Home Propane Powered Refrigerator

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No_Strings

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Jan 25, 2012
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I just purchased a 1980 Pace Arrow and am looking forward to remodeling it as it will be my home for some serious nomadic living.  The refrigerator does not work and I had an idea to purchase a 21 cubic foot propane refrigerator for $2100 http://gasfridgedepot.com/crystal-cold/crystal-cold-21-cu.-ft.-propane-refrigerator/freezer/ vs a 9.5 cubic foot 2-way refrigerator for the same money http://www.dyersonline.com/norcold-9-5-cu-ft-2-way-refrigerator.html

I can't find that people have done this...why?
 
Many people find it convenient to simply buy a home refer to install.  If you never plan to camp without hookups this might be the best way to go.  You can hookup an inverter to run it when driving down the road, and plug it into shore power when parked.
 
No_Strings said:
Can I keep the propane refrigerator running while driving down the road?
Click to expand...

Yes.  This sounds like a very practical installation if you have the room but you will want to ensure just how much propane this unit uses compared to what you will have available on board.  The home 120V fridge is a great option but not if you like to dry camp much unless you have a large battery bank and a large solar array.  Depending upon your engine alternator you might be able to put enough amps back into the battery to make up for the loss from the inverter power the fridge.  Many, many things to consider before making this kind of a change.
 
Not trying to rain on your idea here, but some points come to my mind about this. The refer you are looking at is strictly designed for a sticks & bricks location. There is ducting to be considered for intake as well as exhaust. RV refers are of a built in design with the backs open to allow proper venting of heat and combustion exhaust. I would suggest you contact the manufacturer to see if their unit is adaptable to RV use.
 
Home 120 volt refrigerators are a practical alternative even if you do booondock.  Federal standards have reduced their power consumption by over 75% compared to typical mid-1980s refrigerators to where a new refrigerator has to use less than 1 Kw/h per day.  That's less than the 50% usable capacity of a pair of golf cart batteries.  Energy Star rated refrigerators use even less energy than that.

If you get 4 golf cart batteries and an inverter you'll easily have enough capacity to boondock overnight without running a generator.  Get 6 batteries and you'll have more than enough power for a weekend.  Yes, you'll have to run the generator a couple of hours a day or get some solar panels if you boondock longer than that, but even so you'll still be way ahead on the cost versus a propane refrigerator and won't have to worry about having a flame heating a flammable and corrosive coolant mix.

I've had apartment sized home refrigerators in my RVs for 10 years now and I'll never go back to propane.  I did when I bought this motorhome but switched back to electric when the propane fridge failed.
 
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