KEEP YOUR COOL: Ideas to help keep our food cool with the Refrigerator turned off on a travel day or on a HOT day.
FIRE SAFETY TIP: Do not leave your LP gas on while traveling. If an accident occurs, the LP gas will not be adding fuel to the fire.
- Use a Battery operated fan inside your refrigerator. This distributes the cool air to other parts of the refrigerator.
Install a Remote Digital Thermometer outside your refrigerator. Use a wire tie to secure the sensor to the top shelf. A 40 F degree temperature is the best. You can tell how well your refrigerator is doing without opening the door. Cool air falls to the floor when you open the refrigerator door. Hot air rises. - Place a 12 VDC – 4” Fan under the refer vent – mounted on the bird screen with a wire tie.
- Add a 105F degree thermostat, ON/OFF switch, and certainly an in-line fuse to this circuit.
- Measure from the cooling coils in back of your refer to the inside surface of your RV wall. If this space is too great. Install a barrier on the top edge of the outside opening to force the air to flow across your cooling coils. We used a piece of vinyl siding. See the Refrigerator Manufacturers INSTALLATION Instructions for the proper spacing. The refrigerator is designed for a certain Air Flow (CFM) for maximum efficiency.
- Do not add uncooled, or unfrozen items until late in the day to allow your refer to catch up.
- The day before a move day, turn your refer to the coldest temperature possible. (Some models do not have this feature)
- Use Frozen Artificial Ice to lengthen the time the refrigerator section cooling may remain colder on a travel day. Leave this Artificial Ice in the freezer prior to your move day.
- Park your RV with the refrigerator is shaded during the hottest part of the day.
- Annually perform the maintenance duties prescribed in your owner’s manual.
- Close your slides to reduce the space you intend to cool, close off parts of the RV that don’t need cooling.
RV101byFred.com
NomadsRFabulous
THANK YOU for letting people know that they should stop driving down our highways and by ways with the propane on…. In my 10 plus years of full time RVing I have spoken to many people mostly men about making sure to turn off the propane when getting on the road, most of the responses go something like this, oh no I can not turn off the propane, I need it on to keep the refrigerator cool. I reply, no you do not. It is against federal law to have it on and it is extremely dangerous. When you pull into a gas station to get fuel the pilot lights on the water heater and the refrigerator could cause a massive explosion. Think about it Of course most dismiss the conversation and roll on down the road with the propane on. You should always pay attention when you are getting gas and a rig pulls in and you hear the automatic pilot lights clicking to light, the next things you will probably hear or see is a huge explosion.
Regarding the comment posted by David Hopkins look up the federal law regarding travel down the highway with your propane on. It is against the law and the only one that will be held liable and responsible after the potential explosion is you. It is also against the law to enter a gas station with any source of flame. Pilot lights on refrigerators and water heaters are a source of flame. Come on let us all practice just a little bit of common sense. OK Turn off propane. It is not needed when you are under way.
There is a product available for refrigeration cooling and it is solar. Check it out at JC Whitney. Solar powered refrigerator roof vent. Cool Beans…..
John Pelley
Good advice. Keep the propane off when traveling
David Hopkins
Unlike some, I travel with the fridge on. I have NEVER seen anything in any manual for either the motorhome or the fridge that suggests doing otherwise. I drive a gasser so I already have fuel to add to the fire, should one start. My MH has an automatic LP gas cut-off in the event of a surge or loss of power.
Because of a liability factor, if there was any danger, the fridge or MH manufacturer would advise against traveling with it on. They certainly wouldn’t want to be on the hook for something like that.
Casey Donovan
I’m another one who questions the necessity, yea the wisdom, of scaring people into the nuisance of shutting off their propane tanks while traveling. Until the supply line is severed or burned through, the only gas that can escape is that being used by the fridge burner. If that burner isn’t lit, the gas flow is nil, for any less than 20 year old fridge with piezo electric ignition. If the line ruptures, the excess flow valve that Joe Loughry mentions will shut off the gas completely in a heartbeat. These also have a 20 year history. Similar facts apply to the other gas appliances in the camper. So where is this fire that the open gas tank is guaranteed to cause?
Sure, if the ferry boat sign says turn it off, do so. Otherwise, it’s like buying flood insurance for your house — located on top of a high hill.
Jere L. jarrell
I thought the exterior 12 vdc fan with a thermostat was a good idea but I can’t find a thermostat that goes to 105 degrees — best I could find is 90 degrees. where can I find a simple spring activated 105+/- thermostat?? also, my refer vents through the side not the top, so I have a side vent the same size as the bottom vent — where would i put the fan??. thanks. Jere
Joe Loughry
most newer propane tanks have an automatic shutoff that stops full pressure leaks
if you don’t believe it – open the valve very fast into an empty system and see how little gas you get
Thomas Becher
I have rv ing since 1979 with a truck camper,a C and now a fiver and never once have I shut off the propane. Yes IF I have an accident it could contribute to the the fire, but first we must have the accident that ruptures the gas line. Then we must have an ignition of that gas. I have not seen that happening, not ever. Maybe a refer that is burning when you go to fuel up but it won’t be because of mine. It’s too far away from my fuel tank. I always travel with the water heater off because driving tends to cool it down and then it heats back up and just wastes gas. I turn off the refer when fueling so someone else near my refer doesn’t send fumes my way. When I leave I pull away from the pumps and my wife turns it back on. Maybe I’m taking a chance but I don’t think so. What is life if not a chance?
John Totten
I think all these are good ideas to keep your refrigerator and its contents at the appropriate temperature. The only thought that came to me was the fact that a fan in the refrigerator will add heat to the inside of the box. A 12 vdc fan will use about .5 amps and the 12 volts will result in about 6 watts of heat added to the interior of the box. Some have suggested that you would be better off with a little dry ice or just keep it closed. Perhaps this is one of the reasons that RV refrigerators typically do not include an interior fan.
Frank Madia
Although these are all good ideas, I have to question the necessity. We have been full timers for nearly three years now and always drive with the refrigerator turned off and we have never had any problems with the inside of the box getting too warm. The most important tip is to stay out of the refrigerator while it is not turned on. Our practice has been to locate those items we will want to take out for lunch in an easy to get to place thereby minimizing the time that the door is open when we stop for lunch. We could not agree more with the not running your refrigerator on propane while driving. The only position the propane tank valve should be in while the coach is in motion is CLOSED. If you drive with the propane on you fit into one of two categories 1. you have had a fire. 2. You will have a fire.
Robert Derivan
A trick we use to keep the refrigerator cold while traveling is to put dry ice wrapped in a brown paper bag in the refrig and freezer. A block of about one pound in each will keep things cold all day long and it’s inexpensive. You can buy dry ice at most of the large supermarket chains.