Pros and Cons of Residential Fridge Option for non-fulltimers?

kdubinwa

Well-known member
Trying to figure out when this option makes best sense and the various tradeoffs... Beyond more space, what utility does the Residential Fridge option over the typical 4 door LP/DC/AC fridge in Hearland's higher end 5vers?

Money aside, when would you choose it and when should you stick with the conventional RV fridge?

Thanks for any help offered.
 

danemayer

Well-known member
Hi kdubinwa,

The technology in conventional RV LP/Electric refrigerators provides you with the flexibility of operating for relatively long periods without being hooked up to shore power. The compromise is that they don't cool as well as residential refrigerators such as we use in our homes.

If you block air flow inside your RV refrigerator it may not cool your food properly. If the heat and humidity in your trailer is high, it may not cool your food properly. If temperature outside is above 90 degrees F, it may have a hard time cooling your food properly. If you leave the frig doors open for more than 30 seconds, the temperature inside will climb sharply and take many hours to recover.

Residential refrigerators with compressors do a better job of maintaining temperature. But of course, you need a power source all the time. They come with an extra 12V battery hooked to an inverter so you can run the refrigerator on battery power during an 8 hour travel day.

We don't boondock and on the next trailer will definitely go with the residential option.
 
Thanks, that answers my first question but brings up the second; Does the power converter constantly convert 12V to 110 once you get to your destination and plug in? Is there a switch once you get to your destination? This could be hard work for the converter if you are living it year round?

Thanks in advance
D&R
 

danemayer

Well-known member
Thanks, that answers my first question but brings up the second; Does the power converter constantly convert 12V to 110 once you get to your destination and plug in? Is there a switch once you get to your destination? This could be hard work for the converter if you are living it year round?

Thanks in advance
D&R
There is an automatic transfer switch that switches to shore power when available, and to inverter power from the battery when not on shore power (or generator).

Btw, the Power Converter changes 110V AC (from shore power) to 12V DC to run 12V appliances and lights, and to charge the battery. The Inverter (and transfer switch) is part of the residential refrigerator option and converts 12V DC from the battery into 110V AC that the refrigerator can use.
 

kdubinwa

Well-known member
That helps. A few more questions...

Is 8 hours the expected runtime off a 12v battery? Is that battery in a different location than the 2 battery compartment?

I don't do any boon docking but on occasion I may be stuck in overflow at a state park for one evening w/o power and I'm wondering what the copng strategy would be with the Residential Fridge...

I'm guessing the batteries will charging somewhat off the truck electrical system when driving and then I may need to use a portable generator overnight or the next morning in the parking lot to keep things cold? Note: given the extra weight I don't expect to purchase an onboard LP ten on the 5ver.




Hi kdubinwa,

The technology in conventional RV LP/Electric refrigerators provides you with the flexibility of operating for relatively long periods without being hooked up to shore power. The compromise is that they don't cool as well as residential refrigerators such as we use in our homes.

If you block air flow inside your RV refrigerator it may not cool your food properly. If the heat and humidity in your trailer is high, it may not cool your food properly. If temperature outside is above 90 degrees F, it may have a hard time cooling your food properly. If you leave the frig doors open for more than 30 seconds, the temperature inside will climb sharply and take many hours to recover.

Residential refrigerators with compressors do a better job of maintaining temperature. But of course, you need a power source all the time. They come with an extra 12V battery hooked to an inverter so you can run the refrigerator on battery power during an 8 hour travel day.

We don't boondock and on the next trailer will definitely go with the residential option.
 

danemayer

Well-known member
The residential refrigerator option is fairly new on Heartland RVs and we haven't heard too much from owners about battery life.

If you keep the doors closed on a residential frig, it'll hold temperature pretty well in a power outage. So I would think the bigger problem might be that it's not a good idea to run the battery down too far. To keep the battery charged, I'd plan on running your generator from the time you arrive until quiet time rules require you to shut it off. That may keep enough charge on the battery to keep it healthy and perhaps enough power to get through the night. Then run the generator again for as long as possible in the morning before hitting the road again.
 

bdb2047

Well-known member
I have changed the R.V. fridge for a residential in ours. I have 2 12v batteries in parallel and a manual switch for shore power or inverter but let it run on inverter continually. Reasons for changing was all the reasons Dan listed as disadvantage, loss of food due to temp change. I have had it run on inverter for over 14hrs with no shore power w/no problem. Truck will keep up charge while towing with no problem. We are in camper 4-6 months a year plus several long weekend in summer. Don,t know if this helps but was a good change for us.
 

kdubinwa

Well-known member
Thanks Dave. Are the two batteries dedicated to the new fridge? Given I'm looking at a Grand Canyon can also you tell me where you installed them?

Kurt

I have changed the R.V. fridge for a residential in ours. I have 2 12v batteries in parallel and a manual switch for shore power or inverter but let it run on inverter continually. Reasons for changing was all the reasons Dan listed as disadvantage, loss of food due to temp change. I have had it run on inverter for over 14hrs with no shore power w/no problem. Truck will keep up charge while towing with no problem. We are in camper 4-6 months a year plus several long weekend in summer. Don,t know if this helps but was a good change for us.
 

jbeletti

Well-known member
Kurt,

I can't answer for Dave but in the case of Heartland's OEM installation of the residential refer, there are two 12 volt batteries in parallel and they are NOT dedicated to the inverter. As Dan indicated, Heartland does not have a long enough timeline of usage of this configuration, so real world runtimes are not yet known. It's encouraging to hear from Dave though that on his retro-fit of a smaller residential refer, he's run 14 hours on inverted battery power.

If my camping style had me boondocking for a day or 2 max, a few times a year, I'd strongly consider a single 100 to 150 watt solar panel mounted on the roof and a solar charger/controller ($500-$1000 for the kit) - all to keep the batteries topped off or as much as is possible given solar conditions.

A good question too would be, what's the average rate of discharge of the batteries when they are inverting power for the refer and how much power can a truck charge line really put back into the battery bank? I have no idea on this. If the rate of discharge is significantly higher than the rate of charge from the truck's charge line, then a solar panel could also be really useful during travel, especially enroute to a boondock destination. Be nice to arrive all charged up :)
 

bdb2047

Well-known member
The batteries are installed in the factory compartment and are not dedicated for fridge. Fridge is samsung 18 cu/ft According to factory highest draw is 430w. After day of traveling,6-7 hrs, batteries are at 13+v. When it was on batteries for 14 hrs voltage was just over 12v, I had not turned off defrost cycle which added some load.
 
Hey all, I sure wish the residential fridge was an option when I bought my 2012 San Antonio. We have been fulltime in ours for a year and a half. I have read all the troubles lots of folks are having or had with their 4 door dometic fridges. I will say (knock on wood) other than fighting the hot temps in Tx our unit has given us good luck.... we installed the baffle system of sorts that others have. Mine won't run on propane for some reason when traveling, it always trips the high limit switch... I'm sure it could be fixed but we have only moved our unit twice since owning it and are always on shore power... I understand how an absorption system works and I understand its limitations. It's a give and take relationship for convenience of running off propane. I have no intentions of ever " roughing it " in a $100k RV... in our situation I would much rather have a more dependable residential type fridge than the ability to cool on propane.... I'm just hoping that WHEN ours does give us trouble that I'm able to get a residential type one in the unit.....be it Rv residential or Lowe's, home depot.... Lol.... hope everyone has a great new year..... please allow the Lord into your heart and may he watch over us all as we enjoy each day he gives us.....
 

GOTTOYS

Well-known member
I don't understand why Heartland charges over $2,000 for this option. There should be a credit for not getting the expensive RV refrigerator applied to the price difference. A competitor only charges $525.00 for the residential Refer and that also includes 4 six volt batteries....What's the deal??.... Don
 
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