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am1958's avatar
am1958
Explorer
Aug 05, 2016

How much propane does your fridge use?

We keep our trailer in storage about 7 miles from home and emptying the fridge and refilling it for each trip seemed to be something I could get around. I went ahead and bought a 100W solar panel and mounted it on the roof. This seems to hold up just fine and probably would be fine for the entire summer. The problem I have encountered is that a full, (straight from the store), 20lb propane tank seems to only last about a week.

I appreciate it has been quite warm but it strikes me there may be a leak in my propane system somewhere outside the trailer so that the LP alarm never picks it up. I have the temperature of the fridge set to 2 which is the lowest I can manage without the the freezer defrosting so I can't get any lower consumption. Can anyone give me any idea of how quickly just the fridge/freezer combo consumes propane.

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  • am1958's avatar
    am1958
    Explorer
    Aug 05, 2016
    Nothing else is on so I'm going to follow the lines and make sure everything is tight...
  • VegasScotty's avatar
    VegasScotty
    Explorer
    Aug 05, 2016
    I think I'd start with the biggest concern first: Are you leaking propane?

    maybe turn the frig off and leave the gas on and connected and see if it goes down? (Use a sniffer to look for leaks? $25 and more... about the price of one tank of gas)

    Then turn it back on and get your propane sniffer and look for leaks inside the refrigerator housing (outside and inside).

    And after ruling out leaks, THEN look to the refrigerator as a heavy user and look up how to inspect it.
  • azrving's avatar
    azrving
    Explorer
    Aug 05, 2016
    I have never measured it but it runs for for weeks. On my TT I used to barely smell when propane every now and then outside. It had a loose fitting underneath. Follow the lines and check everything for tightness.
  • DrewE's avatar
    DrewE
    Explorer II
    Aug 05, 2016
    Fridge propane usage depends on the fridge, the installation, the ambient temperature, and probably a host of other variables.

    A reasonable rule of thumb that's easy to remember is a pound of propane a day. I would expect well more than a week from a full 20 lb tank. (If you are using an exchange, be aware that many of them underfill the tanks a good bit, often only putting 15 lbs in the 20 lb tank. I would still expect more than a week.)

    Are you certain you don't have something else using propane? Perhaps the water heater is also being left on?
  • am1958's avatar
    am1958
    Explorer
    Aug 05, 2016
    See, that's what I thought... I was shocked to find the slightly used tank empty after only a few days the first time I tried it. I have subsequently used two completely full tanks and neither has lasted ten days and the fridge is ambient temperature so the gas ran out at least a day or two before.

    The odd thing is that I have a gauge on one tank and when I was camping for 5 days not using propane at all the gauge didn't move a hair. But when I put it in storage and the fridge switches to propane it seems to suck it out.

    Is there any adjustment that can be done to the fridge to change how much gas it uses or is that a fixed thing.
  • Muddydogs's avatar
    Muddydogs
    Explorer
    Aug 05, 2016
    I go all summer on one propane tank using the heater a little on the cool spring mornings and having my gas grill sucking off the tank. You should get way more than a week just running the fridge. When I get my trailer from storage and fire up the fridge most the time its over 110 degrees inside and stays hot for a day or so until we get out of town and into the mountains. I can go a week on one tank during hunting season running the heater a lot.

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