The heating process is much more effective with propane than with either household power or 12 volt. I have seen bird nests and twigs in the vents. The smell of propane attracts some insects and the nice, warm space may also attract birds. This is particularly true if you don’t periodically open the vents in the back of these refrigerators and make sure they’re clean. Any fire, even one controlled by a system, has the potential to get out of hand. There is also the reality that you may have a small propane fire burning to heat up the gas in the fridge. In other words, even a small tank of propane can last for a week or more depending on circumstances. Further, these systems really sip propane.Īs a result gas absorption refrigerators are great for boondocking because they consume such a small amount of the resources you have in your RV. Since propane has so much energy (did you know that a 20 pound bottle of propane has about the same energy as 100 100 amp-hour lithium batteries!?) using propane to operate your RV refrigerator is extremely efficient. There are effectively no moving parts in these refrigerators, although the gas valving has moving parts if you want to get absolutely technical. That heating element can be operated on either household current (120 volt) or, in some cases, even 12 volt. The heat to accomplish this comes from either a small propane fire or an electrical heating element. The heated gas will rise, expand, and create the cooling you want in your fridge. This type of fridge uses heat to heat up a gas mixture. The refrigerators that many RVs have had in the past are what are called gas absorption refrigerators. Typical RV refrigerators - gas absorption The gas absorption refrigerators typically want to be within three degrees of level to operate properly. Lastly, 12 volt refrigerators aren’t as particular about being perfectly level. This invites critters and leaks, both of which are undesirable. Propane-electric RV refrigerators require two large vent holes in the outside of an RV. A comparably-sized 12 volt model will have ten.Īnother advantage of 12 volt RV refrigerators is that they don’t have to be vented to the outside. Bonus.įor example, the typical travel trailer fridge has had about eight cubic feet of storage. Typically these occupy the same outer space as a traditional RV refrigerator but more of that size is devoted to food and less to the mechanism that keeps food cold. Since the system that makes them work consumes less space, 12 volt RV refrigerators also tend to have more room for your grub. Oh, and they keep your ice cream frozen, not just really chilly. If it’s humid or dry, cold or very hot, they still manage to keep your ice cream frozen. These refrigerators are also much less affected by the weather outside. The tow vehicle could overcome all the power consumed by the fridge while on the road and still leave some power to charge the RV’s battery. The 12 volt fridge can also use the electricity provided by the tow vehicle in the case of a towable RV. We’ve published this article about whether you should run your propane-electric fridge while driving. That also means that there are fewer arguments against letting this refrigerator run while you’re driving down the road. That also means there’s no open flame so, in theory, they’re less likely to start a fire. There is also no propane going to this fridge. This means that, instead of waiting up to 12 hours for the fridge to cool when it’s been sitting in a storage lot for months, it may only take 1-2 hours depending on the fridge. They use a compressor to compress the gases internally which is a faster way to cool down the reefer. What are the advantages of an RV 12 volt refrigerator? RV 12 volt fridges use the same basic technology as the refrigerator in your home.
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