Time for fridge to cool down?

[wyleyrabbit]

We have the 9 cu. ft. fridge with the icemaker.

Assuming summer outdoor "room temperature" of about 20°C (or ~ 70°F), how long should one expect the fridge to cool down to a nice temp of ~ 38°F?

Should it make a difference if we're running on electricity or on propane?

Ours sometimes takes over a day to get down to food-safe temp. and I'd like to make sure nothing is wrong with the fridge.

Chris

 

[TXBobcat]

HI WABBIT !!

Before we went fulltime I would turn on the refer the night before we were going to load it up. I would take things out of the household refer and put things in from the garage. I never made it a poiint to cool down things before we loaded it up.

All the refers I have had have been built into the trailer not into a slide. It seems from a lot of the forum threads if you have a refer in a slide you might have a harder time getting it cool and keeping that way.

We always run ours on electric. Only time I run it on propane is when I will be somewhere for a long time with no electric. I always turn off my propane when we travel. I know others do it different and that is ok..

That's the way we do it..

BC

 

[wyleyrabbit]

Hi Bobcat!

Unfortunately, we can't do what you do, 'cause our trailer is kept on a farm about a 20 minute drive from where we live. And there's no electricity on the farm.

On our 3055RL, the fridge is not in the slide, but in the main part straight across from the door.

One thing we do to help things cool down is we always bring a few zip-lock freezer bags of ice from our freezer at home.

Chris

 

[TXBobcat]

No Problem.. just turn it on using propane. However if you put a lot of ice in the refer to start it to cool down you might get it cool enough that when you load it, it will cool down quickly..

Just get it on the road full time and home school the kids and you never have to worry about it any longer...

BC

 

[SouthernNights]

Our fridge is in the slide and we start it the night before we load it on electric. By morning, the fridge is down to 36-about 8 to 10 hours. Not sure how long it takes to get below 40. Never watched it that close.

I do have my fridge fans setup on a switch. If I want the fridge to cool down faster or it is very hot outside, I turn the fans on. Not even sure how much time that cuts off the cooling process. I do know on heavy usage (kids with us) with the door open and closing alot, the fans do seem to help maintain 38.

I've only run the propane a few times and not for very long. I dont boondock so very little need for the propane being on.

 

[CrazyScotsman]

My fridge is in the slide, but forget getting it to cool down in the summer, works great in spring and fall. Wife and I put the things we will use most, ice, soda, wine, in a cooler so we don't have to keep opening fridge door.

 

[newbie]

I agree that the fridge works much better if you pre-cool it empty the night before. Otherwise it seems to struggle to get cool (especially in the hot summer)

 

[jmgratz]

Here are some things I learned in the refrigeration class I just took.
1. It will take 8-12 hours to cool a refrigerator from turned off to usable. Putting ice inside will speed up this process.
2. A fan inside the refrigerator (at the bottom) will help to cool it down quicker.
3. The refrigerator will cool better on electric than propane.
4. Refrigerators which are installed in the slide that have their vents on the outer side wall rather than the roof do not cool as well in higher outdoor temperatures than the ones that have their vent on the roof of the rv. To help the slideout installed refrigerators cool better it will probably be necessary to install an additional fan(s) on the back side to help move the warm air out of the vents.
5. You should pre-cool your items you are going to place in the refrigerator to keep from introducing warm air into the fridge.
6. It will take about 1 hour to cool the fridge back down from opening the door for 1 minute.

Hopes this helps out with your questions.

 

[newbie]

That's great info Jim. Thanks.

 

[ChopperBill]

Here are some things I learned in the refrigeration class I just took.
1. It will take 8-12 hours to cool a refrigerator from turned off to usable. Putting ice inside will speed up this process.
2. A fan inside the refrigerator (at the bottom) will help to cool it down quicker.
3. The refrigerator will cool better on electric than propane.
4. Refrigerators which are installed in the slide that have their vents on the outer side wall rather than the roof do not cool as well in higher outdoor temperatures than the ones that have their vent on the roof of the rv. To help the slideout installed refrigerators cool better it will probably be necessary to install an additional fan(s) on the back side to help move the warm air out of the vents.
5. You should pre-cool your items you are going to place in the refrigerator to keep from introducing warm air into the fridge.
6. It will take about 1 hour to cool the fridge back down from opening the door for 1 minute.

Hopes this helps out with your questions.

Thanks for the info! I will show number 6 to Renee!

 

[katkens]

Thanks for the info! I will show number 6 to Renee!

Bill....I'm thinking you might be better off keeping that information to yourself ,for different health reasons....Kenny