Residential option or electric/propane fridge

[JDDilly]

I would go with the residential. I have had that in 2 rigs and love it.

[mlh]

Originally Posted by Dave W

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

I agree with Dave. We have a Samsung refrigerator. We bought a new stove although the old one worked just fine, you know women. The guys who brought it out ask how old the refrigerator was. I said 3 years and he said “you got one of the good ones”. Ask what he meant and they said lots of them don’t last that long.
Lynwood

[Chad1383]

Originally Posted by mlh

I agree with Dave. We have a Samsung refrigerator. We bought a new stove although the old one worked just fine, you know women. The guys who brought it out ask how old the refrigerator was. I said 3 years and he said “you got one of the good ones”. Ask what he meant and they said lots of them don’t last that long.
Lynwood

The Montana now come with GE fridges. I have a GE fridge at home and haven’t had any issues with GE product.

[Dmcgrew]

I have used the Samsung full time for four years with no problem with either the fridge or the ice maker, I guess I have just been lucky so far!!

[mlh]

Originally Posted by Dmcgrew

I have used the Samsung full time for four years with no problem with either the fridge or the ice maker, I guess I have just been lucky so far!!

The only problem we have had with ours is the ice maker going bad.
Lynwood

[nellie1289]

I got the RV fridge in my 3854BR Montana because about 2 days before our trip i like to go over to the Rv and fire it up to get it cooled down in storage. We dont have power in storage, and the old RV this worked best, so i figured go with the Gas one this time too.

[CADman_KS]

In extreme cold temps, the RV fridges can quit working as well. Our daughter who is living in their camper in OK, just had her RV fridge quit when the temperature got around 10degF.

We have had RV's fridges in all of our previous units, and they have a hard time keeping up when it's hot outside as well.

As far as the hot goes, we haven't had any issues with our residential fridge keeping up in the hot, and I'm assuming that cold wouldn't be an issue with them either.

One more variable to consider, and throw into the pot...

[Cat320]

Recently we had a technician doing some warranty work on a new residential refer at home. I asked him if he was going to buy a new refer, what brand he would choose. He said, not in any order, "Whirlpool, GE or Frigidaire, I would not own a Samsung or LG, too hard to work on and getting parts can be a problem."

[BobStack]

No question the residential. Love the space and never once had a problem with dead batteries or melted ice cream!

[Peter1965]

Have had trailers with the rv fridge and our HC has the Samsung residential. I must say I greatly prefer the residential. We have traveled coat to coast with our rig and have not had a single issue with the fridge. I should note that we do not boondock so I can't speak to that.

[Tracyb-oh]

Had a residential fridge in our 2017 Sanibel that was a nightmare. Worked a couple months then the compressor went out. Was replaced under warranty but never worked right after that. Had a repair person ( also RV techs wouldn’t work on it had to be a residential appliance tech). Tell me all the bouncing around was killing it. Could never get it colder than 40 degree. That along with other issues with the Sanibel we traded for a Montana HC 294RL with the RV fridge in it. We are much happier. . We are travelers but not full timers.

[jetskier]

I have the RV fridge and boondock 75% of the time. It works, but it's not as efficient as the residential model. It does fairly well cooling on propane. I ordered the trailer with 265W solar/2000W inverter package they offered in 2018. I since upgraded the solar to 860W. One time while traveling, I had the fridge on electric running off the inverter. It was dark and sucked my four batteries down below 12V in a few hours. The charge circuit didn't help much since it's limited to about 25-30A. My battery monitor shows an added 650-700W when it's running. I'd like to convert it to the DC compressor system, but that's a project for another time.



When I replaced the appliances in my kitchen at home, I was told not to go with Samsung due to the lack of timely service and parts availability in the region. Not saying the product is bad, just what I was told an many local appliance stores at the time.

[Randall32749]

We have the 295rl and love the resident fridge. Not a moment of trouble.

[BiggarView]

When the OP said he did not boondock and stayed mostly at CGs with hook ups the choice was obvious... Get the residential fridge. cheaper to operate, cheaper to replace, more usable storage space.

CAVEAT, upgrade the factory battery bank and have at least a 3000 watt genset for backup so you can also run an A/C or other high draw item as well when the grid power goes down.... and it will go down. More batteries = smaller genset needed (most of the time).

The dealers don't like them(res fridges) cuz they don't make as much money off them either on the showroom floor or in the service dept. JMHO

[Jritz]

Depends on how you RV. I have a 3855br with a residential refrigerator. We have had the electric/propane in another camper we had. My personal opinion is, I would never go back to a electric/gas. I really like my residential refrigerator. We don’t do more than one night boondocking at a time, but we do 2 to 4 weeks every few months. We carry a lot of frozen foods with us and especially last year during COVID. We cooked a lot. Battery was not an issue. Love the refrigerator.

[Darval]

I have had both and a residential is only good if you have power. I went back to rv fridge so I now have no issues if I don't have power. Go propane.

[Byron B]

Out of over a dozen Rvs we have owned none had a residential fridge until we bought our new 2018 Mobile Suites. Now all three of our rigs (1 Montana Legacy and 1 HC and the afore mentioned Mobile Suites) have residential refrigerators in them. Over many thousands of miles with the propane/electric rigs we had probably every imaginable problem at least once and some multiple times. Much more space now and best of all the previously mentioned FROZEN ice cream!

[davemitchell59]

Personal choice based on intended use as far as I'm concerned.

We aren't boondockers and opted for the residential fridge for that reason. I had an RV fridge in a trailer 20 years ago that worked fine, but it, in my opinion, had inconsistent temperatures. We've had no mechanical problems with the residential unit in two years of near 40% use.

If you plan to be remote and off grid a lot of nights, then the RV version is probably a better choice.

[DebNJim B]

The general rule of thumb seems to be if you boondock go RV and if you mostly have hook ups go res.
We snowbird with ours now for 8 years staying in moderate climate with cooler and sometime cold weather. We have now had two RVs with 4 years on the rv type and 4 on the residential. Our preference is the residential.
With the rv fridge we had to defrost it once a month do to frost build up in the freezer. Some tell me they aren't made for constant use in colder temps.
We have had no problem with the residential and the ice maker is something to love.
I was first concerned with the warnings about compressors and traveling but there certainly seems to be testimony to the contrary there.
I've watched Josh's videos and he seems to think you have to remove a slide to replace the residential if it goes out but that's not the case. They'll fit through the door.
I am however encouraged by the knowledge that I now have that RVers seem to love their ice cream.

[RMcNeal]

Ice Cream, yes. And the added benefit of a built in ice maker. I plumbed mine with a pump and bottled water source, so it no longer uses CG water. Best ice available and it's all automatic. I have a portable ice maker we used with the old SOB TT, but this is much easier and I can make ice while travelling too!
DW uses a LOT of ice.