Some further questions... our new boat has both a fridge and a microwave (hey, all the comforts of home!). I've never had either on a boat before. Will these gizmos work off battery power, or just off shore power.

Follow-up, assuming that the microwave is just a Best Buy special mounted in a cabinet (which is what it looks like), I'm assuming an inverter would be necessary to run it off battery power, like if you were anchored out. Would this necessitate a separate battery? Since we've got an 8 month old, the ability to nuke a bottle of formula for 40 seconds is a major plus....

dock
I believe that you need to be pluged in for the micro to work but maybe your inverter is big enough for it, I am not possitive, mine does not work unless plugged in though. Now as for the fridge yes it will run off of the batteries, just keep an eye on the bats not to run them down

Just set that bottle down near the manifolds that should work

Josh, good point, I didn't think of that!

"Honey, pop the hatch, I'm going to heat Ryan's bottle."

I'm 99% sure there is no inverter on my boat. I might look into it, though, because I'd like to add a small flat screen TV and DVD player for my kids - got to be able to watch Lion King and Nemo, ya know!

Dock, there is no inverter in my 29 either.

As far as the fridge:
DC ON = Running off the battery
AC ON (Shorepower) = Run off 110

For all accessories, DC side (on the circuit panel above fridge) is runing of the batter, AC is showerpower

I've got a 94 29ft Enticer and it was ordered with an inverter. It was installed under rear bench and works well. It has two battries and it will run one down overnight leaving the fridge on. It's a Heart Inverter. It went bad about two years ago and replaced it with a 1000 heart. C