GE Residential Refrigerator & inverter question

[Sr. Oso]

Does anyone know how many amps a GE Refrigerator uses while on inverter power? I know there are other members here with a MHC 295RL. I’m hoping some have a 2022 with the GE ‘frig.

Our MHC 295 RL is still snowbound, we are getting ready for our first ever trip. Our first leg will be about 9 hours. We go have SolarFlex 400 installed with 2 lead acid batteries. Will we be okay with the output of the 2 batteries and trickle charging off the panels? I want to upgrade to LiPO batteries but am waiting to hear from my CPA on our tax bill for last year.

Thanks in advance.

[Daryles]

If you look at the label on the inside it will tell you how many 120vac amps it draws.
For every 1A of 120vac the inverter will draw 10A DC current from the batteries.
In the picture my fridge draws 3.8A at 115vac.
My inverter will draw 38A 12vDC to run it.

The next part of the puzzle is the duty cycle. The fridge doesn't run all the time. It cycles on and off.
To get the maximum run time for your batteries, while you are on shore power, freeze Gallon jugs of water. Turn your temperature down low.
When you leave turn your fridge temperature to normal and put 1/2 the frozen water jugs in the fridge.

To calculate how long your batteries will last,
First find out your batteries AH rating.
IF they are FLA batteries, you can only use 50% of their rated capacity without depleting their lifespan.
Next add up your total Amp draws.
You will always have about 2 amps parasitic draws (propane detector etc.)

Example:
200Ah FLA batteries. 100Ah usable.
Fridge 3.8A @ 115vac = 38A DC
Add parasitic drains 2A DC
Total. 40A DC

100Ah battery ÷ 40A = 2.5 hours run time.

Now don't forget the duty cycle. Let's say the fridge has a 50% duty cycle (runs half the time).

So you will have about 5 hours of run time without depleting the batteries.

IF you have lithium batteries you can run them down to about 10% without damaging them.

[Lee-CI]

Sage advice and good numbers from Dayrles. Even with running your fridge for 40% or 50% of your 9 hour trip, your cold stores should still be fine and kept cold by the frozen gallon jugs and the refrigerator doors remaining shut throughout your tow. Good luck and have a great outing.

[DutchmenSport]

When towing, your truck will continue to send a trickle charge to the trailer battery. The battery will continue to power the inverter which is powering the refrigerator. We have traveled a straight 16 to 20 hours with our Montana in the past and the refrigerator ran and maintained temperature the entire time and the battery was still charged enough I noticed no difference in the performance of the slide and electric jacks when I unhitched.

This happened April 2022 when we had to make a furious return home without warning. We just kept driving till we got home. The refrigerator and battery did just fine. I have 2 Lead Acid batteries in my Montana. Nothing special about them.

Remember, your truck is also keeping the camper battery charged too, so the chances of completely depleting your batteries to 50% by running the inverter and refrigerator in a 9-12 hour drive .... um ... I don't think you have anything to worry about. Hitch and go.

Now, once you reach your destination and unhitch, if you are NOT on shore power ... well, that's a different matter.

[Sr. Oso]

Thank you all for the information. I now know what I don't know - a lot. Whenever I get into these situations (often), I always think of the saying, "Ignorance is bliss". I will keep you all posted on our adventures; they are, God willing, starting on April 20th.

[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.

[mazboy]

this is why we like our rv refrigator

[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.

[Sr. Oso]

Originally Posted by mazboy

this is why we like our rv refrigator

We bought the MHC off the lot. If I could, I'd replace the residential refrigerator with a 12 volt one. Our last TT had a 10 cuft 12 volt frig that was perfect for us. This thing is larger than the one we have in our home.