Residential fridge & battery life

[Okiejoe]

Ok, I have a 31W Chateau with residential fridge. If we drive all day and stay for instance at Walmart Hilton, having nothing but coach batteries will the coach batteries be strong enough after a night of powering the fridge to pull the slides in. We just purchased this new to us 2015 31W but I’ve never had a unit with a residential fridge, I’m used to the old propane or electric fridges. My batteries are 2 interstate Size 24 that I think we’re put in by the dealership that sold it to us as probably the original batteries were probably shot. There is room to add a couple larger batteries instead of the smaller size 24,s. They are located under the steps.

[TurnerFam]

too many variables in 'overnight' battery usage to attempt any 'answer', though with typical and basic usage of the fridge during the overnight hours, you may find it plausible, but even if the batteries are 'low', you can crank the generator and charge the batteries and pull in the slides, etc., but 'too' low and the generator may not crank. No one can tell you for sure, because every situation is different. You may use more or less electricity that others, may have your fridge set on a lower temp than others, may have batteries that are not as fully charged as others.

Run your generator an hour before 'bed', allowing the Charger to top off the batteries, and you should be just fine. You'll figure it out quickly enough.

[K0LCB]

It takes a lot of Amp hours to power a residential refrigerator in warm weather

[Bob Denman]

Would a pair of size 27s fit? That would be about the easiest upgrade...

[DanChateau33SW]

We have 3 size 27 batteries and can go for about a day and a half running our fridge through the inverter before getting a low voltage alarm from the inverter module. If the batteries are too low to start the generator, start the engine and it will begin to recharge the batteries. I would think you should be okay overnight.

[Bob Denman]

Good point! You always have the generator hiding as your "Ace in the Hole!"

[bigben]

Spot on advise Dan. Just remember, most times you cannot put out or retract slides with engine running. So if necessary, start the engine, start the gennie, shut off engine, retract slide but I think you'll be fine.

[scrubjaysnest]

This questions shows up on the forums about once a month in different ways. For most people it takes about a 400aH battery back to run the residential frig over night; say 12 hours. A pair of grp 24 batteries is between 85 and 95 aH for each battery. That's a total of 170 to 190 aH's so they most likely will be dead in the morning.

[Okiejoe]

Yea, I’m thinking of upgrading to size 29 or 31 AGM Batteries (2) plus my coach has an Autogen feature that should turn on generator when battery gets low plus my chassis battery is separate.

[doubravsky]

Also, remember that you can turn the fridge off when you go to bed, and turn it back on when you get up in the morning. I've done that in pretty warm weather, and the residential fridge temps hold up- without the ice cream melting (in a four winds 2015 31W)

[TurnerFam]

exactly, and lest folks think a fridge runs 24/7, it doesn't, it only 'runs' when it needs to, so turning it 'off' for 4 to 6 hrs really only turns the compressor off, it doesn't cause the fridge to somehow immediately start 'thawing' everything... it's a HUGE cooler!

[The Gritz Carlton]

Warm beer with eggs and bacon sucks!! Whatever you do and however you do it, when the word "slides" enter the conversation it becomes another topic with red flags. Never attempt to operate slides without being hooked to shore power or having generator running. As stated here, you never know just how hard your batteries danced and drank the night before. Don't chance overloading a slide motor with low batteries...ever.