Residential refrigeration

[JimD]

Originally Posted by klassic

Your 12.1v is approximately 50% battery charge. Batteries don’t like to go below 50%. So I would say, no...your truck didn’t more than handle the load. You just squeezed by.

You saved me from typing exactly the same thing.

[JimD]

Originally Posted by TreePlant

We have a residential fridge in our 2019 37TS and are so glad it came with it. We’ve heard too many stories of RV fridges not working properly when not perfectly level as well as potential fire issues. We boondock (dry camp) about 80% of the time but we also have 2000W of solar and rarely have to use our generator. I love the amount of space we have in the fridge and can stock it up for a few weeks of camping.

2000 watts of solar? How many panels are you using? My panels are 100 watts each and I currently have 2 with a third to be installed shortly. You must have a large roof area for your panels.

[Big1]

I have been looking into solar but I don't know enough about them so I'm still learning.

[Slurugger]

Originally Posted by klassic

12.06v is more like 50%.
Yes, the voltage shown on your inverter is the voltage of the batteries. If you weren’t plugged in and you were to shut the fridge off, and any other substantial 12v loads, the batteries would probably go back up to a little higher voltage.
You never said what the amp hours of the batteries are, but being you had three then they are 12v, and most likely around 70 amp hours each. So having three of them was the right move for driving 10 hours.

Just keep in mind when your fridge goes into defrost mode it will use 45 amps for 20mins. I just saw mine go into defrost mode 2 times in 2.5 hours last weekend.
It’s not the end of the world going below the 50% rule...it just slowly reduces the battery life.
I think your inverter will shut down around 11.6v

Besides defrost, we also need to keep ambient temp in mind. I've run my Whirlpool while parked for 12+ hours on 2 12Vs without going below 50%. However, ambient temp outside was only 50-60F so it wasn't like a scorching summer day...

I agree, josh's perspective is off. Most places it gets warm enough during the summer (when most RVs are utilized) that the gas/electrics just won't keep things cold. Having read multiple forums and watching a lot of RV vloggers the gas/electrics have plenty, if not more, issues - just ask KYD! I'll never have anything besides a residential after this one.