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K3WE's avatar
K3WE
Explorer
Aug 02, 2013

How long does it take the fridge to cool off.

I never understood these threads before...

I never noticed a problem.

Today, the wife kicked the fridge on at 4:00 and at 6:00 the fridge was incredibly warm (while the freezer was very cool). And the fins were not cool at all.

But, an hour later, it was kicking in quite nicely.

My bottom line: WOW, it really does sit there for a couple of hours doing "nothing"...not a big deal, just a minor surprise.

20 Replies

  • We live in a condo and can't plug it in the night before leaving. If it is extremely hot I get a couple pounds of dry ice and it gets cool enough by morning.
  • Depends on how you are cooling it. If plugged in and on electric, then yes it takes a little while. I will normally do it overnight. If you put it on lp, it will cool a lot faster. I've turned it on at 8am and within 4 or 5 hours its good to go.
  • YEP....takes awhile

    Thermal Dynamics.....first you have to get it hot before it will get cold
  • Varies, in my old Alpenlite it was fairly cold in a couple hours and got frosty, now in our Montana we have to turn it on the day before gets cold but not frosty. Same brand and size of frig, and yes I know how to adjust the slider thingey. Don't know, maybe it has to do with the amount of ammonia in the tubes or something.
  • Have to agree with everyone here too. Start it up at minimum a day in advance. The hotter the weather and inside the rig, the longer it will take to cool down. Once it's cooled off, we start off with everything as cold and even frozen in the fridge compartment because we then turn it off en route. It's the first thing we turn on when we "land".
  • We start the frig the night before we are leaving and put in some of those frozen pouches to give it a jump start.
  • We always like to have some of the food that goes into the refrigerator frozen. If nothing else lemonade.
  • Our standard practice is to turn on fridge and through some blue ice in each compartment, 2 freezer sections one fridge and let it sit overnight. Start loading in the morning with cold food.