Propane Refrigerator

[Lou Schneider]

I am not sold on the thought that battery power is cleaner than propane. Running a generator to charge the clean battery seems self defeating. But good to know that 12vdc compressors are efficient.

Better than burning fuel to haul a propane tank into town and back.

 

[John From Detroit]

New York has passed a law banning gas stoves and no gas in new construction. I do not know when it goes into effect. Can't imagine the electric bill for electric heat in the winter.

That is the article I read as well and was the basis of my post... I'd forgotten which state. Thanks.
About those 12/120 volt only fridges.
As I said some of the modern ones are quite happy drawing less than 50 watts running.
I had a chest freezer (Still do) based on this technology.. Works great.

 

[LarsMac]

I do not think that the propane based RV fridge will be disposed of in the too near future, but if you are going to be RVing in 2040's you might want to plan ahead.

 

[Contributor]

The thing about a propane fridge installation is that it can easily be replaced by a 12V compressor unit. Nearly impossible to go the other way. So If I'm looking for an RV today, I'd go for the propane.

 

[Viajeros]

I am not sold on the thought that battery power is cleaner than propane. Running a generator to charge the clean battery seems self defeating. But good to know that 12vdc compressors are efficient.

That’s the Escondida copper mine in Chile. Copper is used in lots of things besides batteries.

 

[Viajeros]

We currently have a 3 way in our little trailer. But my personal druthers would be a 12 volt compressor fridge with a robust solar and lithium battery bank. Doesn’t care if it’s level, will keep cool in very hot exterior temps, simple, lighter, and a bigger fridge for the foot print of the fridge because there is no cooling unit.

Besides, our tow vehicle is electric. We could run that sucker for a year off the SUV battery. . And electric tow vehicles are getting pretty common here for the smaller lower profile trailer bunch.

Happy camping all.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

New York has passed a law banning gas stoves and no gas in new construction.

For the record, that ban applies only to natural gas, which has health & safety concerns that do not occur with propane or butane. Propane stoves, fridges and furnaces are not affected by the NY ban.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

I understand, I still think propane is a better choice than 12V. Anything that depletes my battery bank is no good if I have another source of power to choose from. If my batteries get low, and it's dark or raining, I'm SOL. However, I can always run into town and top off my propane tanks no matter the weather. And if I have 120V shore power, so much the better.

I think we can all agree that having more power source choices is Good Thing. And if all other factors were equal, we would probably all choose an electric/gas combo fridge. But all is not equal, or even close. Compared to a compressor-driven fridge, absorption-type fridges are expensive, use a lot of energy, have poor/slow cooling capacity, and don't chill evenly. You give up a lot to gain that fuel flexibility, so it's worthwhile to consider the tradeoffs.

 

[Tulecreeper]

I think we can all agree that having more power source choices is Good Thing. And if all other factors were equal, we would probably all choose an electric/gas combo fridge. But all is not equal, or even close. Compared to a compressor-driven fridge, absorption-type fridges are expensive, use a lot of energy, have poor/slow cooling capacity, and don't chill evenly. You give up a lot to gain that fuel flexibility, so it's worthwhile to consider the tradeoffs.

You are 100% correct. I did not know that there were 12v compressor-type refrigerators when I made my original post. I will be sure to add that to the list of items to check when we get our new RV.

 

[AstroBob]

No way propane will be banned anytime in the near, or even far future. A huge chunk of rural America, myself included, heats their homes on propane. People living on the coasts and large cities just have no concept of life in middle-america and the non-coastal west.