Replaced an RV Fridge with a Residential Unit 老生长谈2017-01-31 21:30:58
many people outside the rv circle may not know that the rv fridge (aka absorption fridge) is fundamentally different than the one you see in your home - it burns propane to make the heat exchange while residential fridge is using an electric compressor to circulate the media "freon" to achieve the same goal. the good thing about rv fridge is - with a tank of propane, you can stay in a remote area boondocking for months without losing a working fridge. the bad part is mainly for two things: (1) it requires rv being leveled at all the time whenever you are using the fridge or it won't last long; about 7 years. (2) the media ammonia and hydrogen in the system are prone to leak. with active fire nearby, the hydrogen could be ignited, thus it posts a big fire harzard. for that reason, some people converted the rv fridge into a residential unit. the same intent had been set in my mind for a long while.
it began in november our dometic ndr1292 fridge refused to work. here is how it looked like then:
at the time, i checked the user forums and called around. the nicest and the most popular unit for RV application was samsung rf18. the least cost to install it (labor) was $1100 in a shop in eugene, oregon. for our rv, they told me that they had to move the old one out and move the new one in through a window, because it was fatter than the front door width, and much wood work needs to be done, ie. removing the drawers under it and lowering the fridge flooring...
and, if i went there to get the job done, not only had i to wait until april we could go, but also at the time, no choice but had to grab one at whatever the price a store was selling it at would be. i figured, i would probably end up with paying around $2500 or so in total.
i pondered, hmmm... i had been doing almost all things around my rv myself, some simple some pretty complicated; for such a fridge, it's just a fridge, what a big deal! so i set the criteria:
(1) a residential unit
(2) stainless steel unit, the same material as the ndr1292 was using
(3) interior cubic size equal to or greater than ndr1292's
(4) fit in the space where the ndr1292 was sitting in. no major wood work to be involved
(5) must be able to move in through the front entrance
during the process, i spent more time to remove the old unit than install the new one. after much back and forth, trial and error, i got it going. the only time i needed a hand was moving the old box out and moving the new one in through the front door onto a platform i made so to move it around by myself; a friend came. now this is done - the wife is happy; the inside is bigger than the old one's. the unit i bought from home depot was on clearance sale. total cost including misc supplies such as capping the propane and water pipes, rerouting the electricity from shore only to from inverter, is less than $350.
here is how it looks like today:
