Whirlpool Refrigerator

[chuck9997]

Anyone have any experiences with the new residential style refrigerators they are putting in some campers now?
Pros
Cons
Specifically the Whirlpool, like this?

[hshaynes]

Our 2018 Vibe came with the Whirlpool. Although smaller than the typical household variety we find it to be very roomy (for the two of us). When set properly it keeps refer portion at cold temp and the feeezer keeps meat solid as a rock. I should note that we keep the camper plugged in to shore power as much as possible.

[Mudbug]

We have one in ours. I was worried at first being only electric and how much power it might consume while dry camping. So far the pros out way the cons. We put a gallon of milk on the big shelf and it broke in transit. Cost me like 80 bucks to replace it. Other then that we like the size. I love how fast it cools down. My last camper had LP/12/120 fridge and took forever to cool down. Turn this one on and it is down to temp in like an hour. Our camper came with a inverter that auto switches from shore power to batteries that runs just the fridge. It all works good. I have no regrets. I have a generator we use dry camping and I don’t have to run it all the time. I have not tested how long I can run batteries only but I have checked them from time to time with out power and never gotten to 50 percent yet. I have been thinking about adding some batteries and maybe doing solar but that is mostly me and because I enjoy doing upgrades. What are your concerns?

[tomkatb]

Lots of pros and cons.

Residential fridge is cheaper. Likely 35%
Generally colder
Cool down quicker

Installed before construction is completed. Entry doors often too small. Must remove the slide.
It is a heat pump in your room.
Consumes up to 3-400 watts per hour. Consumes multiple batteries per day in hot weather. Tv charging does little.
Boondocking generally requires hours of generator run time per day.
Not designed for rv’s.
Current residential fridges have short expected lives. 5-10 years in a home.
Warantee issues.

Most folks are always plugged in thus a good idea.

There is little difference between refrigerators made today. There are better refrigerators but they are large and expensive. Current models are throw away.

[Retired JSO]

Actually, they remove a window to r&r an appliance too large for the door. The average modern residential refrigerator consumes about 120watts. Simple 200 watt solar system will keek everything ship shape.
We have used ours a little less than a year but towed the trailer over 10,000 miles to 37 campgrounds since purchase and the ice cream is still frozen.

[NMWildcat]

Originally Posted by Retired JSO

Actually, they remove a window to r&r an appliance too large for the door.

Depends on the unit and the fridge. To replace my Dad's residential (after the second repair), they had to remove a slide. After it was fixed, he quickly sold the RV. No more residential fridges for him.

[Mudbug]

Well that is a good point. I never thought about what it might take to change it out. I have pulled it out by myself to get to some wires behind it but never took it out of the TT. As for it eating that much power I disagree. We have run it for hours on batteries And even had it running on 8 hours trips with the TV charging and not one problem. I have a watt meter. I will see how many watts it draws today and post it here. The other thing is once it reaches temp and shuts off it holds and doesn’t restart for long periods of time.

[tomkatb]

The battery use is dependent on many things.

Outside temperature.
Size of fridge
Quality of the inverter
Efficiency of the fridge
How full it is
Was all food pre chilled
Is there ice in the freezer and fridge
Wiring from the tv. Motorhomes are different than fifth wheels and trailers
Size of wires to the inverter and length of wire
Age of batteries
Solar collectors
Number of batteries
Type of batteries
Where you drive and camp
Trees, shade
If you boondock

So, every situation is different.

The fellow with 600 watts of solar, with $2500 worth of Battleborne Batteries with a motorhome, camping out west, it works swell.

The inexpensive new trailer in Texas, it does not.

Make your own decision on your situation

[Mudbug]

Originally Posted by tomkatb

The battery use is dependent on many things.



Outside temperature.

Size of fridge

Quality of the inverter

Efficiency of the fridge

How full it is

Was all food pre chilled

Is there ice in the freezer and fridge

Wiring from the tv. Motorhomes are different than fifth wheels and trailers

Size of wires to the inverter and length of wire

Age of batteries

Solar collectors

Number of batteries

Type of batteries

Where you drive and camp

Trees, shade

If you boondock



So, every situation is different.



The fellow with 600 watts of solar, with $2500 worth of Battleborne Batteries with a motorhome, camping out west, it works swell.



The inexpensive new trailer in Texas, it does not.



Make your own decision on your situation

Well Tom everything you said is correct. Until you got down to your 2 examples of the guy camping out in the west and the guy in Texas. The original poster asked if anyone had experience with the new fridge set up.

I am the guy in Texas. We have had a month now of 100+ deg days. I have a factory fridge, same as in his picture. I have a factory inverter. And last but not least I have the factory supplied lead acid batteries. No solar and no upgrades to this specific system. That I feel is the point of the request here. He didn’t specify what his reason is for asking so I assume he is looking at new campers and trying decide on this option. This makes my input 100 percent useful because I just bought a vibe last November with this option in it and as you already pointed out in the worst possible scenario. I don’t have battleborn batteries or the most efficient fridge or even the most efficient inverter. I don’t live in a area that only gets up to 80 degrees. This is a apple to apples comparison. No need for the science and math.

[Mudbug]

Ok I just shut off all the breakers except to the fridge, I have already traced out these circuits researching for some changes I might make to my current setup so I already know what outlets share this circuit. I unplugged everything from these outlets. Verified with my watt meter that I had 0 watts. It is currently 8:45 am so the camper is 80 degrees. The fridge is empty and also 80 degrees. Currently it is drawing @ 120 volts 102 watts = 0.85 amps. Those are actual readings not assumptions that it is 120 volts just because it is a 120 volt outlets. Now if you want to do the math you could assume the inverter is 85 percent efficient. That means you should add 15.3 watts for the loss in the inverter. That means on battery power you will draw about 118 watts. As someone else already said if you want to go a long time with out a generator just 1 200 watt solar panel would most likely do it. If it was me I would go with 400 watts for good measure and let’s face it you would use lights charge phones etc so it wouldn’t be over kill.

[BandJCarm]

It is the #2 reason I bought my specific trailer. I got put out with thermisters, and wild temp swings, and lack of reefer space.


It does take a big, good battery system, and a good inverter.

Friend of mine got his replaced last month at Amish Family RV. Took Orvan about 15 minutes to get the old one out and the new one in. The new one is 21 cubic feet. Both went through the door. Just takes some young, strong folks! LOL

[Mudbug]

Originally Posted by BandJCarm

It is the #2 reason I bought my specific trailer. I got put out with thermisters, and wild temp swings, and lack of reefer space.


It does take a big, good battery system, and a good inverter.

Friend of mine got his replaced last month at Amish Family RV. Took Orvan about 15 minutes to get the old one out and the new one in. The new one is 21 cubic feet. Both went through the door. Just takes some young, strong folks! LOL

I agree BandJCarm. My last setup was not very impressive. It worked well on 110 but not so good on LP. 12 volt was awful. On 12 volt it never got cold enough and battery didn’t last but maybe 4 hours.

I am glad to hear it fit through the door that did worry me if I ever had to replace it.

As for upgrading the batteries I am still trying to figure out if I truly need to for the way we use it. I have considered adding 3 more batteries and maybe changing over to lithium batteries. We do dry camp about 60 percent of the time. I have a Honda eu 7000 generator very quite and we run it during the day for air conditioning and to charge the batteries. I have to have my coffee in the morning LOL. So far it hasn’t been a big deal. Batteries have only gotten down to 50 percent 1 time.

[Jim34RL]

All I have to say is I will never own another 5er without a residential refrigerator in the trailer. This is my third 5ER and the first two have had the RV fridge that would use either propane or electric to operate.

With both RV fridges we need a small battery operated fan to circulate the air inside the fridge.The RV fridge would never keep the items cold enough or the freezer would cause frost to form if we tried to get the fridge colder to keep food fresh. They both started to have power issues have four years of ownership and they are not cheap to replace.The residential fridge is better insulated and does not heat up a trailer at all. Another point you will not have any entry points for insects/water to enter your trailer.

Our residential 18 CUFT fridge can be removed and installed through the egress door. All you have to do is remove the front doors on the fridge and than this can be removed from the trailer without a window being removed.

The only con I have with the residential fridge is the stainless steel doors. They are hard to keep clean when you have little grandkids ones who put their fingers all over them.

[Mudbug]

Ok I just checked on it. It has been 1 hour and 20 min. The camper is at 85 degrees and rising with not a cloud in the sky. Current temp here in sunny Texas is 89 deg. The freezer is at 0 degrees F and the fridge is 46 degrees F. It has not satisfied yet but should soon. Current wattage is now 93 watts. I don’t think that is bad. I wish I had a meter to track the run times and how long it is off by the thermostat. That would give us all a good idea of the power consumption in a 24 hour period in the hot Texas sun. Even with out that data and with my experience so far, I can easily say I like this setup. It is way better than the ammonia camper systems I have had before.

[BandJCarm]

Originally Posted by Mudbug

Ok I just checked on it. It has been 1 hour and 20 min. The camper is at 85 degrees and rising with not a cloud in the sky. Current temp here in sunny Texas is 89 deg. The freezer is at 0 degrees F and the fridge is 46 degrees F. It has not satisfied yet but should soon. Current wattage is now 93 watts. I don’t think that is bad. I wish I had a meter to track the run times and how long it is off by the thermostat. That would give us all a good idea of the power consumption in a 24 hour period in the hot Texas sun. Even with out that data and with my experience so far, I can easily say I like this setup. It is way better than the ammonia camper systems I have had before.

I have four six-volts and inverter. Trailer has been plugged into either 50 amp or in transit via the truck, for 3 1/2 years every day.



Only issue I had was with icemaker. It was spitting water into the ice bin. My whirlpool has some buttons across the top if you open both doors. I turned on the "Humidity Control" button and it fixed that.



We lost food the first month or two. Nothing would keep doors firmly shut. Then I found Fridge Fixer and now it's perfect.

[Mudbug]

Originally Posted by Jim34RL

All I have to say is I will never own another 5er without a residential refrigerator in the trailer. This is my third 5ER and the first two have had the RV fridge that would use either propane or electric to operate.

With both RV fridges we need a small battery operated fan to circulate the air inside the fridge.The RV fridge would never keep the items cold enough or the freezer would cause frost to form if we tried to get the fridge colder to keep food fresh. They both started to have power issues have four years of ownership and they are not cheap to replace.The residential fridge is better insulated and does not heat up a trailer at all. Another point you will not have any entry points for insects/water to enter your trailer.

Our residential 18 CUFT fridge can be removed and installed through the egress door. All you have to do is remove the front doors on the fridge and than this can be removed from the trailer without a window being removed.

The only con I have with the residential fridge is the stainless steel doors. They are hard to keep clean when you have little grandkids ones who put their fingers all over them.

I am with you all the way on this one. As for the grandkids we have the same problem. I found a website that suggested cleaning the stainless with WD-40. I started doing that about 2 months ago and it works out well. Spay it down, clean it, then wipe it down with a dry rag. Kind of smells bad for an hour or 2 but the smell does go away.

[NMWildcat]

They make all kinds of stainless steel cleaners and wax, specifically for this problem.

Originally Posted by Mudbug

I am with you all the way on this one. As for the grandkids we have the same problem. I found a website that suggested cleaning the stainless with WD-40. I started doing that about 2 months ago and it works out well. Spay it down, clean it, then wipe it down with a dry rag. Kind of smells bad for an hour or 2 but the smell does go away.

[Mudbug]

Originally Posted by BandJCarm

I have four six-volts and inverter. Trailer has been plugged into either 50 amp or in transit via the truck, for 3 1/2 years every day.



Only issue I had was with icemaker. It was spitting water into the ice bin. My whirlpool has some buttons across the top if you open both doors. I turned on the "Humidity Control" button and it fixed that.



We lost food the first month or two. Nothing would keep doors firmly shut. Then I found Fridge Fixer and now it's perfect.

Lucky you. I was going to add a ice maker to mine but they didn’t put any of the plumbing in the fridge for it. I just assumed because it was a rv model.

[chuck9997]

I am the OP

Thanks for all the input.. to follow up.. I bought the camper with the Whirlpool refrigerator. It's a 2017 Salem Hemisphere 23rbhl. I mostly always camp where I have shore power. (In 10 years of camping... never without electricity)
This camper came with a factory installed WFCO 1000 watt pure sine wave inverter.

I do have a couple of clarification questions.

If I am plugged into shore power.. does the inverter need to be turned on?

When I am driving/towing... I assume the inverter must be on in order to run the fridge?

and when driving is the fridge getting power from the trailer's battery via the inverter?

Will the tow vehicle running supply enough power to keep the camper battery and my truck battery in good shape.

I don't want to risk running down batteries just to have the refrigerator on while traveling. It would be nice to have a cold fridge on the road.. but not a necessity.

Thanks again.

[chuck9997]

Originally Posted by BandJCarm

We lost food the first month or two. Nothing would keep doors firmly shut. Then I found Fridge Fixer and now it's perfect.

Explain.. Fridge Fixer?