Refrigerator size question

[MookieKat]

There are two of us that will be traveling. However, we eat a lot of fresh organic vegetables...we cook from scratch almost every day, so we stock a lot of veggies in the fridge.

As we have shopped, I saw that the single ref/freezer combo units are quite small. Have any of you that cook like we do found it to be adequate, or do you think that we should opt for the rig with a double combo unit?

We will be living in the 5er while we remodel our house and then in CA for another 6 months or so, with traveling to parks off and on in-between.

[Atom_Ant]

Also takes about a day to stabilize, then it fills the ice tray!

[GoPackGo]

Yes, I have one of the 4-doors in my new rig and I am really impressed. I need to give it a full day to cool down at setting #9 (max), but then I turn it all the way down to #4 and it keeps everything really cold. I bought a thermometer to hang in it because I was hearing all the horror stories but on #4 the temp in the freezer is about 'zero' and mid-30's in the fridge. And mine is also in a slide-out. Outside temp does not seem to have any effect.

[Atom_Ant]

Knock on wood, our 4dr Norcold has been doing great. I don't have fans like shown in the picture, but there are fans somewhere behind it that I can hear kick on every once in a while.

I use a thermometer, and we are holding temps in the correct zone on setting 5, regardless of outside temps.

[720Deere]

MookieKat wrote:

How do you add the fans and where are they installed?

This isn't my setup, but you get the idea. I borrowed the picture from the ebay seller where I got mine. The fan has an alligator clip that acts as the ground. On the 12cf model, you can't wire it to the light. I had to run the wire down the drain tube and tied it into 12v power at the controller.

I have 2 of these in a 12cf. Normally 1 does the job, but if we have it packed extra full and the ambient temp is above 90, the second fan helps out. Using one of these, you don't get frost buildup on the cooling fins either. I haven't found anything negative about these yet other than increased battery drain if you are boondocking. Even then, I think each fan only draws less than 0.14 amps.

[Vulcaneer]

ken white wrote:

NC Hauler wrote:
Gotcha...My 4 door fridge is in a slide, but again, there is an outside vent near the top and one in the bottom, (two vent's), with a very efficient fan blowing on the coils, when on...Again, have never had an issue was just curious. I know some have added a fan or two, mine already had the two vents and a very good fan.

X2...

We also have a Norcold 12 cuft 4 door. In a slideout. One upper, one lower vent. Works great. Never a problem. Operates on A/C or gas.

If you do decide to go with a compressor type residential, try to stay within a reasonable size. More for the weight considerations. When full an 18 cuft compressor fridge can get real heavy when bouncing over the road. And if in a slide out, that is another issue.

If you find a trailer with a normal absorption 8-10 cuft, and find that is not enough capacity for you, then go buy a small dorm sized compressor fridge and stick it in the cargo bay. They are light, and can easily be moved in or out depending on your needs.

We sometimes do that when we camp with Grandchildren. We use the Dorm fridge for drinks. And set it near the steps...under the slideout. Keeps our main fridge available for the extra food we need to feed those hungry kids. And keeps them from running inside for a drink. When packing up to go home it goes back into the cargo storage. Weighs about 40 pounds.

When there are just DW and I we leave the dorm fridge at home.

[MookieKat]

720Deere wrote:
NCHauler, most people that experience cooling issues have their fridge located in a slide out. When located in a slide out, the top vent is on the side of the slide and does not allow heat to easily escape straight out of the top like a roof vent. Usually adding a fan or two above the coils helps fix this problem.

The biggest problem I have seen with them is like any other absorption fridge, they lack a fan inside to circulate air over the cooling coil. Adding a decent fan helped mine achieve the same temperatures on #7 as it did previously on #9.

How do you add the fans and where are they installed?

[ken_white]

NC Hauler wrote:
Gotcha...My 4 door fridge is in a slide, but again, there is an outside vent near the top and one in the bottom, (two vent's), with a very efficient fan blowing on the coils, when on...Again, have never had an issue was just curious. I know some have added a fan or two, mine already had the two vents and a very good fan.

X2...

[NC_Hauler]

720Deere wrote:
NCHauler, most people that experience cooling issues have their fridge located in a slide out. When located in a slide out, the top vent is on the side of the slide and does not allow heat to easily escape straight out of the top like a roof vent. Usually adding a fan or two above the coils helps fix this problem.

The biggest problem I have seen with them is like any other absorption fridge, they lack a fan inside to circulate air over the cooling coil. Adding a decent fan helped mine achieve the same temperatures on #7 as it did previously on #9.

Gotcha...My 4 door fridge is in a slide, but again, there is an outside vent near the top and one in the bottom, (two vent's), with a very efficient fan blowing on the coils, when on...Again, have never had an issue was just curious. I know some have added a fan or two, mine already had the two vents and a very good fan.

[720Deere]

NCHauler, most people that experience cooling issues have their fridge located in a slide out. When located in a slide out, the top vent is on the side of the slide and does not allow heat to easily escape straight out of the top like a roof vent. Usually adding a fan or two above the coils helps fix this problem.

The biggest problem I have seen with them is like any other absorption fridge, they lack a fan inside to circulate air over the cooling coil. Adding a decent fan helped mine achieve the same temperatures on #7 as it did previously on #9.

[NC_Hauler]

jnharley wrote:
We have a 10 cf Norcold. It is plenty big enough for the 2 of us and does not seem to have the same problems that the 4 door ones have. We have a wireless thermostat that monitors the freezer and fridge separately and also one on our residential fridge. The temp swings are almost exactly the same. The residential freezer can maintain a lower temp than the Norcold. I generally see temps around 6 degrees with the Norcold freezer and 10 degrees lower with the residential one.

What problems do the 4 door fridge's have?? Just curious, ours is 7 years old, a Norcold and we've never had the first issue with our's..Does a very good job of keeping things frozen in the two freezer sections and does an excellent job of keeping things cold in the refrigerator portion. has two outside vents with an OEM vent fan...

[usmohls2]

korbe wrote:
a lot of our fruits and vegetables don't need to be stored in the frig - high consumption rate.

If you have to store them, How fresh are they?

[jnharley]

We have a 10 cf Norcold. It is plenty big enough for the 2 of us and does not seem to have the same problems that the 4 door ones have. We have a wireless thermostat that monitors the freezer and fridge separately and also one on our residential fridge. The temp swings are almost exactly the same. The residential freezer can maintain a lower temp than the Norcold. I generally see temps around 6 degrees with the Norcold freezer and 10 degrees lower with the residential one.

[ddschuman]

I would opt for residential refrigerator.

[Dog_Folks]

Another otinf that a lot of full timrs use is the additon of a small aprtment sized rerigerator outside unde the awning.

When our RV refrigerator died this past spring. we bought a small apartment sized one to hold us over until we could make permanent changes. Once that was done we interned to sell the small one.

We never did as the DW likes having the extra space so much we now have a standard residential refrigerator inside and still have the little one outside for extra space.