Montana Owners Club - Keystone Montana 5th Wheel Forum - View Single Post

JABURKHOLDER · 03-08-2017, 03:36 PM

My former sob 5er came with an RV fridge. Can't swear to it but at that time (2005) I don't believe residential fridges were offered in 5th wheels. Anyway, prior to any planned trip we had to fire up the fridge the night before so it had time to cool down. Loading it had to be with items that were already cold or frozen. Never put anything warm in an RV fridge as it will take an inordinate amount of time to cool it. While towing we obviously had the propane on but that had certain drawbacks. Turning off the propane when fueling the TV, before going thru a tunnel or across certain bridges, etc. An RV fridge is more efficient running on propane compared to shore power, but not as efficient as a residential fridge. For every couple of minutes you have the RV fridge door open, the fridge needs about an hour of recovery time.

My Montana came with a residential fridge. A whole different world of operation. For any given trip, I just load the fridge, turn on the inverter, and by the time I get to my first fuel stop (3-4 hours) the fridge and freezer are already at temp and everything inside is nice and cold.

As far as boondocking goes...we don't. An RV fridge is more readily accepting of boondocking operation without any special prep. With a little foresight and proper prep a residential fridge will work fine for boondocking.

Given the choice...go residential.
JMHO

03-08-2017, 03:36 PM	#14
JABURKHOLDER Montana Master Join Date: May 2016 Location: Cuyahoga Falls Posts: 699 M.O.C. #18572	My former sob 5er came with an RV fridge. Can't swear to it but at that time (2005) I don't believe residential fridges were offered in 5th wheels. Anyway, prior to any planned trip we had to fire up the fridge the night before so it had time to cool down. Loading it had to be with items that were already cold or frozen. Never put anything warm in an RV fridge as it will take an inordinate amount of time to cool it. While towing we obviously had the propane on but that had certain drawbacks. Turning off the propane when fueling the TV, before going thru a tunnel or across certain bridges, etc. An RV fridge is more efficient running on propane compared to shore power, but not as efficient as a residential fridge. For every couple of minutes you have the RV fridge door open, the fridge needs about an hour of recovery time. My Montana came with a residential fridge. A whole different world of operation. For any given trip, I just load the fridge, turn on the inverter, and by the time I get to my first fuel stop (3-4 hours) the fridge and freezer are already at temp and everything inside is nice and cold. As far as boondocking goes...we don't. An RV fridge is more readily accepting of boondocking operation without any special prep. With a little foresight and proper prep a residential fridge will work fine for boondocking. Given the choice...go residential. JMHO __________________ ATC/NAC Jerry A. Burkholder, USN (RET.) Rule #1. The Chief is always right. Rule #2. When in doubt, refer to rule #1.