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Chance · 01-06-2020, 08:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dkwoode

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When we purchased our rig I asked our dealer (which also stores our RV), why are RV manufacturers complicating matters by using Residential fridges, and one of the answers we got was that a residential fridge requires you to USE your generator more often, which makes them less problematic in the long run. They said there was a problem in the industry with used RVs being traded in with under used generators that were more problematic.
So I guess our mantra will be, "screw global warming, I need my icemaker!"

I agree that having to run generator daily would prevent some generator issues, but I seriously question that manufacturers are pushing residential refrigerators in order to get owners to run their generators more often.

A recent trend in smaller coaches is to offer 12V compressor refrigerators in place of propane/absorption refrigerators. I believe that makes an RV simpler, not more complicated. The owner only has to worry about keeping batteries charged, which he has to anyway. These new 10-cubic-foot 12V electric refrigerators fit where 6~8 went before, and use much less electricity than inverter-powered residential (home type) units, so generator won’t need to run as often or as long.

Back to your original question, to run microwave or brew Keurig coffee for less than 5 minutes, it makes more sense to me to use an inverter than start the generator. Obviously, if generator is running anyway for air conditioning or to charge batteries, then use it instead.

I think the main reason a lot of motorhomes have underused generators is because there is often little need to use one. RVers who mostly travel from campground to campground can easily get by without a generator. And that’s the majority of campers. When I had an Onan in a Class C I rarely used it, and when I did it normally ran for a very short period which isn’t good for it either.

Overall buyers want efficiency (however that’s defined) and as advances in batteries and inverters are made (which can lower costs), the less buyers will need generators.