12 volt 16 cu ft refrigerator brand

[luisbeal]

I heard GD is installing 12 volt refrigerators in some of the RVs.
My 2019 Reflection 367bhs has a 16 cu ft Dometic refrigerator that I do not like.

I am wondering:
which brand GD is installing in the 16 cu ft size,
and if they are any better than the Dometic (meaning the fridge doesn't freeze, and the freezer does freeze, and there is no ice buildup).

I am tired of having to wrap food in towels in the fridge, and the freezer taking 3 days to freeze food.
Thanks!

[WhittleBurner]

As far as I understand they are using Furrion for their 12v fridges. You can have the fridge you have now retro fitted to be 12 v this may be another option for you
Welcome to the forum!

[luisbeal]

Thank you. So you think GD is just retrofitting Furrion refrigerators?

I know JC refrigeration retrofits them, it's expensive (https://jc-refrigeration.com/product...-cooling-unit/), and I don't know I want to invest that much into this fridge. I was really hoping they were using a different fridge.

Thanks for your help.

[Redapple63]

Thank you. So you think GD is just retrofitting Furrion refrigerators?

I know JC refrigeration retrofits them, it's expensive (https://jc-refrigeration.com/product...-cooling-unit/), and I don't know I want to invest that much into this fridge. I was really hoping they were using a different fridge.

Thanks for your help.

Hi Luisbeal,

Welcome to the forum! Yes JC does retrofit both Norcold and Dometic refrigerators, however, Furrion is it’s own brand and Furrion directly makes their own 11v refrigerators along with a host of other rv appliances and other non related rv parts.

Bill

[xrated]

Thank you. So you think GD is just retrofitting Furrion refrigerators?

I know JC refrigeration retrofits them, it's expensive (https://jc-refrigeration.com/product...-cooling-unit/), and I don't know I want to invest that much into this fridge. I was really hoping they were using a different fridge.

Thanks for your help.

Expensive???? That is a relative term. How expensive is having to throw out a bunch of food that has spoiled because the refrigerator has decided it wants to be a sauna instead of a fridge? How expensive is having to do that a couple of times? I had mine swapped a little less than a month ago and my only regret is that I didn't do it sooner! YMMV.

[WhittleBurner]

A new 16cf Furrion will start at msrp of $2149.95 . If it were my dime I'd do the retro fit

https://furrion.com/products/16-cu-f...e-refrigerator

[Soundsailor]

I am wondering: which brand GD is installing in the 16 cu ft size,

We have the Furrion and so far it has been great, no problem getting and keeping cold. It is a bit of a power hog when camping off-grid, but if you have a robust battery system you should be fine.

[goducks14]

Are you always on 120V? If not then you better have some good quality batteries and gobs of solar for a 16cft 12V fridge.

[xrated]

Are you always on 120V? If not then you better have some good quality batteries and gobs of solar for a 16cft 12V fridge.

Let me just give you some factual numbers about that topic. After we had the Norcold 2118 modded by JC Refrigeration, and turned it into a TWIN 12VDC compressor unit, we started the two day trip home from Shipshewana, IN to just south of Knoxville, TN. So the basics are this: Two 12VDC compressors...one of them services the fresh food compartment, and the other provides cooling to just the freezer. Two compressors, each with their own thermostat control so that they can run independently of each other. If BOTH compressors are running at the same time, the current draw in amps is 12.68 amps....total, and that includes the power that is used for the control circuits too. So on day two of travel, we started off the trip with a 100% SOC on our our 302 AH LFP battery. From the time we unplugged from shore power until we got it home to the driveway, we were travelling a little over 6 hours. The battery was receiving NO POWER from the truck for battery charging or running the fridge, as I have that wiring disconnected (another topic for a different day). In a little over six hours or travel, with almost nothing in the fridge to help keep it cooler, we went through just under 37 amp hours (AH for short) of the battery. So rounding those numbers off a bit....37 AHs divided by 6.?? hours is going to equal roughly 6.? Amps for every hour of usage of the fridge. If the fridge had been full or at least some food and drinks in it, that would have helped it to keep cool from the thermal mass of that stuff.....but, it was almost completely empty and we are talking about 18.? cu. ft. to keep cool and frozen. Given the fact that in just over 6 hours of travel and having used just under 37 AHs, I will project that on out for you.

A LFP battery can be discharged safely down to almost zero SOC, but even looking at doing it conservatively......say 15% SOC, that would be 302 available AH times 85% (15% remaining AHs) for a total of right at 257 available AHs. That 257 is then divided by the consumed AHs over a one hour period of time, and that comes out to 42 hours of run time for the fridge without recharging the battery...either from being plugged into shore power, solar, generator, or DC to DC charging from the tow vehicle.

So given those numbers, I'm not sure that a 12VDC fridge (and most of them will draw less than mine since they only have one compressor vs. two on mine) is is such a power hog at all. If you are a boondocker and know how to deal with not having shore power available, you will likely have solar, or a generator, or maybe both.

Of course one has to consider all the other things that run on 12VDC....lights, furnace blower motor if using it, control power 12VDC for the water heater and furnace or A/C units, radio/stereo/DVD player, etc.....but in my above explanation, I tried to show what JUST the 12VDC fridge would use and of course a smaller fridge and especially one with only ONE compressor vs. TWO compressors, would be even less usage.

Note: The above usage of the fridge was attained by readings from a Victron BMV 712 Smart Shunt that monitors every amp of DC power in and out of the battery.

[Soundsailor]

Thanks @xrated for sharing your real-world experience. My refrigerator is a bit smaller than yours and is 12-volt native so to speak. It draws 4 amps for both sides, it may go higher if the weather is warm. But it is really good to have accurate data like yours, which makes figuring out what sort of power supply (battery, solar, genny, etc) you're going to need so much easier. Of course, as you say, there will be other power draws on the system.