Has anyone bought an extra freezer for their rig?

[MookieKat]

Does anyone have an extra freezer in their rig? Can you put one in the basement?

These RV freezers are so small, that if we decide to stay on the road for several months at a time, we would be constantly running to the nearest Whole Foods, which is not so near in most places.

[krinkle]

100lb. of meat..etc. 3 months feeding 4

[MookieKat]

krinkle wrote:
I bought a 3 cubic ft freezer from WM. 22X22X22 32 inches high.
Had it shipped to store ..free shipping. Holds 100lb of meat.
We put one of our chairs up in the bathroom hallway. Put freezer where chair was between table and couch. Put cardboard under so it stays in place when putting slide out. Therefore ending up in living area not in the slide. Might be to much weight. We live in S E Mo. Go to Florida in Jan. Freezer stays cold while traveling plug in at night. When getting to destination we either put it under 5ver outside or remove one rocker at home and put it in rear of living area where that one chair was. Use a reclining lawn chair in front of freezer.. Works for us the inconvenience is worth it. Happy RVing.

Wow!!! That is a lot of meat!! How long does that last you?

[krinkle]

I bought a 3 cubic ft freezer from WM. 22X22X22 32 inches high.
Had it shipped to store ..free shipping. Holds 100lb of meat.
We put one of our chairs up in the bathroom hallway. Put freezer where chair was between table and couch. Put cardboard under so it stays in place when putting slide out. Therefore ending up in living area not in the slide. Might be to much weight. We live in S E Mo. Go to Florida in Jan. Freezer stays cold while traveling plug in at night. When getting to destination we either put it under 5ver outside or remove one rocker at home and put it in rear of living area where that one chair was. Use a reclining lawn chair in front of freezer.. Works for us the inconvenience is worth it. Happy RVing.

[Veebyes]

For efficiency I'd be looking for a chest type freezer though that style is not very convenient to use.

There are 12V portable coolers which can freeze. For them the issue becomes battery power to run them plus the other 12V needs. The good thing is that they do not need to be on 24/7. Most are chest type. Go in, get what you need for a few days & get out.

If you have space you can't beat a nice big 4 door fridge. Got one. Can't imagine doing long trips without it. No grocery store stops every few days.

[soling2003]

x2. Made a nice cabinet in the front of the basement where the gen. would go. Put the extra batts, inverter, BBQ, rugs, fishing gear and freezer all in there. Makes things nice and neat. Plug the unit into the inverter while traveling and the outlet down there when plugged in. Very easy.

whitebb wrote:
We full time and have a haier freezer in basement storage and keeps stuff froze all day as we travel. Works for us. also used it in the motor home before getting the 5th wheel. Good luck.:)

[richfaa]

We have a 12 Cf upright freezer in the rear of our Montana. Had to remove one of the recliners to make room for it. It has been in two Montana's over 7 years without a issue. we can run a 10 hour day and the freezer will only lose 4 or 5 degrees. We are long timers and the freezer is a huge help for us.

[whitebb]

We full time and have a haier freezer in basement storage and keeps stuff froze all day as we travel. Works for us. also used it in the motor home before getting the 5th wheel. Good luck.:)

[Michelle_S]

We have the larger of the Dometic Fridge/Freezers in our Basement area. Been using it the past two years. Plug the 12VDC cord into an outlet in the basement when traveling and once parked switch over to the 120VAC. Unit is designed for 12/24 VDC or 120 VAC.

[Dutch___Di]

Got lucky and found a way to get online. We bought our freezer
here
I was told they went to the electric glass cook top for boaters so the contents of the pan did not spill over as the boat rocked dousing the flame on the propane stove.
The cooktop fit perfectly on the sides and back but once the oven was removed there was nothing across the front. Dutch formed a piece of stainless steel bent to the angle of our Formica top and it really looked great. He attached it using JB weld to meld the stainless to the edge of our Formica on the sides. The JB could not be seen from the top.
A lot of the newer units do have glass cooktops in them but they are usually 2 burner. When we had new counter tops put in in 2009 they made the hole and we now have matching formica at the front of the cooktop.
Dutch is very handy. He got the materials he needed at Lowes and Home Depot. He found the slide brackets at those stores then cut a piece of half inch plywood to form the floor of the slide out. I covered the plywood before putting in the freezer. I even have room on the side for my coffee carafe.
We had some unused wood from a glass door on a different cabinet that we taken down years before. He made the wood frame then took it to a glass place and had a piece cut to fit. It wasn't hard to get the door installed.
If someone can tell me how to add a picture I'll be happy to do so. Di

[Dutch___Di]

Update---Think I figured out the pictures
With aluminum strip Dutch made.



Hugs, Di

Well that didn't work. Does anyone have any suggestions on posting pictures?? Thanks--hugs Di
Very Iffy internet signal here. Should be back in the "real"world by end of week and will post then. Di

MookieKat wrote:

Dutch & Di wrote:
When we removed our gas stove & oven 10 years ago to put in a glass cooktop we had to do something to put in the gaping hole where the oven was. Dutch built a sliding shelf and we found a small freezer that works on shore power and battery. He built a door unless you open the door, you don't know a freezer is there. I don't need an oven as I have the microwave convection which I use daily.
We do have an inverter and generator so we don't have to worry about not being hooked up.
If you don't have that, I don't see why things wouldn't stay frozen just as they do in the fridge/freezer that some people {not us} turn off when traveling.
Let us know what you decide. Di

Please tell us how you did that, and what exact units you used! Especially the glass cook top!! I thought that we would have to use a counter top induction element, but I was wishing that we could do something like you are talking about! I did not realize that there was one that would fit exactly into that space!

I wonder why the manufacturers do not offer an electric cook top option?

[MookieKat]

Dutch & Di wrote:
When we removed our gas stove & oven 10 years ago to put in a glass cooktop we had to do something to put in the gaping hole where the oven was. Dutch built a sliding shelf and we found a small freezer that works on shore power and battery. He built a door unless you open the door, you don't know a freezer is there. I don't need an oven as I have the microwave convection which I use daily.
We do have an inverter and generator so we don't have to worry about not being hooked up.
If you don't have that, I don't see why things wouldn't stay frozen just as they do in the fridge/freezer that some people {not us} turn off when traveling.
Let us know what you decide. Di

Please tell us how you did that, and what exact units you used! Especially the glass cook top!! I thought that we would have to use a counter top induction element, but I was wishing that we could do something like you are talking about! I did not realize that there was one that would fit exactly into that space!

I wonder why the manufacturers do not offer an electric cook top option?

[Dutch___Di]

When we removed our gas stove & oven 10 years ago to put in a glass cooktop we had to do something to put in the gaping hole where the oven was. Dutch built a sliding shelf and we found a small freezer that works on shore power and battery. He built a door unless you open the door, you don't know a freezer is there. I don't need an oven as I have the microwave convection which I use daily.
We do have an inverter and generator so we don't have to worry about not being hooked up.
If you don't have that, I don't see why things wouldn't stay frozen just as they do in the fridge/freezer that some people {not us} turn off when traveling.
Let us know what you decide. Di

[Us_out_West]

Vulcaneer wrote:

Us out West wrote:

ontheroad101 wrote:
Think about changing out you RV refrigerator for a residential refrigerator. We went from 12 cubic foot to 21 cubic foot. We do have a inverter and a generator.

Best answer, especially for full-timers...or even if you spend most of the year RVing.

I'm thinking the 21 Cu Ft residential would be trouble. Fill it with food and it becomes very heavy. Even if you could fit it into the hole, it would create a problem over the road. Bouncing that much weight on your frame? No thanks...not me. If you are fulltime PARKED, then you can prop it up better.

Open Range makes a "Residential" model 5th wheel. The big difference is the fridge/freezer. A four door 12 cu ft version. Freezer is 4 cuft, fridge is 8 cuft. Operates on 110 AC and 12V DC. Not on propane. When traveling it runs off the trucks electrical. When parked it operates off C/G electricity. If off grid, you need a gen. Plenty of capacity.

We do some boondocking. So we have the 12 cuft 4 door AC/Propane version. We do have a gen, but we use it for other things. Fridge/freezer has plenty of capacity for us.

Oh I agree and didn't mean to insinuate it was for everyone but maybe something for the OP to consider.

For us we are perfectly fine with our 4 door and just replenish when we need to.

[Vulcaneer]

Us out West wrote:

ontheroad101 wrote:
Think about changing out you RV refrigerator for a residential refrigerator. We went from 12 cubic foot to 21 cubic foot. We do have a inverter and a generator.

Best answer, especially for full-timers...or even if you spend most of the year RVing.

I'm thinking the 21 Cu Ft residential would be trouble. Fill it with food and it becomes very heavy. Even if you could fit it into the hole, it would create a problem over the road. Bouncing that much weight on your frame? No thanks...not me. If you are fulltime PARKED, then you can prop it up better.

Open Range makes a "Residential" model 5th wheel. The big difference is the fridge/freezer. A four door 12 cu ft version. Freezer is 4 cuft, fridge is 8 cuft. Operates on 110 AC and 12V DC. Not on propane. When traveling it runs off the trucks electrical. When parked it operates off C/G electricity. If off grid, you need a gen. Plenty of capacity.

We do some boondocking. So we have the 12 cuft 4 door AC/Propane version. We do have a gen, but we use it for other things. Fridge/freezer has plenty of capacity for us.