Residential fridges

[ronmarabito2002]

Pete: We have the Primus system for heat. Doesn't use much power at
all. A pump and a fan. The fan can be turned off. The hydronic heat
is great. With a 95 coach, you should not have a furnace. What do
you have?

R.E. (Ron) Marabito, Dallas, TX 92WB40

--- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, Pete Masterson
wrote:
>
> I'm blessed/cursed with an all-electric coach (no LP gas on board).
>
> Blessed:
> - Huge 22 cu ft home-style double-door side-by-side refrigerator with
> ice maker (and through the door chilled water/ice dispenser). Large
> freezer capacity. Very convenient. (Wife is happy -- that's worth a
> _lot_.)
> - No LP gas to deal with -- no fuel lines, no leaks, no tanks to
> 'recertify' (or argue about), no extra fuel stops.
> - No cooking fumes and related vents -- less cold can penetrate in
> winter/snow country situations.
> - Microwave/convection oven. Microwave runs from inverter when other
> power isn't available. Convection setting also runs from inverter,
> but is not advisable, due to heavy current load. Microwave draw is
> significant, but most items are heated in a rather short time, so the
> power used isn't excessive.
>
> Curse:
> - Must have shore power or generator to operate cook-top to prepare
> meals. This has proved to be a problem in California State Parks
> where a "quiet time" policy runs from 8PM to 10AM every day. Less of
> a problem in other boondocking situations where the generator may be
> run as late as 10PM and after 8AM. (I also don't have a problem
> turning on the generator at 6AM in a Walmart parking lot, especially
> if we're far from neighboring homes, etc.)
> - Refrigerator pulls down batteries fairly quickly. Batteries are
> drawn down to recharge point after only about 10 to 12 hours. Usually
> not a problem, as power is needed to run the cook top (to prepare
> breakfast). My usual approach is to run the generator for breakfast
> (for a couple hours to charge up the batteries) then again at dinner
> (starting a bit early if the batteries appear to be 'down' before our
> regular dinner time). Quiet again -- then run for a couple hours in
> the evening up to the start of quiet time so the batteries will be as
> fully charged as possible for the overnight period. However, with the
> extended "quiet time" in CA State Parks, it _is_ a problem. A
> February stay in a coastal park was very unpleasant (and cold) in the
> morning waiting for quiet time to end. The batteries were so low that
> we had to turn off all unnecessary loads, including the _heat_ as the
> fans and pumps in the AquaHot system use the battery power... (Note:
> this occurred with the original batteries that had been improperly
> charged and weren't able to hold their charge.)
> - Refrigerator replacement will be very difficult and expensive,
> including the need to remove a window to move old and new
> refrigerators in/out of the coach. (Refrigerator had freon
> "recharged" by the previous owner, but from the amount it runs, it
> may need further attention or replacement.)
> - Electric cooktop is only 120 volts -- so it's a little slow to heat
> up. It does, eventually, get as hot as 'normal' electric ranges. This
> is a minor problem and a matter of simply adjusting cooking technique
> to accommodate.
> - Inadvertent use of convection oven while on inverter can draw down
> the house batteries in a flash!
> (Not a problem as we rarely use the convection feature.)
>
> Support systems:
> - Coach has dual 2500 watt inverters. The previous owner upgraded the
> inverters and controller to (newer) Heart Freedom inverters with Link
> 2000R controller. (The original Inverters were also Heart Freedom.)
> - Six model 4D AGM-type batteries supply the house systems. These are
> rated at 220 amp hours each. Model 4D batteries are very large (and
> in AGM fairly expensive). A set of 6 cost nearly $2000, delivered.
> While the previous owner had replaced them, so the batteries with the
> coach weren't more than about 2 years old, the controller had been
> reset to default (wet cell assumed) and had overcharged them for the
> 6 months while the coach was in various dealer's hands. As received,
> the house batteries weren't holding their charge, as expected, so had
> to be replaced.
> - 15kw PowerTech generator. It's fairly solid and has good
> performance. It's able to provide the full 50 amp power required to
> run all systems normally without serious worry about load management.
> Once, I had a problem while "boondocking" at a vendor who was
> installing some new cabinetry. The generator cooling fan for the
> radiator failed... and I had no power to recharge the batteries.
> Eventually, I had to run the main engine to run the alternator to
> keep the batteries up and the refrigerator cold. (The Link 2000R
> manages the output of the engine alternator to control proper battery
> charging.) While the replacement batteries are better than the
> mistreated AGMs, they're not _significantly_ better.
>
> Opinion:
> - This coach is not that pleasant to boondock with -- it's possible,
> but it requires somewhat more planning* to ensure that batteries
> aren't allowed to run down. (If it were possible to have a couple
> more batteries, I'd add them -- but there's no space.) Most of the
> time I seek an RV park or other place where I can get shore power,
> even for single overnight stops -- just to not have to listen to the
> generator so much... (We also use an electric blanket to minimize
> using the furnace during the night -- and that is most certainly not
> an item to run from the inverter, even though the net power use isn't
> that high.)
>
> *I've come to realize that the refrigerator/inverters can be turned
> off during the night to help preserve the batteries. If the
> refrigerator isn't being opened, it will hold its temperature with
> minimal rise for several hours. Turning off the inverters will remove
> the overhead load they add ... then only 12v system would be
> available (mostly lights) but that would be sufficient. I haven't had
> an opportunity to try this, yet, to see just how effective it might
> be to lengthening the time before the batteries need to be charged.
>
> I believe that the situation would be slightly better with a up-to-
> date refrigerator -- but the essential problem is that the
> refrigeration is the major battery draw and even the newest, most
> efficient refrigerator may not offer _that_ much improvement over the
> originally installed unit, which was a relatively decent performer
> for its time.
>
> Indeed, the electric cooktop is more of a boondocking problem than
> the refrigerator, since 120 vac power is an absolute requirement to
> operate it, whether from the generator or shore power.
>
> Pete Masterson
> '95 Blue Bird Wanderlodge WBDA 42
> El Sobrante CA
> aeonix1@...
>
>
>
> On Feb 6, 2008, at 1:28 PM, birdshill123 wrote:
>
> > House type fridges are becoming more prevelant all the time.<snip>
>
> > When
> > looking at some BB's advertised on the net I see some mid 90's units
> > with house fridges. These are older fridges and not super efficient. I
> > would like to hear from BB owners with this option? Are you pleased
> > with the fridge? Do you have problesm when boondocking for a few days?
> > What does BB supply for battery power and invereter size with this
> > option? Any problems?
> > <snip>
>