Boondocking with Residential Refrigerator

As a newbie to this forum (not RVing), I'm not sure if this is the correct place to post this question, however here goes anyway.
I haven't picked up my new Bighorn Elite 3160 yet but have a question concerning the residential refrigerator and battery life while boondocking. We almost never boondock, however is we do how long can I expect my batteries to last (without damaging by running down too low)? I will have two batteries in the camper and my truck also is equipped with two batteries.

Hi Hoodad,

I moved your post to a new thread.

There's no really simple and short answer to how long a residential refrigerator will run while boondocking.

I would think that a major factor would be how hot and humid it is. How many times and for how long do frig doors get opened? What other demands are placed on the batteries? Are your batteries in good condition?

Generally speaking, if you drove for 6 or 7 hours with the frig running on batteries, you'll probably get through an overnight stop if not running the furnace or other devices that use a lot of battery power.

Doesn't the inverter shut down at "low battery"?

porthole said:

Doesn't the inverter shut down at"low battery"?

Click to expand...

Low Battery Cut Off looks like it's at 10.5 VDC on the Kisae. 10.0 VDC on the Magnum.

HooDad said:

how long can I expect my batteries to last

Click to expand...

If you choose the residential refer option, then chances are your boondocking days--without a generator to recharge your batts--are over. Still, I am thinking the residential refer option is the way to go. I just looked at the new front bath model that had the refer option and it really looked well-installed. They also improved on the latching system to prevent a road travel opening.

I would love it if someone, or maybe more that one, would plug their refer into a watt-hour meter and let us know the power consumption per day. Mr. Beletti?

branson4020 said:

I would love it if someone, or maybe more that one, would plug their refer into a watt-hour meter and let us know the power consumption per day. Mr. Beletti?

Click to expand...

With what load? That is, freezer full or freezer empty? Main compartment full or empty? What is the coach temperature? Outside Temperature? Humidity, what percentage? Everyone have the same model refrigerator? Too many variables to make the effort (and data) worth much.

Thanks everyone . I know there are too many variables to get an exact number. I was just trying to get an estimate and I think danemayer gave me a good starting point in case I stop at a flying J for the night.

HooDad said:

Thanks everyone . I know there are too many variables to get an exact number. I was just trying to get an estimate and I think danemayer gave me a good starting point in case I stop at a flying J for the night.

Click to expand...

Since your initial post mentioned your truck batteries just thought I would throw this out to you. Our longest day on the road towing with new inverter running is 14+ hours. Unit's dual batteries were fully charged when we stopped for the night. The frig was only opened for lunch and dinner stops on 90* day.

If your TV keeps your batteries charged while towing you will at least start the night fully charged. Longest we have run inverter on camper batt alone is 12 hours. Didn't check actual batt voltage in the morning but the batt indicators showed one light down from full and inverter was still running. Was fully charged after driving again at end of next day towing 10+ hours.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

11.5 v is a dead battery, 10v is even deader. For battery life you should never go below 12.1 which is 50% discharged. A fully charged deep cycle battery is 12.73v, all your usable amp hours are within that 1.63v difference. Good chargers that can be set by the user can get an industrial deep cycle up to 13.2v. The OEM RV/Marine batteries are not able to handle anything but short term DC or inverter service.

While I'm not sure of the relevance of a battery discussion to the OP's question, I offer this information as discovered via search:

The truth is that any lead acid battery, be it a Gel Cell, AGM or flooded batteries such as DCBs, should be cut-off at 11.6 volts. Not doing so increases the risk of damage to the battery and if taken down deep enough into the batteries charge, will ruin the battery. Having said that, the absolute lowest level a lead acid battery can be discharged to, UNDER LOAD, is 10.8 volts but this is not recommended (more on this below).


There is the mistaken belief among many that a DCB can be taken deeply into its charge cycle simply because it is a "deep cycle" battery. This is not true. What "deep cycle" really refers to is the availability of current in situations demanding higher amperage. The user of a deep cycle battery will have an easier time drawing higher amperages (ie: when starting a motor) from a DCB than he would from a gel cell or an AGM. At the amperages used by amateur astronomers, the discharge curves of these batteries is virtually identical and both should be cut-off at 11.6 volts to maintain long term viability of the battery in question. The only advantage to a deep cycle battery is that they tend to come in larger amp hour configurations than AGMs or gel cells.

The relevance is that the OP asked if he can boondock with his residential refer. The very nature of that question is driven by battery life.

Its going to take at least 9 amp hours to run that refrigerator every hour. He can get away with a 4 T1275 Trojans and a 1000 watts of solar panels, which is a nice system that would allow him to run his whole rig, except the AC, and never disturb his neighbors with his generator.

Best thing to do is get rid of that residential refer, if he wants to boondock.


http://www.solar-electric.com/deep-c....html#Lifespan of Batteries
http://www.trojanbattery.com/pdf/TRJ...UsersGuide.pdf
Handybobsolar.wordpress.com

Here's another way of estimating the draw.

The average modern 22 cu. ft. refer consumes about 1.2 KWh per day, according to the DOE. Thats a theoretical 100 AH draw from the batteries. Accounting for inverter inefficiencies and a safety margin, lets say 150 AH per day.