Propane fridge

Linderbee

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My parents' RV has a fridge that can switch to propane instead of (I assume) battery power, for when the engine isn't running. We borrowed the RV a couple of years ago or so and I was utterly unimpressed with the temp it kept. Barely kept the food cold. Didn't have a whole lot in it.
 

RugbyMuffin

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Anyone have any experience with these? Or thought of taking a mini fridge camping instead of a cooler? I always have enough room in my truck and take a 5lb tank for my grill anyway.

I am just kind of curious.


Biggest thing about those fridges is to try and keep them level as possible when they are running. Besides that, the ones I have worked on and seen work, perform very well. I do a lot of off the grid work, so I have quite a lot of experience with all that stuff.
 
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Hollywood

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My parents' RV has a fridge that can switch to propane instead of (I assume) battery power, for when the engine isn't running. We borrowed the RV a couple of years ago or so and I was utterly unimpressed with the temp it kept. Barely kept the food cold. Didn't have a whole lot in it.
how big was the fridge? mini or closer to full size?
 
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Hollywood

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Biggest thing about those fridges is to try and keep them level as possible when they are running. Besides that, the ones I have worked on and seen work, perform very well. I do a lot of off the grid work, so I have quite a lot of experience with all that stuff.
I wonder why they are not more common in homes.
 

Bada0Bing

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My parents' RV has a fridge that can switch to propane instead of (I assume) battery power, for when the engine isn't running. We borrowed the RV a couple of years ago or so and I was utterly unimpressed with the temp it kept. Barely kept the food cold. Didn't have a whole lot in it.
The fridge in my RV trailer switches to propane when I'm off the grid. Works very well. We were just using it at Lake Mary last weekend. The freezer froze water bottles in about 8 hours.

It's pretty small, maybe 3ft tall and 2ft wide. To make it work even better I load it up with frozen water bottles before we take off. Then I move them to the fridge as we need them.
 

RugbyMuffin

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I wonder why they are not more common in homes.


Probably either price, or the fact that you would need propane to run it, and propane is expensive compared to electric. But, I am not sure why to be honest.
 

Linderbee

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how big was the fridge? mini or closer to full size?
Closer to mini than full size. I would guess part of the problem was that it was not all the way down to temp yet when we left. As hot as it was it probably needed more time. Bada's suggestion of frozen water bottles is good one and I'll do that if I ever use it again.
 
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