Fridge on electric/propane?

[Jims94vmx]

when temps get into the teens and single digits, is it better to run on propane? Fridge not getting direct sun......

Thanks

[Cate&Rob]

Hi Jim,

Limited experience with really cold camping, but I have always kept the fridge on propane when it gets cold (mid teens Fahrenheit is the coldest we have seen) without any problems. I have read that some hang an incandescent light bulb in the space at the back of the fridge to keep some continuous warmth back there. There is a second outlet, where the fridge plugs in.

Rob

[warsw1]

IMHO an absorption refrigerator seems to do much better running on propane all the time and especially when temps are at their extremes (hot or cold). Unless you are getting extremely cheap electric or are paying a lot for your propane I have found that it is about 2/3 the cost, over electric, to run on propane. Also the temps, in the fridge, seem to be steadier and my beer is much colder .

[Jims94vmx]

Thanks. Had a low of 8 yesterday morning.....not normal! Back up to the 30's and above for a few days.....back on electric for now.

[DaveMatthewsBand]

I’ve always heard they run “better” on LP. Maybe they were designed to work on LP and the ability to run on electricity was an afterthought. Kinda like running a portable generator on LP. The generator will still work but it won’t put out nearly as many watts as it does running on gasoline.
Still, when we’re boondocking we generally run the frig on electric because the solar replaces what it uses pretty much instantly, then switch it over to LP at night.



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[chemist308]

I wish mine would run on either at this point. If it ever does get fixed, I was planning to run on electric because those 30lb tanks go faster when running the fridge--we would go through 1 a week in the summer with doing moderate amounts of cooking and the fridge defaulting to propane even on shore power. Add the furnace and it would go much faster. Interesting to hear some claim it cools better on propane though.

[DaveMatthewsBand]

I wish mine would run on either at this point. If it ever does get fixed, I was planning to run on electric because those 30lb tanks go faster when running the fridge--we would go through 1 a week in the summer with doing moderate amounts of cooking and the fridge defaulting to propane even on shore power. Add the furnace and it would go much faster. Interesting to hear some claim it cools better on propane though.

That's strange. Takes us about a month to go through both LP tanks.
We're both from the deep South so that furnace is turned on every night it's below 60 outside.
We cook on the stove nearly every day and we use the oven about once a week for baked goods.
We also have a propane fire pit that runs off the quick disconnect outside so it pulls from our LP tanks too.
Maybe running the frig on AC during the day saves a lot more LP than I imagined.