Fridge on in winter? (1 Viewer)

[Theonlysue]

Hi,
Camping out in this riduculous cold weather ( ), do I need to switch my fridge on or not, if stuff inside just for a weekend??

Any ideas?

Ta very much, S

 

[old-mo]

Just for the weekend I would say "No",, and have done the same myself..

But for what gas or electric you would use ????

Spect others will say different..

 

[Theonlysue]

Not bothered while on hookup, but I have been told that the fridge uses a lot of gas and I would rather use it for the heating

Seems odd when its 2 degrees outside, and my fridge is keeping food warm at 3 degrees oh:

S

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[old-mo]

To save your gas,, why not get one of the small (About 1ft square) polystyrene type cool boxes,,, they do keep food cool.. :thumb:

 

[Larrynwin]

The food hygiene experts would say that as long as your chilled food stays below 5deg c with it switched off then no problem, otherwise switch it on to maintain 5 deg or less

 

[Snowbird]

As long as the beers cold it doesnt matter.

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[Theonlysue]

Beers stay outside

S

 

[old-mo]

Leave your food outside with the beer,, simples..

 

[Taran_Las]

If you're only camping for a couple of days I would freeze some ice blocks before you go and put them in the fidge to keep it cold. Run fridge on 240 volt for a day or two before you leave home helps.

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[WynandJean]

When not switched on we always leave the fridge door ajar otherwise it develops mould.
Wyn

 

[Douglas]

Some interesting figures for you. When we lived on a yacht, before we bought a MH the boat we had used gas for cooking only, every things else was on electricity.

The cooker had 2 gas rings, a grill and a oven and was used on a daily basis, the bottle we used was campinggaz and was the largest of the gaz range, the 907. which is the 2.7Kg butane and lasted for 3 weeks give and take a day over a 4 year period.

Now I get to the point, when we moved to the MH using only cooking and fridge, as it was summer and no heating needed, we found that the gas consumption was exactly double that of the yacht.

So from this I calculate that a fridge on butane will use 2.7Kg per 3 weeks.

Doug...

 

[scotjimland]

From Dometic

80lt fridge uses 270g per 24 hrs = 1.89kg per week

30lt fridge uses 170g per 24hrs = 1.19kg per week

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[keith]

The food hygiene experts would say that as long as your chilled food stays below 5deg c with it switched off then no problem, otherwise switch it on to maintain 5 deg or less

Surely that's what a thermostat does, why do it manually? With the thermostat set it wont come on unless it exceeds 5deg so no gas is used. oh:

 

[Douglas]

From Dometic

80lt fridge uses 270g per 24 hrs = 1.89kg per week

30lt fridge uses 170g per 24hrs = 1.19kg per week

Thanks for that Jim, but is that not the manufactures best theoretical figures.

Doug...

 

[Snowbird]

Surely that's what a thermostat does, why do it manually? With the thermostat set it wont come on unless it exceeds 5deg so no gas is used. oh:

I was under the impresion that when on gas there is no thermostatic control.I thought that the thermostat only worked on electric.Can anyone enlighten me on this.

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[Terry]

Hi when the burner is lit ( some people refer to it as the pilot light ) it is running and does not get bigger or smaller so it is going to use the same amount of gas regardless of how warm or cold :thumb: Not sure if it would use as much as Jim's figures say because 4 ltrs of gas per week seems a lot but hey some boffin will have worked it out, so it could well be correct :thumb: ( not doubting you Jim :thumb: )
As to running the fridge I would say yes :thumb: after all it may be freezing out side but how warm is it in the van ?
terry

 

[dazzer]

Ive got to ask...are you actually being serious or is this thread a joke??

Are you really that bothered about how much gas your fridge is going to use in 2 days

If money is that tight how on earth do you put fuel in the motorhome oh:

 

[Terry]

Ive got to ask...are you actually being serious or is this thread a joke??

Are you really that bothered about how much gas your fridge is going to use in 2 days

If money is that tight how on earth do you put fuel in the motorhome oh:

NOW NOW, Dazzer Sue may be on a limited gas supply hence the -would rather save the gas for heating - Personally I would rather keep the food in the fridge cool than chance getting food poisoning
terry

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[oldun]

If a fridge is good at keeping food cold it must be well insulated. Hence it may keep food quite warm when it is cold outside so there is no direct link between the two.

Providing the fridge is reasonably well filled with frozen or very cold food it should remain cold enough for a weekend.

However if only a small amount of cold food is placed in the fridge it will not keep cold for the same length of time.

 

[1_man_and_his_dob(lo)]

Glad this query has been posted - having a compressor fridge (van only has a Campingaz 907 bottle, which as explained elsewhere wouldn't last too long running a 3-way fridge) it tends to run the battery down quite quickly, so switching it off when possible is something I consider from time to time.

In fact, I have occasionally switched it off during a cold night when not on EHU, but only when there's been nothing critical in it, e.g. carton of milk, lump of cheese, etc. and no meat in the freezer section. It's usually still cool the following morning, but not cold.

At Malvern I was talking to a bloke with a Honda minivan, and whenever he sets off for a few days he cools the fridge at home with 240V and then puts a frozen loaf of bread in it (switched off at the start of the trip) and uses this to keep the contents cooled as it slowly defrosts during the first day. Haven't tried this myself yet.

 

[Theonlysue]

Hi, yes, it was a serious question, more for curiousty really.
I have a large 80 lit fridge, and just wondered if it was worth putting it on for the small amout of food that I would put in the fridge when camping for the weekend.
I would not risk getting a dodgy tummy for the sake of putting it on

But it just seemed a bit ironic when the outside temp is cooler
than the fridgeoh:

I dont begrudge using the gas, and the van will be lovely and warm, but I just wondered.....:Blush:

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[keith]

I was under the impresion that when on gas there is no thermostatic control.I thought that the thermostat only worked on electric.Can anyone enlighten me on this.

No, that's not so.
When on gas, once fridge has reached it's cold point the burner switches off. You can check this by touching the burner chamber (if you want to). When the temp. rises inside the fridge the thermostat reacts by re-lighting the burner. This can be heard from inside the van as firstly the auto-igniter clicks and then you can hear the burner ignite. So gas is only is used during the cooling down period.

I often hear this process go on at night when it's quiet.

Sue has a larger fridge so if you open the door to put food in most of the cool air will drop out, so the inside will be at air temp. As a fridge is well insulated it will keep the food at that temp.

I put my beers in the gas locker next to the gas bottles as the locker stays cool when using gas. :thumb:

 

[1_man_and_his_dob(lo)]

I put my beers in the gas locker next to the gas bottles as the locker stays cool when using gas. :thumb:

With my tiny gas locker, if I ever get the spare 901 to go with the 907, I'd be lucky to fit a few bottles of Butty Bach in there :Sad:

 

[Douglas]

No, that's not so.
When on gas, once fridge has reached it's cold point the burner switches off. You can check this by touching the burner chamber (if you want to). When the temp. rises inside the fridge the thermostat reacts by re-lighting the burner. This can be heard from inside the van as firstly the auto-igniter clicks and then you can hear the burner ignite. So gas is only is used during the cooling down period.

I often hear this process go on at night when it's quiet.

Sue has a larger fridge so if you open the door to put food in most of the cool air will drop out, so the inside will be at air temp. As a fridge is well insulated it will keep the food at that temp.

I put my beers in the gas locker next to the gas bottles as the locker stays cool when using gas. :thumb:

How do you explain this theory with a manual fridge where the user lights it ???? Do you think I get up in the middle of the night to light it???


Doug...

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[scotjimland]

How do you explain this theory with a manual fridge where the user lights it ???? Do you think I get up in the middle of the night to light it???


Doug...

Correct.. Manual fridges don't have thermostats. When using gas, you set the temp. using the dial which regulates the gas.. end of story ..

Auto fridges have a thermostat which switches the gas on and off as required. Ignition is provided by an ignitor board.. not a pilot light.

 

[keith]

How do you explain this theory with a manual fridge where the user lights it ???? Do you think I get up in the middle of the night to light it???


Doug...

This isn't theory Doug this is what happens to my fridge. I do not have to light it, it's all automatic, simply select gas & you hear the igniter click-click-click-click then a soft woomp as the burner lights (providing you have the gas turned on oh: as I have forgotten to do before)oh:. See previous post from Jim.

Clearly yours is not automatic if you have to get up in the middle of the night to light it.

 

[Ralph-n-Bev]

If you want to save a bit of gas ,
( how much would you save on a weekend BTW ?)
why not put your food in the gas locker outside.
That would be cold this time of year. We use ours MH most weekends but as theres 5 of us the fridge is always quite full.
I suppose if theres only 2 of you you could use a normal cool box.
But i must admit I'm with Dazzer on this one

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[pappajohn]

i would say on.

for what gas it will use it aint worth the risk of contamination.

if it hasnt been used for a while the inside of the fridge will be the same temp as the inside of the van and putting a bit of chilled food isnt going to decrease it that much.

plus...every time you open the door you let cooler air out and warmer air in...increasing the temp even further.

it should be maintained at 5 degrees or less