Rbertalotto
Massachusetts
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Quote:Since I am stuck in one place with full hookup, I replaced my refrigerator with a Hotpoint 9.7 cu ft residential -- $400 from Lowes
That is the EXACT refrigerator I'm looking to use.....
RoyB
Dartmouth, MA
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valhalla360
No paticular place.
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With a toy hauler, probably a no brainer.
One item to check into (probably won't change the outcome) but the running wattage (amp * volts) by itself doesn't tell you which is more efficient.
- I suspect at least for the 120v AC unit, they are providing the max amps. I doubt it's pulling 720w while running.
- The other big question is what percentage of the day the compressor is running. The higher wattage unit may be more efficient if it runs less time each day
- On a related note, how well insulated are the units. This can heavily impact how much the compressor runs each day.
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LouLawrence
Traveling the US fulltime since 2000.
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Go residential and you will never go back!
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Grit dog
Black Diamond, WA
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LouLawrence wrote:Go residential and you will never go back!
You forgot the rest of your statement which reads, “only if you’re hooked to shore power full time or have a battery and inverter system that could light up a small town.”
If neither one of these is true then a resi fridge is somewhere between a hinderance and a nonstarter.
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Lantley
Ellicott City, Maryland
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If you don't travel long distances or boondock much it's a simple decision.
However if you want to keep the unit running while traveling down the road.
Or want to use the fridge off the grid it gets more complicated.
Adding an inverter into the mix is straight forward and easy enough to do if you're handy. But is does add to the cost.
I figured and inverter, battery and wiring would add $500.00 or so to overall cost.
An new scratch and dent absorption fridge cost me $1,100.00.
A residential Fridge from Home Depot was $400.00. But I needed an inverter and battery. So I estimate $900.00 vs. $1,100.00.
With the cost being close enough I saw no need to change.
I have been using absorption lp/electric fridge since 2005 and this was my first issue.
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Veebyes
Bermuda & Maryland Eastern Shore
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I was thinking about going the domestic fridge route also. The big issue was finding one to fit without major carpentry surgery to make it look good.
The bottom line came out that replacing the refrigeration unit of my ten year old Dometic four door was less than a new seventeen cu ft plus carpentry. Another consideration is how much dry camping does one intend to do? We do a fair amount of dry camping and for that, using a domestic fridge, one needs to be running a generator frequently or having a massive battery bank and pure sine wave inverter. Not very practical.
If you are a FHU camper then the domestic fridge will work just fine, provided it fits.
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Campinghoss@51
Windsor NC
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I have had several different rv's and all but the one I have now was elec/propane. My current one has a 23 cubic foot Frigidaire in it and I will never go back to propane. My stays plugged in year round and since my batteries charge while hooked to the truck long distance travel has never been an issue. We don't boondock so that is not an issue either. However if we did need to boondock I could hook the pigtail up to the truck and keep the batteries charged. I never expect to do that though.
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wa8yxm
Davison Michigan (East of Flint)
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If you find yourself "Off the grid" as I did last Thu/Fri for 13 hours that 12 volt draws 30 t0 90 watts the 120 volt a whomping 720.. WOW.
I've used those high effiency 12 volt compressor jobs. In fact though the one I have now runs on a converter..... part way through that 13 hour blackout while I was "Concerned" it was going to take too long (8-12 is the limit) I hooked up a 12 amp hour LiFePO4 battery to a 300 watt MSW inverter and powered it up. Still below freezing (Just) per the display and quickly cooled off.
The main Fridge (A smaller residential one) Got plugged into the 2KW inverter with 1,500 watt hours of battery behind it.. All food saved.
But had it been longer.. I'd have needed recharges.
So the 12 volt unit.... Your batteries will last longer if you need to live off 'em over night.
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Rbertalotto
Massachusetts
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Thanks for all the great replies. I'm still totally undecided on Residential with inverter or a true RV 12V refrigerator. Because I near 100% boondock, and do a lot of traveling, I'm leaning toward the RV 12v solution. I got the price for a Dometic 8 cu ft down to exactly $1000 which seems reasonable considering I'm hoping to get at least 10-12 years out of it. And my absorption refrigerator is like new and works as a 2 way refrigerator is supposed to so I might be able to sell it for a few hundred dollars and offset the cost.
We shall see.....Tax Free Weekend so I can save $60.50 if I buy it on Saturday...
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valhalla360
No paticular place.
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Rbertalotto wrote:Thanks for all the great replies. I'm still totally undecided on Residential with inverter or a true RV 12V refrigerator. Because I near 100% boondock, and do a lot of traveling, I'm leaning toward the RV 12v solution. I got the price for a Dometic 8 cu ft down to exactly $1000 which seems reasonable considering I'm hoping to get at least 10-12 years out of it. And my absorption refrigerator is like new and works as a 2 way refrigerator is supposed to so I might be able to sell it for a few hundred dollars and offset the cost.
We shall see.....Tax Free Weekend so I can save $60.50 if I buy it on Saturday...
If you are into boondocking, my comment about max draw vs kwh is important. I would do more research into actual running amps and what percentage of time you can expect it to run.
My bet is you listed max not typical running amps...720watts is crazy for a modern fridge. My 12v fridge is rated for up to 11amps to set the wiring and fuse size but typically draws 4amps when running.
The 12v will probably win on total kwh consumed...the critical issue for boondocking....but probably not by a lot. Don't forget to account for the inverter losses.
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