As part of the process of having a residential fridge installed, I have asked for a few modifications to our Beaver's AC circuits that I thought might be of interest to some of you.
Our coach, like most, was wired so that one of the two inverter circuits was dedicated to the microwave. To us that was a waste of a circuit since even the owner's manual cautioned against too much use of this because of the heavy drain on the batteries. Furthermore, when we want to heat up lunch while traveling we simply turn on the generator.
Therefore, the first change was to swap the refrigerator outlet onto the inverter in exchange for the microwave. That also means a few non-inverter outlets in the bath and bedroom are now powered by the inverter. We're not big boondockers, and we have calculated that our batteries, plus the solar panel, plus the engine alternator should be sufficient to power the fridge while traveling if we choose not to run the generator which we usually do in hot weather.
The second significant change we made was motivated by the fact that we like to cook and own a Breville countertop oven/broiler which was difficult to use because all the kitchen outlets and the AC lights are powered off the other circuit that flows through the inverter. Furthermore, we own a countertop induction burner which we sometimes plugged in via extension cord in the bathroom! LOL So what we did was "extend" the washer/dryer circuit (20A) to a new outlet placed in the side of the kitchen cabinet next to the sofa. We even used the cutout that had originally been for a wired telephone, something that seems rather archaic in today's world. So now we have a kitchen outlet that shares the circuit with the W/D, an appliance whose use we can easily schedule. It's not 100% code, but is doesn't represent a safety issue.
Now that all the prep work is done, the installation of the fridge itself will take place early next week. We're also replacing the convection/microwave with a new GE Profile. It made sense to us replace this 11-year old appliance while doing work in the kitchen.
Although I didn't do the wiring myself, if anyone wants details I will do my best to supply them. The work is being done by Truline RV in Spokane WA.
