[Sr. Oso]

Originally Posted by C&P RV

I found the info below on another site when doing similar research last year. It pretty much syncs up to what Daryles posted above:
"the GE residential fridges they put in the current Montana’s run around 150w (120v…with conversion losses etc it pulls about 13-14 amp DC) and only need to run around 7-8 hours/24 hour period depending on obvious factors like usage, temps, how full it is etc. It will spike to 350w for the defrost cycle a couple times a day but only for about 20 mins or so and then the ice maker can use another 150w or so but only for very short durations….with minimal other power draws my 100Ah of battery usually sits around 40-50% after a night of battery usage when the panels start making power again and will be fully charged by 2-3 in the afternoon depending on weather conditions but even on cloudy days I’ve been back to 100% by the next night…long story short my residential fridge averages 1.2-1.4kWh per day based on a Kill-A-Watt meter and victron app readings"

I can say that I've now personally had similar experiences. We have 2-100ah Lithium batteries and the lowest I've ever had them when off grid was 40% after watching a couple of hours of TV, running lights, making a pot of coffee and the fridge running for 14-16 hours with limited solar charging. If you are only concerned about travelling down the road and start with a full charge every morning on your Lead Acid batteries you should be good to go.

Thank you for the encouragement. I am feeling better about traveling with the refrigerator running. As @Daryles recommended, we will try the frozen water jugs. I will also wait to put any frozen meat in the freezer until I'm hooked to shore power or am confident that my 12v will have enough charge to keep everything cold. Incidentally, I am not going to use the ice maker. I disconnected the water line to it after my winterizing. I may remove it altogether for the extra space. I will also cap the water filter receptacle in frig as there will be no water hook up.