Propane refrigerator

[Gaetan]

I am looking tobuy a new propane refrigerator for a log cabin
I have looked a Dometic and unique I cannot buy an Rv refrigerator
because their are no electricity and rv ref are all electronic
My question is which iis the most reliable
I cannot get information by the sellers as their brand is always the best
And I cannot find comparisions
May be your past experience could help me
Gaetan

[SoundGuy]

DrewE wrote:
Lehmans is quite familiar with shipping stuff all over the world.

Familiarity with International shipping isn't the issue ... cost is. And that cost difference between a quoted price in US $ will be significantly higher once the product is landed at a Canadian customer's doorstep which can easily double the price of any product. Freight and crating charges are just part of the story as it's the customer who must absorb the costs of currency exchange rate differences, custom fees, brokerage fees, and anything else such as HST that may be tacked on. I just purchased a battery charger advertised by the US manufacturer at $149 US, had I ordered it directly I could have easily been stung twice that in Cdn funds by the time it ended up in my workshop. Thanks to a post here on rv.net I discovered an online sale for the exact same product from Canadian retailer Princess Auto for $140 Cdn ... all in it's costing me $161 Cdn, a far cry from $300.

[DrewE]

SoundGuy wrote:

Chris Bryant wrote:
The "go to" place has always been Lehman's- they have both Dometic free standing (no power required) in LP, natural gas or kerosene, and Diamond LP models, up to 19 cu. ft.

The OP is in Quebec and I can't imagine how much it would cost to import one of these fridges from the US. :E :E

Although not in Quebec there still may be a viable solution for the OP, as near me in Oakville, Ontario is a retailer called Unique Gas Products which offers appliances specifically designed for off grid applications, selling in Cdn $. :B

Lehmans is quite familiar with shipping stuff all over the world. Many missionaries and NGO people in far-off isolated places get a lot of their equipment through them. I don't know what shipping etc. to Quebec would cost, but they certainly could provide that information without much difficulty. Lehmans also carries a good selection of other off-the-grid appliances and devices like stove and oil lamps and so forth.

Their retail store is a neat place to stop and browse through if you're in that part of Ohio.

[Rvpapa]

Had a 3 cubic foot 'Unique' freezer for about six years. Worked perfectly the whole time.
Art.

[SoundGuy]

duplicate post

[SoundGuy]

Chris Bryant wrote:
The "go to" place has always been Lehman's- they have both Dometic free standing (no power required) in LP, natural gas or kerosene, and Diamond LP models, up to 19 cu. ft.

The OP is in Quebec and I can't imagine how much it would cost to import one of these fridges from the US. :E :E

Although not in Quebec there still may be a viable solution for the OP, as near me in Oakville, Ontario is a retailer called Unique Gas Products which offers appliances specifically designed for off grid applications, selling in Cdn $. :B

[Chris_Bryant]

The "go to" place has always been Lehman's- they have both Dometic free standing (no power required) in LP, natural gas or kerosene, and Diamond LP models, up to 19 cu. ft.

[Dave_H_M]

i looked on amazon, they list standard size ones for mega bucks.

[72cougarxr7]

Some Amish are allowed to use gas absorption fridge in their homes(old order Amish are not even allowed those).
A google search of "amish propane refrigerator" should give you a few places to look. Looks like there are a few brands that do not require any electric.

[DutchmenSport]

My parents had a propane only refrigerator in their 1963 model Phoenix Travel Trailer (see my profile to the left for a photo of it). I remember it took no electricity at all to run and it was always cold. I also remember it had a gas heater that required no electricity either. It had no fan of any type, it just warmed up everything around it. The farther away you got form the heater, the colder you got. Worked great in the Fall and Spring.

I remember, neither one of those appliances never failed. When my mother sold the trailer some 20 years later, the original refrigerator and heater were still working like they did on day one of ownership.

I don't think the model will make any difference. Those old refrigerators will run forever.

[SoundGuy]

Gaetan wrote:
I am looking tobuy a new propane refrigerator for a log cabin
I have looked a Dometic and unique I cannot buy an Rv refrigerator
because their are no electricity and rv ref are all electronic.

While conventional 6 cu ft and larger fridge / freezers designed for RV use do require 12 vdc to power the fridge electronics, fire the ignitor, and allow the gas valve to operate smaller manual light fridges require no electricity at all to operate. That said, if your requirement dictates a larger DSI (Direct Spark Ignition) fridge then powering the fridge with a pair of 6 volt GC-2 batteries that are recharged with a suitably sized solar system is likely your best solution. Hopefully you realize just how expensive these gas absorption fridges are here in Canada, $2500 Cdn not being uncommon at all. Add to that the cost of batteries & solar and you'll be in for a substantial investment just to keep some food cold. :E

[Scottiemom]

A friend of ours owns an island in Canada on Lake of the Woods. When his parents bought the island in 1961, they put in a Servil gas refrigerator. The parents are gone now, but my friend has their refrigerator in his cabin. He is there June - August. He said the Servil propane refrigerator has never failed, not once since 1961. He starts it up when they get there in June and it runs till he shuts it off in August. He lives totally off the grid with some solar panels to provide for their few lights and computers. But I don't think the refrigerator needs any.

DAle

[Old_Days]

You could use a RV frig just hook it up to a 12 volt deep cycle battery and put 100 watts of solar or more on the roof.Then you could have 12 volt lights also.