A thought was rumbling through my head last night.

IF I had solar cells on the roof AND enough batteries, would it be feasible to run the refrigerator on electric during travel?  The reason I ask is that running with the gas on during travel may not be feasible in some areas (going through tunnels for instance). 

Further, and I know this doesn't happen often but when refueling, an open flame could ignite the fumes.  This thought process also leads me to believe that I could save in propane costs over the long run (albeit not enough to pay for the solar and battery combo).

I read somewhere, and I don't remember where, that RV refers do not run on battery power because of the drain on the batteries.  If I were running a 4 battery bank of AGM golf cart batteries, I would think that this would suffice to getting from point A to point B.

Just one of those random things that pop up while doing the research.  Any experience in this would help me out.

Thanks!

Our Norcold works on either battery or propane and switches automatically. We never touch it and it's always on. When you are traveling, your truck should provide 12 volts to the rig.

Gary,

Many RV'ers get their refrigerators and food cold a day or two before a trip. They travel with the refrigerator off and then turn it on when they get to their destination or stopover spot for the night.

The RV refrigerators will stay cold inside for about 8 hours in mild temperatures and 6 hours in heat as long as the door isn't opened.

Others travel with it on gas and stop to turn it off for tunnels (with restrictions) or when refueling.

We travel with ours on gas and most times will not turn it off during refueling because our refrigerator is on the opposite side of our tow vehicle fuel tank fill. Because of the size and height of our 5th wheel we can only use the larger gas stations with lots of clearance between the islands.

Our refrigerator only runs on shore power (110 volts) or propane with12V to run the electronics.  It will not run on just propane or just 12V both have to be available.

I've never been in an area where there are tunnel restrictions. But would stop and shutoff the gas.


So unless you plan on travelling for more than 6-8 hours at a time. Just get it cold and then turn it off while travelling. No need to worry about solar or batteries.


-- Edited by The Bear II on Friday 2nd of April 2010 03:48:44 PM

The Bear is right. I reread the manual and it works off 110 or propane, not 12 volts. That said, we leave it on automatic and the food is cold all the time.

We leave ours on auto and leave it alone. When we travel it's on propane and I do not turn it off during refueling.
 I figure that flame is at least 30ft away and behind a panel if I fuel on the drivers side and much further than that if I fuel on the passenger side. 

Thanks all. That actually answers a lot of questions regarding the refer while on the move. Great info and many thanks!

OK I have been reading the forum for well over a year now and have learned so many things from all of you but this one got me stumped and is probably a dumb question. Whats with the tunnel and leaving the gas on, it builds up fumes if enough vehicles are going through or it can't dissipate????

As far as I know, in the tunnels around the Hampton Roads area, you must turn the gas off before entering the tunnels.

Okay, just checked the Virginia Department of Transportation site.  All must stop for inspection of the tanks.

-- Edited by Gary on Friday 2nd of April 2010 09:20:57 PM

Our fridge is on our 2000 watt inverter and runs on electric unless we manually switch it to propane. A 12 cuft fridge will use about 30 to 35 amps of DC through the inverter while cycling on and should have a duty cycle where it runs about 1/3rd of the time. That means you need to have at least 10 amps of DC charging coming it to keep up. In the sun you can get this with 200 watts of solar, but solar doesn't work in tunnels.

Bill I am sure you will come out of that tunnel before long...I wish I had the money to have solar but I will just have to do with the generator and my battery charger.

That's why I ask these questions! Being in the planning/research phase and the ability to ask folks who are already out there will enable me to make the right decisions when ordering the new rig. Still a while away from actually buying one but the need to get the duxinaro before buying is very important, as you all well know. Thanks for the insight on this! It really helps out a lot and I hope that others can use this insight in their planning!

In Maryland on the I95 and I895 tunnels are posted no propane bottles or haz mats. They say nothing about being turned on or off just no propane. And I can tell you if the MTA police stop you, you won't get away with just a warning.