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Old 02-18-2021, 09:25 AM   #1
Chad1383
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Residential option or electric/propane fridge

Hello everyone, getting ready to order a new Montana HC and curious what others think about getting the standard to me anyways electric/propane fridge or opting for the residential.

I saw josh the RV nerds you tube videos on this topic and he says to stay away from the resi fridges but curious what others think. I live in the mid west weather wise. My last trailer was the standard electric/propane fridge and worked fine but found it did take some time to get it to temp and sometimes in the hot summer was hard to keep a consistent temp.

I have also heard the resi fridges are hard to replace due to size. We are ordering a 384/385BR and curious if they are big enough to remove if needed without taking out a slide or back window.

Thanks a lot,

Chad.
 
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Old 02-18-2021, 09:36 AM   #2
Dmcgrew
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Full timed for four years with residential fridge. in the past have had propane/electric fridge and had no problems with it. Overall we enjoyed the residential the best. It had the most consistent temperatures and kept frozen items the best. Only negative to residential was use while boondocking. We have 4 6v agm batteries and. 900 amp solar system along with 2000 watt honda generator and it was no problem. Limiting factor becomes water not electric. Just depends on how RV is set up and how you use it as to the best option. Both are a pain to replace with Propane/Electric the most expensive to maintain and replace.
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Old 02-18-2021, 09:50 AM   #3
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Thanks, I should have specified we are not full time and we do not boondock. We stay primarily at RV parks with full hook ups.

Like I said my last fridge was electric/propane but I didn’t have the option on that trailer, as I do on this one.

Josh video if memory serves me correctly he didn’t like them cause they are hard to replace and because he said the travel vibrations kill them. This fridge is located almost directly over the axles so best spot for it in the RV I think.
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Old 02-18-2021, 10:00 AM   #4
Dmcgrew
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We have traveled in excess of 50000 miles over the last four years on terrible roads including down to Mazatlan Mexico. Worst roads were in Louisiana and in California. We have not had any problem with the Samsung refrig in our 5th wheel. If you are primarily in RV parks with hook-up. Residential would still be my preference. Much more problems with propane fridge including some fire hazard. Recalls on propane fridge does not repair the cause of the failure in them only limits the possibility of fire spreading to the coach. Initial price of Propane /ele fridge is much more than residential including installation costs. Neither option is fool proof but we have enjoyed hard ice cream and ice maker in residential model.
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Old 02-18-2021, 10:08 AM   #5
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We have put 50K mile on our Res Fridge in the last 6 years, including travel through all the Canadian Maritime including Newfoundland, and up to Thompson Manitoba, and pretty much everywhere East of the Mississippi and not even a peep from the Fridge.
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Old 02-18-2021, 10:09 AM   #6
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Originally Posted by Dmcgrew View Post
We have traveled in excess of 50000 miles over the last four years on terrible roads including down to Mazatlan Mexico. Worst roads were in Louisiana and in California. We have not had any problem with the Samsung refrig in our 5th wheel. If you are primarily in RV parks with hook-up. Residential would still be my preference. Much more problems with propane fridge including some fire hazard. Recalls on propane fridge does not repair the cause of the failure in them only limits the possibility of fire spreading to the coach. Initial price of Propane /ele fridge is much more than residential including installation costs. Neither option is fool proof but we have enjoyed hard ice cream and ice maker in residential model.
Very good point, especially the ice cream. I don’t think I have ever been able to eat anything other than soft ice cream in our current rig. Although it did keep the ice cubes hard, I feel like in my current set up it depended where in the freezer certain things were placed.
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Old 02-18-2021, 10:12 AM   #7
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We've had the Samsung residential for going on 4 years and only one fail of a low cost part. All the things I've heard would concern me to have the other type unless I did a lot of dry camping. I worked on the Samsung brand for many years since they were common in the US. Easy to diagnose and get parts for. AMZN has 26 pages and even had the inverter board I needed.
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Old 02-18-2021, 10:23 AM   #8
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This is a great topic and question. Both the RV and residential fridge have pros and cons. In addition if Keystone is still using Samsung there have been more than a few documented horror failure stories related to that fridge. We had a RV fridge in our previous Monty and with proper care had minimal issue. We boondock a lot so at the time of purchase I felt we made the right choice for us. If our style was campground hookups to campground hookups then a residential fridge would have been a better choice for us. Just perhaps not the Samsung. One thing to note is that the RV fridge in general is inefficient, particularly on AC. Our plan with the RV fridge was to swap out the cooling unit with a DC compressor from a company in IN. This would have given us the benefits of increased efficiency and less power draw and removed the fire risk of the lp system. Since we have now invested in significant off grid power solutions the residential fridge is the right choice for us. Just the size alone coupled with hard frozen ice cream was enough to seal the deal. My point is that you have to decide what's important to you and which direction meets your needs because each of them has challenges.
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Old 02-18-2021, 10:33 AM   #9
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Chad,

If you boondock a lot the RV reefer will be a better option unless you also go with a big battery bank and solar as the res model needs more electric power.

If you don't boondock then the res reefer may be a better option.
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Old 02-18-2021, 11:00 AM   #10
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We've known a couple of Montana owners who are very handy with fixing and maintaining things. Both are on their second residential frig and wouldn't ever have another so we're happy with our standard RV frig and will stick with them.
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Old 02-18-2021, 11:22 AM   #11
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If you boondock a lot get the RV. If use always have hook ups the residential is the best way to go. I’m a boondocker RV is best for me.
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Old 02-18-2021, 11:51 AM   #12
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We full-timed 10 years and had both. Since you prefer hookups I say go with the residential and don't look back.
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Old 02-18-2021, 01:31 PM   #13
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Your use sounds a lot like ours. Always hookups, never boondock. I have been very happy with our Samsung residential fridge. Had a propane/electric one in our last unit. It took a long time to get cold and temps were never consistent. I would go for the residential. The newer Samsung units are very energy efficient and travel days aren't a problem as long as you have the inverter running. I only have one 12 volt battery and I've never had it run down even on a 10-12 hour travel day. The truck charging helps it keep up.
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Old 02-18-2021, 01:40 PM   #14
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Originally Posted by RMcNeal View Post
Your use sounds a lot like ours. Always hookups, never boondock. I have been very happy with our Samsung residential fridge. Had a propane/electric one in our last unit. It took a long time to get cold and temps were never consistent. I would go for the residential. The newer Samsung units are very energy efficient and travel days aren't a problem as long as you have the inverter running. I only have one 12 volt battery and I've never had it run down even on a 10-12 hour travel day. The truck charging helps it keep up.
So the fridge does cool as your travelling? I was getting ready to research that. We travel in the winter to Florida from Canada for a couple weeks and so seeing if it would actively cool while rolling down the road.
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Old 02-18-2021, 01:57 PM   #15
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Yes. It has an inverter that supplies power to the fridge from the battery[ies]. The charging circuit from the truck helps keep the battery going, so they don't draw down too quickly. I've traveled about 12 hours and still had good battery and fridge stayed good and cold. Even made ice while on the road.
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Old 02-18-2021, 02:23 PM   #16
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I can't respond to other's experiences, only my own. Our Montana is the first camper we've had with a residential refrigerator, after 3 other campers with standard RV - gas/electric refer's. So, when we got the Montana, it was a mind adjustment. I had my serious doubts if a non-gas refer would actually work (at least for us). We do not boom dock either, but we do travel, and are not seasonal campers at all.

It takes a little time to grow to trust the refrigerator, and your own experiences, that get better and better with each "outing" you take with the camper. The on-board inverter (running off the battery), does work very, very well keeping the refrigerator running while in transit. And keeping the battery charged with the power from the tow truck takes a little time to feel comfortable with also.

But the fact is, the tow vehicle will keep the trailer battery charged. The battery will run the inverter that will produce AC power, that will run your refrigerator. You won't have any problems.

When you stop, shut the engine of the tow vehicle off, the battery in the camper will keep the refrigerator running just fine for several hours. I think the longest we ran on the factory (or dealership) installed battery was about 12 hours straight, and we still had battery power.

On another occasion, we had truck failure when traveling and ended up in a motel for 3 days. The trailer was in the motel parking lot, not plugged in. We were able to keep the refrigerator cold, and even ice-cream in the freezer for 3 days / nights before we were able to get another tow vehicle to get us hauled to a campground. Yes, we were stuck there until the truck got repaired.

Would I want to go back to a gas/electric refrigerator again? Only if there was no other alternative available. Even a gas/electric refrigerator still depends on the trailer battery to power the circuit board. So, if the battery goes dead, the refrigerator won't run either.

My biggest problem is remembering to turn on the inverter when we hit the road. Even with that, the refrigerator maintains it's cold so well, things are still frozen and cold when we reach our destination several hours later.

Again, it does take a little learning curve to feel confident what you can and cannot expect. That only comes by using it.

But one thing is absolutely, 100%, completely certain about having a residential refrigerator ...... You will never, ever, ever have to worry about getting in a heated debate if it is safe or not to run the gas on your refrigerator while traveling, and especially when filling up at gas stations. You will never have that debate again.
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Old 02-18-2021, 05:08 PM   #17
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I have never had a residential fridge in an rv so I can't speak to them with experience. I can say that for decades I've never had a real problem with the rv fridge, even the old tri-power units. I do enjoy the flexibility of multiple power sources. There have been several instances where having gas power has saved our bacon, literally. I think of our trailer somewhat as a survival tool in emergencies and the rv fridge is best suited for that.
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Old 02-18-2021, 06:37 PM   #18
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This is our first res fridge in an RV. We've been in the trailer, using it, for approx. 7 mos./6000 miles. Unless something goes terribly wrong, which I highly doubt, I would certainly opt for the res fridge with your traveling style which is like ours. I had RV fridges for decades; they are finicky, don't hold temp well, hate heat etc. so we much prefer the res fridge - and yes, I don't carry my ice maker any longer!!!
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Old 02-19-2021, 06:58 AM   #19
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We have 'standard' Norcold 1210 in our 5er. After installing a couple additional fans to help move heat away from the enclosure, will actually keep ice cream pretty solid, We have a Samsung French Door RF160 fridge in the house. It works OK but I just installed the 3rd $125 ice maker in less then 2 years. The compressor has rattled since new with a service guy telling us that it's normal. And the finish on the doors is peeling off! We also had a Samsung washer - talk about junk. The delivery guys for our new LG told me that of all the warranty returns he has made, virtually all are Samsung products. Even the Samsung TV we had only lasted a couple months past the warranty period. My first foray into a smart phone - Samsung. Never worked well with connectivity issues - and went back under warranty.



What I'm saying is, if you go res fridge, a Samsung may not be your best choice. Yeah, I know that our history isn't always normal but it sure has left a sour taste for a product line
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Old 02-19-2021, 08:19 AM   #20
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No brainer....residential. Even if you boon dock, they draw very little power, and are much more reliable as well as being better at what refers are supposed to do.
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