our rv frig is a norcold 2118. Close to 5 grand new. It runs straight to the batteries (8 battle born). We went from about 600 watts running on the old cooling unit going through the inverter to 136 straight to battery. It was a 2 hour conversion from pull into building to pulling out. To do the build over again I would go straight 12 volt from the beginning. Ours is 18.5 cubic ft and we full time with it. J.C. Refrigeration was the place in Shipshewana and we highly recommend them for anyone else with a norcold

So, $7,000 for a refrigerator??

[Danfreda1]

2 minutes ago, spindrift said:

So, $7,000 for a refrigerator??

Yes and no we didn’t pay the full price at build because of something not done before signing the papers. It would have been cheaper to put in a residential instead of the conversion but the look wouldn’t have been the same. If you are in the planning stage I wouldn’t even look at rv frig. Cole asked us if we changed ours and if we liked it a week or two ago. If you do it at the build time have them leave space around it so they don’t have to cut the vent in the outside wall for ventilation 

[Randyretired]

We changed to a residential refrigerator when our 4 door RV unit failed.  New cost for the RV refrigerator was over $4,000 and none would fit without modifications. We bought an 18cuft residential refrigerator that is energy star rated for $500 on sale.  For another few hundred dollars I added enough to the solar to run it.   Better and bigger refrigerator and we save a little on propane.  Never going back to a RV refrigerator.  This is much better.  The replacement cost if (when) this refrigerator quits will be affordable.  It uses about 1kwh a day.

[Chad Heiser]

We much prefer our residential refrigerator over the RV type refrigerators we’ve had in the past.  The cooling is better and more consistent and there is more room.  You do need more equipment to keep the residential refrigerator running (batteries and an inverter), but as long as you have the right infrastructure to support it it works great.

[sheldons65]

I regret having our Norcold 2118. We will either convert to DC sometime or replace with residential.

[Danfreda1]

That’s our model 2118. Happy with the size and the conversion is great. If you convert it do the dual compressor model

[spindrift]

12 minutes ago, Danfreda1 said:

That’s our model 2118. Happy with the size and the conversion is great. If you convert it do the dual compressor model

Is there enough room within the enclosure of the fridge in order to locate the second compressor?

[sheldons65]

24 minutes ago, spindrift said:

Is there enough room within the enclosure of the fridge in order to locate the second compressor?

Yes it’s made for the 2118.

[Danfreda1]

Yes it actually takes less room than all of the tubing and flame area of the LP part

[GeorgiaHybrid]

OK Dan, I have to ask. Now that you have transitioned your fridge to DC only, does it still identify as a RV fridge?

[sandsys]

In my last van I had an RV compressor fridge. 7 1/2 CF. Ran only on electricity. I refused to have any LP system in my van. Other than getting rid of LP, the primary advantage is I didn't have to park level for the fridge to work.

Linda

[bruce t]

You can buy a residential fridge and simply change over the compressor. We had our electrician swap out the compressor for a 12 Volt Dansfoss unit. Work like a charm for years even when the motorhome exceeded 120f inside in some locations!! 😒

Once you go all electric you will never go back.

 

 

[TXiceman]

I will never have another RV gas/electric fridge in my RV.  Our full-time rig had a Frigidaire 25 cu. ft that was power through the inverter, solar panel and battery bank when not on shore power.  The smaller part-time trailer we just bought has a 12-volt compressor fridge with two 100 ah lithium batteries and solar.

When I arrive I want the Blue Bell frozen and the beer and wine cold.

 

Ken

[spindrift]

10 minutes ago, TXiceman said:

I will never have another RV gas/electric fridge in my RV.  Our full-time rig had a Frigidaire 25 cu. ft that was power through the inverter, solar panel and battery bank when not on shore power.  The smaller part-time trailer we just bought has a 12-volt compressor fridge with two 100 ah lithium batteries and solar.

When I arrive I want the Blue Bell frozen and the beer and wine cold.

 

Ken

It's extremely difficult to argue with that logic. 

[GlennWest]

Our Teton came with a residential fridge from factory. We had a gas/electric unit in our DRV and hated it. Always something wrong with it and never cooled well in the summer. We love the residential unit in our Teton. It recently failed and our unit is a 2003. I replaced with another residential unit. Mine also runs on an inverter so it is always on as long as I have battery. And solar charging battery also

Edited June 12, 2023 by GlennWest

[D&J]

We had a Dometic that leaked after 12 years so I replaced the cooling unit with a Amish unit at it craped out after 4.5 years. Replaced the whole refrigerator with a residential Magic Chef from Home Depot and haven't looked back. It runs going down the road off our inverter along with our chest freezer, the truck keeps the batteries up. When dry camped for the night if needed we plug the converter into our old 650 watt Honda. The batteries will run the refrig all night without any generator power, the refrigerator only pulls 56 Watts when running and it doesn't run all that much. When set up in Yuma for the winter our electric bill is $20 to $30 cheaper than the Dometic running on electric.

Denny

[Danfreda1]

We always had dometic and never had problems with freezer or refrigerator. I cold leave beer in the freezer over night in the norcold and would never freeze. Now an hour and a half in the freezer and the beer is perfect. Plus using only 4% of our batteries in a 12 hour period over night is a real plus.

dave it identifies as a straight 12 volt white panel rv refrigerator and doesn’t need a special restroom

[Chad Heiser]

On 6/12/2023 at 12:36 PM, GeorgiaHybrid said:

OK Dan, I have to ask. Now that you have transitioned your fridge to DC only, does it still identify as a RV fridge?

I wanted to ask the same thing, but you beat me to it.  😀

[Chad Heiser]

In addition to the benefits of a residential or 12 volt compressor fridge keeping things colder, etc., by getting rid of the gas absorption refrigerator you remove the number one cause of fires in RV's.

[Danfreda1]

 

6 hours ago, Chad Heiser said:

In addition to the benefits of a residential or 12 volt compressor fridge keeping things colder, etc., by getting rid of the gas absorption refrigerator you remove the number one cause of fires in RV's.

That was another reason we wanted to switch it. It seemed like it ran nonstop when on propane. 

[sandsys]

On 6/12/2023 at 2:36 PM, GeorgiaHybrid said:

OK Dan, I have to ask. Now that you have transitioned your fridge to DC only, does it still identify as a RV fridge?

My electric compressor fridge was made by either Dometic or Norcold, I can't remember which, but I think makes it an RV fridge.

Linda