Anyone put a residential fridge in 395?

[ykdave]

Piece of crap dometic absorption fridge just crapped out, insurance is giving me the runaround and looks like im going to be stuck fixing it myself ($2k for a cooling unit). could almost replace the whole fridge for what it costs to get the cooling unit here!

A residential fridge sure looks like a good option right now...

Just not sure about fitment not only in the slide cavity (can it be done in the same cavity or does the lower drawer need to be removed?)

were the '14 395s offered with a resi fridge?

[Davidg]

I cannot help you much with your specific issue, but for how most of us camp, a residential fridge is the best thing since sliced bread. My 29RE has a res Whirlpool refer. It works great even in hot weather. I can also switch it to the inverter when traveling. Last summer I had to leave the camper parked with no hookups one day while we were occupied with events. I was worried how long the batteries would last. I still don't know how long they would last, but that day, they lasted from 8:00 am until 5:30 pm, and the inverter voltage sat right on 118 volts all day. I was very satisfied with that.
Your biggest problem will probably be getting the unit inside the coach. Hopefully it will fit by only removing the doors. I've heard of some folks having to drop a slide out.

Good luck whatever you decide.

[ykdave]

yea fitment is a big issue. Looks like the dometic might just squeeze through the doorway, if not its not a big job to pull the cooling unit off of it and toss it out the door. Unfortunately thats not an option on a residential fridge.

Inverter is something that likely wouldnt happen. im stationary for all but a couple days a year, and travel is usually short and can be worked around having the fridge non functional during the trip. If i went with an inverter id have to upgrade the battery setup, these things only have a single little tiny battery, i dont see it running an inverter for very long LOL

Dropping out a slide is probably the only way to get a decent sized resi fridge in there. but unfortunately taking the side out of my house in the middle of winter isnt something im about to consider!

[Karl4Cat]

The Dometic is actually installed in the slide before the slide is put in the trailer. According to XLR, a residential fridge, or at least the one they use as an option on other floor plans, will not fit in the 395.

[selkirk awards]

My new Dometic only works in cold weather once the sun get on the out side wall the temp goes crazy goes from 34 when cold and up to 42 when the sun get on it or it is hot out side. Several trailers here have house units but do not work for long drives no propane to keep up the temp and when you spend 6 days on the road to get to your destination you need the propane.

[Cherokeerose]

We live fulltime in our unit and have a regular apartment sized fridge, which we put in when the dometic failed us a couple years ago. We bought it from a used appliance outlet and have never been happier. This is far superior to our previous one, and seems to have much more space in it, except it has a smaller freezer compartment, but that's okay as we have a small freezer that we leave outside. Our weather is seldom below freezing on Vancouver Island, so it works just fine for us.

We had no difficulty getting it through our door and the other one went out in pieces, as it was definitely not usable any more.

[jkoenig24]

As long as you can keep 110VAC power to a residential fridge, go for it. You'll need quite a substantial house battery bank to feed an inverter if you want to operate it when not driving (alternator power) plugged into shore power or, running the generator . Other than the electrical issue, remember that MOST residential fridge doors do NOT have a lock. How will you keep the door(s) secured when in motion? Many res-frig shelves are not as conducive to typical means used in RVs, to prevent food from shifting while in motion. Finally, winterizing a res-frig that's equipped with water / ice is more involved and, it's important to get it done right. All that said, I love my res-frig.

[Boso]

Don't forget if your traveling you must have electricity either from inverter or generator plus you will need a size that fits not as hard to find if you have 4 door dometic now sure sounds like it will be a p i a

[DickiedooFlagman]

Residential refrigerator consideration: How do you manage the heat from the cooling process? Residential refrigerators almost always dump their heat into the kitchen area while a RV refrigerator dumps its heat through a vent to the outside.

[jkoenig24]

Can't say I've noticed ANY problem with my 23 cubic foot, three door residential refrigerator "dumping" heat inside my Super C. Pretty much the same at home with a 25 cubic foot model.

[Davidg]

We've had no issues with the residential refer putting heat into the coach, even on hot days. However we do have dual roof Ac units. I can see where it might add additional burden to a coach in a hot environment with marginal air conditioning.

As a side note, we often had problems with the rv refers we've had over the years, and had to add fans to improve efficiency.

[ykdave]

Not worried about powering it during travel (like previously mentioned), im pretty much stationary with the odd couple hour trip to the lake during the summer, wouldnt be long enough that the fridge is going to completely thaw out.

I have considered the heat/venting. In the end its really no different than the factory heat absorption fridges. Fridge is sealed to the living area and cooling unit is open to atmosphere (through vents in slide). Though a resi fridge usually has a catch pan at the bottom for the moisture drain which would have to be removed and the hose ran to the outside vent just like the RV fridge. The vent that is at the front bottom of the fridge would also have to be sealed up to keep outside air from entering.

Or a guy can just cover up the outside vents and leave the fridge function as normal and dump heat into the trailer. we really dont get too much hot weather anyways.

As for the locking doors. Not really a big issue on the 395s as the fridge slides up to within a couple inches of the island, a guy can stuff a pillow in there to keep them from opening when everything smashes around in there. Though this would only work with a bottom freezer type fridge. Again, very rarely move the trailer so not a huge issue to deal with when the time arrives.

Getting a resi fridge into the slide (without dropping the slide) could be a real bear though, if a guy can even find one to fit in the existing spot. I can definitely forsee a guy having to pull the sliding door glasses and moving the resi fridge in through the garage and with the help of a few guys passing it over the island and dropping it into the slide at a 45deg angle hopefully without F'n up the countertops LOL. removing the old fridge would be easy, same process in reverse (if it doesnt fit through the side door)

[bulletbob]

If you can find a fridge that fits in the 395 please share it on here. I have yet to find one and that is the reason we don't offer it in that floor plan.

[ykdave]

i have actually found a couple frigidaire models that would fit fairly well (just a tad narrower than the dometic). Think they were listed as apartment size or something.

Going to keep looking for something better though. The plain jane crappy apartment fridge doesnt exactly suit the décor, nor do i want an ugly piece of junk in my $80,000 turd

If i wasnt so scared of the slide seals all tearing off and everything busting to pieces towing it at -30c i would just haul it to town and let FCPP pay to have the local dealer replace the fridge (more than likely they would only do the cooling unit). But alas, being a fulltimer i cant exactly afford to have my house in the shop for a week or 2, or i would have them fix all the other things that have crapped out over the last year, at FCPP's expense of course (heat pads, stereo, microwave, switch panel light, power awning, awning lights and probably a few more im too bitter to remember)

[Taranwanderer]

You might even want to look at so called "little people" models. I've been in homes (not with little people but with very short people in general) and I've seen fridges that are just...tiny for lack of a better word. Not dorm fridges mind you, but just smaller versions of the regular thing. Be worth a look...