Propane vs. Electric Refrigerator

[Advanturetrek]

Feedback on fridge noise:
I'm a very light sleeper. We got the electric Isotherm ASU both for power efficiency and noise control. Super quiet. The little computer fan that runs our toilet is louder. Loft bed goes over top of fridge, and fridge has not disrupted sleep.

[hobssb]

"The advantage of not having to level makes the all electric refer look better."

It's my understanding that the leveling issue for 3-way refers is not that important in the newer models. The older models had tubes running from top to bottom in a zig-zag pattern and depended on gravity for the flow. Therefore the front of the van had to be close to level with the back of the van, or there wouldn't be any flow. If the front wasn't level with the back, it would get stuck in one of the "zigs" on it's way down the tube.
The newer model tubes aren't in this top-to-bottom zig-zag shape and are not as dependent on gravity, so keeping the front of the van level with the back of the van isn't as crucial.

[coyotearms]

I vote for electric, but without solar it might not be as worry free. A propane frig can go a loooong time on a tank of propane. But my understanding is that when switched to 12v they take much more electricity than a compressor type 12v frig. With electric it boils down to marrying it to the right amount of house battery capabiltiy plus possibly some solar or possibly always worrying about having to switch to/from propane a lot since it is a no-no to drive with the propane lines IN and UNDER your van pressurized waiting to do nasty things in an accident. The propane tank is bad enough, but no so bad that we don't have one for other appliances.

One thing I never understood about Isotherms is whether the plate or whatever the Isotherm cools down to keep the frig cool when it shuts off at low voltage takes up space that frozen food in the freezer could occupy (even ice cube trays of water) that would do the same job. IMHO that feature of the Isotherm may or may not be that helpful. What is helpful for consistant performance is enough solar to keep it running. The beauty of that is when the sun is not shining it also does not take as much power to keep things cool. I have kept our frig on all winter in the PNW (tons of cloudy weather, yet it rarely goes down to freezing so the frig does have to work, but not very hard). Yes, we too sometimes keep refrigerated staples in the van between trips and never worry about it.

[haywoodphotomaccom]

We have also had all the above models and now have the Isotherm 130 ASU as suggested by AdventureTrek when we started our build. It has been working great for the last couple months since we purchased it.

Did great for the last 7 days in the dirt in the Sierras.

[Gnarvan]

Originally Posted by RickL

If you are concerned about noise from the fridge, try an Engel fridge. These use a compressor with only one moving part and are very quiet as well as energy efficient: http://www.engel-usa.com
The compressor is based on a coil and takes very little energy to get started unlike a standard rotary compressor. The 'swing' compressor as they call it is also a lot more robust. Trucker's in the Australian outback love Engel fridges!

Another disadvantage of the propane 'fridges are those ugly vents (IMHO) that have to be installed along with the fridge. Electric fridges don't require outside vents.

HTH,

Rick L

How much heat do the Engle fridges pump inside your vehicle when they are cooling your beverages? Seems like there should be a need to vent the exaust heat byproduct of the cooling process so you aren't constantly heating the interior of your van.

[Ultrasport12]

Originally Posted by Gnarvan

How much heat do the Engle fridges pump inside your vehicle when they are cooling your beverages? Seems like there should be a need to vent the exaust heat byproduct of the cooling process so you aren't constantly heating the interior of your van.

Thats an excellent point. Heat transfer (not cooling) is how all so called cooling systems work. Be it A/C, a refrigerator, or even your engine your just moving heat from one place to another.

That said we use an ARB fridge-freezer in our van and other then when the van is shut up tight I don't think we have ever noticed the heat from it and even then its minimal. How much heat does your home refrigerator add to your kitchen, not much I would bet. Would it help on really hot days to have the condenser heat vent to the outside directly sure but how much heat would come back in that vent? A Propane fridge needs a big vent because its fire need air more than it needs it to move the condenser heat.

When our van is closed up we almost always leave our roof vent open and with the fan set to 80-100 degrees so it never gets really hot inside. Since we do most of our camping around the Northern California or Oregon coast area or the Sierras for the most part the additional heat, at least for us is not much of a problem in a well insulated van. Just like at home if you dont open the fridge much like when you are sleeping its doesnt run all that often. For us at least most of the time we have our doors open until we go to bed so the heat just moves around with the breeze. I am pretty sure if at night we were ever really hot and could not sleep we could shut the fridge off for the night and still have cold enough food and beverages to be safe in the morning. We actually always bring a cooler (we bring a ton of extra food when we travel, hell our home fridge is so full most of the time we dont have room for new items) for between the front seats and keep some of our non alcoholic beverages in there. Maybe the cooler offsets the heat from the fridge.

Damn you Gnarvan thats a really good question. I am going think about this all day now, where's my infared temp gun?

...Jamie