Refrig on Propane

Another reason to have a solar panel!

It comes down to how much battery power do you have. Can you turn all other 12V ghost power draws off?

wilber1 wrote:

steveh27 wrote:
Glad you got the food stored, but some older fridges DO NOT draw 12 volt power when on propane. My 1997 Class B Xplorer has a 3-way Dometic RM2310. It draws no power from my battery when on 12 volt. I boondock a lot and would not want to go to one that does draw 12 volt. It seems to run forever on propane. I had to correct those who make blanket statements claiming otherwise.

How does a 12V fridge not draw power when on 12V? I'm assuming you meant to say propane.

OOOps, thanks for pointing out my error. I should have proof read. I corrected it now.

Thanks again.

steveh27 wrote:
Glad you got the food stored, but some older fridges DO NOT draw 12 volt power when on propane.

Nor do even smaller 2 and 3 way gas absorption fridges commonly installed in popups, even new ones, but neither reference is relevant to this discussion as the OP has a 2015 travel trailer which obviously has a 2-way DSI fridge in it which does require 12 vdc power to operate in the gas mode. :R

allenm wrote:
Those older Dometic RM2xxx units had a mechanical temperature control and in fact didn't have a circuit board. So, no 12v draw when on 120VAC or propane. They did draw current from the battery when on 12V but only for the heater element.

I believe you but that's not what the post said. The heater element will draw a lot more power than a circuit board.

Those older Dometic RM2xxx units had a mechanical temperature control and in fact didn't have a circuit board. So, no 12v draw when on 120VAC or propane. They did draw current from the battery when on 12V but only for the heater element.

steveh27 wrote:
Glad you got the food stored, but some older fridges DO NOT draw 12 volt power when on propane. My 1997 Class B Xplorer has a 3-way Dometic RM2310. It draws no power from my battery when on 12 volt. I boondock a lot and would not want to go to one that does draw 12 volt. It seems to run forever on propane. I had to correct those who make blanket statements claiming otherwise.

How does a 12V fridge not draw power when on 12V? I'm assuming you meant to say propane.

Glad you got the food stored, but some older fridges DO NOT draw 12 volt power when on propane. My 1997 Class B Xplorer has a 3-way Dometic RM2310. It draws no power from my battery when on propane. I boondock a lot and would not want to go to one that does draw 12 volt. It seems to run forever on propane. I had to correct those who make blanket statements claiming otherwise.

It was for this type of situation that I put a solar panel on my first rig. I'm now up to 420 watts on this one and keep looking for more!

Thanks for the update! I'm glad the campground was able and willing to accommodate you so well.

As a rough rule of thumb, absent any better information, the fridge probably consumes somewhere around 1 pound of propane per day. Propane-wise, you could expect at least a month with two 20-lb cylinders (filled to their actual safe rated capacity of 20 pounds, maybe a little less if you use cylinder exchanges which at least around here are usually only filled to 15 pounds).

The limiting factor in most cases is battery power if you don't have a solar setup and are not plugged into shore power. Of course, if plugged into shore power, presumably you aren't using propane for the fridge anyway.