Do you know what kind of fridge is in your RV? Is it an absorption fridge or a residential fridge?
Are you curious about which type of fridge is best for an RV? Click here to watch a video on evaluating the best RV fridge options. Watch it, then let us know if you agree with what they say.
Do you like the type of fridge your RV currently has or do you wish it were different? Feel free to answer these questions in the comment section below the poll. Thank you!
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We have a residential refrigerator and I absolutely LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it. 99% of our camping is on grid. We boondocked once for a weekend with the generator set on auto it kept everything running all weekend.
None of the above. We have a 12 volt compressor based fridge.
Ours is old school absorption AC/propane that works only when it pleases. I want to swap it out for a 12volt compressor fridge. Seems like all I have to do is threaten it with a replacement and it starts working again.
Thats “MURPHYS LAW”!
LOL
Snoopy
The old fashion Propane/110VAC with 12 volt control board. it dates from 1995 and works perfect. I did have to replace the Dometic Control board back in 2011 with a Dinosaur board and have had no issues since then. If it ever fails, I will use an Amish replacement unit, why change what has worked for over 28 years.
When our traditional RV fridge died at the 10 year mark, we tried to find another one to replace it. We couldn’t find one (we were stuck in Houston at the time) and our mobile RV tech suggested a 120-volt AC fridge from Lowe’s. $450! A far cry from what an RV fridge would cost (IF we could find one!). So we had it installed and we’ve never looked back. Super cold beer and ice cubes that don’t stick to each other into one giant cube. Our batteries, solar system, and 2000 watt inverter run this fridge just fine going down the road, and when boondocking. Best catastrophe we’ve ever had!
How many solar panels and batteries do you have?
Good question. Tommy ?
We went to two 100-ah lithium batteries. We have 700 watts of solar on the roof and switched from a 2500 watt modified sine wave inverter to a 2000 watt pure sine wave unit. I have a system whereby when we turn the inverter on (and plug ourselves into ourselves with an extension cord) we have 120 volts at all our ac plug outlets. This system (and one like it in our old trailer) has worked for 25 years. Oh, and I’ve had a Morningstar charge controller for years and their tech support helped me re-program it for lithium batteries. I still have the original converter because the solar panels get the charge up to 14.4 volts.
Thank you for the info Tommy. I’ll keep note of it for when the need arises in the future.
We have the same type of inverter, but connected it to the electrical panel with an automatic transfer switch and remove on/off inside the RV. We just shut off the charger breaker, turn on the inverter and presto! Full power from our batteries to our entire electrical panel.
You have an easier transition to inverter power than I do. I built my system using my limited electrical knowledge and ability. 🙂
I switched from a Norcold 1200 to a Whirlpool residential 17cf a few years ago because the Norcold just didn’t get cold enough and the temperatures varied a lot. The new one works very well. Had I known at the time about a 12v conversation for the Norcold I would have gone that route. I hear it works very well and the energy consumption may be noticeably less than the Whirlpool, a definite benefit since I dry camp a lot. 12cf is enough for our needs.
John
Our 2011 Camplite came with a dorm sized 120V refrigerator with a dedicated outlet and an inverter to power it from 12V when on the road. It has worked very well.
The wife and I were discussing the other night after watching something about this on YouTube, if our RV absorption style fridge ever goes bad we will more than likely replace it with a 12 VDC style. We don’t have the room for a residential style and aren’t set up with inverter and solar to keep a 110 VDC model running. If we ever upgrade to a different RV we will probably opt for the 12 VDC model. They have gotten so efficient over the years it just makes good sense. I believe it will be more common in new sales.
The 120v AC compressor fridge we replaced our RV style with, fit in exactly the same space as our old one. We have a 2012 Arctic Fox 25Y travel trailer. The really cool thing (no pun intended) is the vast amount of new room we have without that propane stuff in the rear.
We were replacing Norcold 1200 cooling units every 4-5 years. Replaced it with an 18 cf Samsung 7 years ago. I’d go with a 12v unit next time.
Four RV’s with absorption refers over 30+ years and never a problem. Current unit has been in service for 8 years with no accessories and no repairs. I understand that they can be problematic.
Our 20yo double door Dometic fridge had the cooling unit replaced at the 10 year mark. It has worked flawlessly after that. In fact, it keeps things almost too cool. Definitely has cold beer and frozen ice-cream.
Both our RVs have been all-electric. Both had a residential refrigerator (and 8 house batteries).
We normally are boondocking or at a very rustic campground with maybe a fire ring and picnic table so a residential fridge was NOT an option when we were looking at buying our 5th-wheel.
I realize this may go “against the grain”, but on the new to us DP we purchased this summer, we removed the residential and installed a 120v/propane absorption fridge as was originally in the coach. Since we boondock 90% of the time, don’t have/want solar panels, waiting on lithium batteries to lower in cost (haha), it is what we know and what is right for us.
There is a fourth option, which we have in our 2022 Forest River trailer. A residential refrigerator that runs on 110 AC or 12VDC thanks to built in solar and an inverter. Great on travel days-no coolers sliding around!
Since we like to boondock and dry camp, a residential fridge would never work for us. In 10 years, the only problem we’ve ever had was a loose wire.
We lost a 2009 Class A coach to a Norcold fire. We vowed to never have one again and have a Maytag residential fridge in our 2014 coach. We have boondocked for over 2 weeks by setting our generator to auto start if the house batteries dropped to 12.2 volts. No issues with fridge or generator and we have 3 times the room in our fridge and freezer!
Our “no-cold” norco fridge caught fire after less than two years old! Luckily the RV did not go down in blazes but we replaced the fridge guts with a 12V conversion from JC Refrigeration. We have 4 x Trojan AGM batteries and a DC/DC charger installed, so we are never short of power wherever we find ourselves.
We bought our 2022 Heartland TT last year and have about 11000 miles on it, around 6 months steady use. It has a 12 volt refrigerator and I think this is one of the best things they have ever done. So far it works great, Our last camper was a coleman with an absorption refrigerator that I ended up putting a brewers thermostat in to keep it from freezing.