Residential vs RV Refrigerators

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butchiiii

butchiiii

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Joined
Sep 8, 2014
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347
Location
Los Angeles
Hi everyone,
What is the benefit of having a residential style refer in your FW? Do they get colder than the
RV style refers? I kinda lean towards the RV type because of the ability to run it off of propane
when needed. Please give me your thoughts.
Thanks
Butch
 
We had to replace our refrigerator last fall and had the same decision to make. The advantages of the residential is that it cools down faster when first turned on, whereas the RV one can take several hours. The residential fridge will run with no problem even if its not level, where the RV one has to be level or it will burn out. Newer residential refrigerators dont take a whole lot of electricity so boondocking with them is easier.

Ultimately, in spite of those advantages, we went with the RV refrigerator because of my husbands oxygen concentrator. Our favorite campground only has 30 amp, and with both our cpaps, and his O2, the refrigerator was just enough to trip the breaker when it cycled on. Running it on propane at night prevented that from happening.
 
We changed over to a residential last summer. The old RV fridge, which was still working, was 7.5 cu/ft. The new one in just about the same space was almost 11 cu/ft. And it's frost free. We love it. While traveling, we have it running off a INverter. We sold the old one for $500.00
 
A lot of people have changed to residential refrigerators and many love them, but we stayed with the propane/electric when we needed to replace ours.  We just like it for the type of RVing we do.  We also didn't want to change our cabinets because we would have lost two very large drawers where pans and plastics are stored.  We have a propane oven and range so already lost enough storage for them!  When people make the change they generally have to change cabinetry and upgrade to a pure sine wave inverter from a modified sine wave inverter.  Someone also commented that their new residential refrigerator was not "tied down" properly and came out of the cabinet when they were driving down the road so having it hooked in place properly is important.  That also applies to closing and locking the doors so they don't open during transit.  I've noticed that many people buy plastic storage bins to secure stuff inside the refrigerator so it doesn't roll around.  Just like everything else there are tradeoffs so it depends how you view the tradeoffs and how important each one is to you.

ArdraF
 
That also applies to closing and locking the doors so they don't open during transit.  I've noticed that many people buy plastic storage bins to secure stuff inside the refrigerator so it doesn't roll around.
Click to expand...

Thats also another difference. My RV fridge has bars across the front of the shelves so I can just lift them up and lock them into place. It keeps the things from rolling forward and hitting the door. Also, both the doors of both the freezer and refrigerator snap into place so that its not likely to fall open while driving.
 
Our 5W came with residential refrigerator and we really love it. It is very energy efficient and we have no trouble traveling with it on using the inverter once we got rid of the crappy battery that came from the dealer and added some more (getting ready for solar).

It has a filtered cold water dispenser and an ice maker and tons of space which was definitely needed for full timing. After using this refrigerator for 1 1/2 years, I would not go back to an RV frig.

Vicki
 
Yes, I think full-timers are more inclined to purchase a residential model and make the needed changes.  Most of the people I know who made the change fall into the fulltiming category.  Again, it's a matter of what fits your needs and how you view the tradeoffs.

ArdraF
 
If you plan on Boondocking, then I would recommend RV fridge using propane.  Assuming all food is already cold, my whirlpool residential fridge uses apx 4 amps when initial compressor kicks in, then about an 2 amps per hour when it runs. In addition to my other power requirements, I would not want to use a residential fridge more than 2 days on my setup. I have 3 cheap sears  DieHard EP-24MS Marine batteries. Dealer had provided 2 and I bought the third.
I believe the most important driver for your decision making process is whether you plan to camp without shore power for more than 2 days.
 
ArdraF said:
Someone also commented that their new residential refrigerator was not "tied down" properly and came out of the cabinet when they were driving down the road so having it hooked in place properly is important.  That also applies to closing and locking the doors so they don't open during transit. 
Click to expand...

A poorly secured refrigerator doesn't happen because it's a residential one; it happens because the installer was careless.  Even an RV fridge can be poorly installed.

As for securing the doors, we use a hitch pin on the freezer drawer and a Velcro strap on the fridge handles and haven't had an issue with either of those in 5 years of use.

If you don't believe that a residential refrigerator would be suited for your kind of RVing, that is fine.  But don't create imaginary issues in the minds of others who are still trying to make that decision.
 
If you boondocks a lot, especially without solar, go with the RV fridge.

If the camper is (semi) permanently parked with shore power, go residential.

Anything between is your choice.
Residential cool down in a few hours and temp is not too dependent on the ambient temp.
RV may take a day or more to cool down.  They will only cool about 50 or 60 deg below ambient temps, so they really struggle on hot days.  Others may correct my temp range.  RV also take a long time to cool warm food placed inside.
It is recommended to pack COLD food into an RV fridge.  It is not needed for a residential fridge.
For the space occupied by the fridge, the Residential will have more interior space.
Either can be run while traveling if you have sufficient propane or battery capacity.  Either will generally remain cool for half a day if off and closed properly and not opened.
RV need to be level to function properly (except when traveling)  Res need to be vertical.

Good Luck!
 
I was looking for a door on this site. I started to notice all/most of the coaches with burn damage looked like the majority started in the area of the refrigerator. So you be the judge of what type refrigerator you want.
http://rvexteriorbodypanels.visonerv.com/cgi-bin/welcome.pl?
Bill
 
WILDEBILL308 said:
The BEST thing about residential refrigerator is they don't catch fire!  ;)
Bill
Click to expand...

Sure they do.  There have been several class action lawsuits and dozens of recalls. 
 
Just from the first page of a single search:

https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2009/Maytag-Recalls-Refrigerators-Due-to-Fire-Hazard/

http://forum.appliancepartspros.com/refrigerator-freezer-repair/284768-whirlpool-refrigerator-fire-relay.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3183412/Could-fridge-burn-house-t-switch-packed-inflammable-insulation-toxic-gas-s-dangerous-appliance-all.html

Do you remove your residential every 6 months and vacuum out the accumulated dust bunnies, AKA fire starters?

We had a GE Profile (high end refer) that caught fire within it's first 6 months.  Luckily it shut down when the fire went through the main control board.  I repaired it and sold it for about 1/10 what I paid for it.

 
WILDEBILL308 said:
Show me I have never heard of one. I have heard of residential units that don't like modified sine wave but that's it.
Bill
Click to expand...

In the 2009 timeframe 1.6 million refrigerators were recalled by Maytag which were sold under a variety of brand names.  An electrical component could result in overheating and fire.  But as a percentage of the number of residential refrigerators sold in the US this was a far smaller percentage than were the RV refrigerators recalled by Norcold.
 
I will say yes some place some time some one has had a problem. Still haven't seen one problem with a residential refrigerator in a coach. I see many who have problems  with Norcold and Domectic.
I guess 8Muddypaws you need to keep living out of an ice chest.
Go look at the link and all the burnt coaches that clearly have damage where the refrigerator is located.
I will take my chances with a residential.
Bill
 
Nope, our icechest days are long behind us.  We replaced the GE with an LG and haven't had a fire since.

Our next motorhome will probably have a residential refer, mostly because they all do these days.  More batteries too.  But I will be rolling it out and vacuuming out the dust bunnies and hair balls every 6 months.  When you have two golden retrievers you do that. 8)
 
I have seen two coaches destroyed by fire that started in the back of the RV Fridge.  One was at Quartzsite a few years ago in the parking lot near the west exit from I-10

I had the fellow from ARP install the safety device after I saw that fire.

I finally decideded to replace the Norcold 1202 with a Fridgidare residential unit after reading the post from John Canfield.

I finished today and it is cold already.  Lowes had a terrific price of $499 in Stainless and a free Ice maker.  I also got the veterans discount so I bought two and put one in the garage for extra ice and drinks.  Saved over $200 at the final checkout and saved about $300 on the sale price of each of the fridges..

The choice to finally change was easier for me because I have several solar panels and a 3000 watt Xantrax PSW Invertor.  However the solar panels do not do much good parked in a RV Garage.

I posted on the free section that if anyone wants the ARP Safety overide from the Norcold, just email me and I will send it for free to maybe give you a little extra peace of mind when using propane.
 
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