Propane Refrigerators

phalynx · July 08, 2009, 09:52:27 PM

This is a great place. Lot's of a great people here all with one goal in mind, doing exactly what you did. What's funny is, we started and almost finished our house here in TX and have been following your thread at the same time. Seeing TN the views you have are making us move. We have been looking for land in E TN and E KY. I follow your entries every week and just can't wait to do it myself. The wife has been emailing real estate agents all week. Funny how things come around. There is a good thread on here about off grid you might want to join in on.

I am in this thread to figure out the best fridge to get. And it's really all your fault. (See honey,,, if they can do it, we can TOO!!!!)

lisaandmike · July 08, 2009, 10:09:24 PM

Oops, I am so sorry I got you into trouble. Thanks for the welcome. Make sure you visit TN and KY before you buy. I wouldn't want you to end up unhappy. Good luck with the land search. That's a tough thing to do around here.

BTW, this is where I got my refrigerator.
http://www.bensdiscountsupply.com/

He also has a video link:
http://www.youtube.com/BensDiscountSupply

July 09, 2009, 09:10:36 AM

Yes Ben's is a good supplier of the Crystal Colds or as Lisa points out the newer "marketing" version the Diamond. I still think I would buy from Ervins cabinet shop as they are the Diamonds owner and manufacturer. But Bens is real close...or out west I would buy from Gasrefrigeration.net in the Ca. Bay area.

I also am going to replace it someday with electric when they build the type of electric I want. I probably will have to build one like I had on my sailboat.

It will be a holding plate system that runs for a few hours (when the sun is out) and holds cold for 20 hours or so in summer. If you marketed these right you could sell them to grid-tie folks who pay for electricity on a sliding or time of use scale.

MountainDon · July 12, 2009, 03:55:51 PM

We have a new Dometic (Servel 400). It's only been in service since the 4th, but so far it seems as great as some neighbors say theirs is (they got theirs 5 years ago and it still works as well as when new). I looked at many makes and decided on the Servel/Dometic as I haven't seen much bad things said about them. We like it over the Danby as the Servel/Dometic has a larger freezer. With the thermostat control set at #4 (range is up to 10) it makes ice cubes in about 4-5 hours. The fridge interior runs between 36 and 40 degrees.

The temperature conditions where the fridge is used can make a big difference in performance.

I believe the exterior air intake and exhaust vent is a great idea for the burner. I say that for a couple reasons. #1. If you are slack on your maintenance any propane fridge may begin making CO and that will kill you. This is maybe more likely to be an issue with units left turned off for a period of a few months. Spiders make webs in the flue, obstructing the air flow. My neighbors had a close call in spring. #2. it helps move a lot of the combustion heat outside the building, keeping the interior cooler in warm/hot weather. If the cabin is small and tight it may make it work better and be safer as non-vented propane fridges are never recommended for use in a sleeping space.

I am also toying with the idea of cutting a hole through the wall (exterior wall) and mounting the fridge with the entire back end outside the cabin. It would be sheltered from rain/snow etc. This would allow the heat from the inside of the fridge to be vented outside, also helping to keep the cabin cool in warm/hot weather. That's down the list of projects a ways though.

FWIW, we purchased the Servel from thenaturalhome.com We've bought other things from them before and have been impressed with their service and integrity. Depending on where one lives there may be some freight savings available. I picked ours up at a local Albuquerque warehouse and saved $75+ over truck delivery.

I may also be adding some side and top insulation at some future point; again, it's down the project list as ways.

One more thing on propane fridges. Years ago I found that I could increase the warm/hot weather performance of the RV fridge with careful air flow control behind the unit. The condenser is located near the top rear of any propane powered fridge. It requires air flow to remove the heat; the better the air flow the better the heat removal. If you restrict the space behind the condenser fins with a panel that extends down the rear of the unit a ways it causes a chimney effect. More air moves through the fins rather than through the empty space behind them. I was able to drop the thermostat setting down to 1.5, from the 3 to 4 we used to need to use before this modification in the RV.

MountainDon · July 12, 2009, 04:10:33 PM

Quote from: Whitlock on July 05, 2009, 12:59:21 AM
Yes seriously!

It is out of a RV I don't believe it is a Serval though.

The RV Dometics are completely different from the Dometic/Servel home fridges

July 13, 2009, 03:18:04 PM

Quote from: MountainDon on July 12, 2009, 03:55:51 PM

I believe the exterior air intake and exhaust vent is a great idea for the burner. I say that for a couple reasons. #1. If you are slack on your maintenance any propane fridge may begin making CO and that will kill you.

I would change this to read "if you are slack on your maintenance or a failure occurs the worst that should happen is you set off the CO detector."

MountainDon · July 13, 2009, 05:05:04 PM

Quote from: Dave Sparks on July 13, 2009, 03:18:04 PM
... worst that should (ED: emphasis added) happen is you set off the CO detector."

Let me add that the maintenance of the burner had been slacked off in the example I gave. This also extended to the batteries in the CO detector; hence it never went off. Severe headaches that cleared adter being away all day and then returned once they spent another night in the cabin were the indicator that something was amiss.

The CO detector had a low battery warning. However, over the winter absence the batteries crapped right out to where the detector low battery warning would not even beep a warning.

I still vote for the inlet and outlet venting of the burner.

Redoverfarm · July 13, 2009, 05:47:38 PM

I think if anyone installs gas service of any type a CO detector should be installed. As for me I will have several gas appliances and plan to have the same maintenance schedule as the fire alarms with regards to the batteries. Being basicly off grid the battery type is all that I will have so when our times changes in the spring they will be replaced.

MountainDon · July 13, 2009, 06:28:17 PM

Excellent plan John. Batteries are cheap compared to funerals. The CO detector I have has an LED that blinks to indicate it is "live". Then it has a low battery warning beep that I know from the RV will last for several months through the winter.

As a side note I've read that CO detectors should be replaced every so often; 5 years rings a bell but that could be wrong. The one in the RV also is a propane detector.