Leaving fridge on LP

[Mikesr]

Any reason to worry about leaving a TT fridge on propane for an extended time ?
(5 weeks)
Situation is this, setting up TT on a site for 2 months and can only use electric at site on weekends when we are there and wanted to keep fridge cold and ready when we get there.
I know the fridge is most efficient on propane but wondered about LP consumption for a long duration. Safety is a concern also. I assume the safeguards in the fridge will prevent most problems and the unit will just not ignite if there is a fault.
Any input is welcome thank you

[Mikesr]

Thank you to all for the input. We just might go without keeping the fridge running between stays. I'll ask the campground if we can leave it plugged in or have metered eclectic but we can probably manage without.
Thanks again

[pianotuna]

Hi Mike,

How many amp-hours is the battery bank?

5 days @ 37 amp-hours per day = 185 amp-hours. To stay above 50% state of charge the battery bank needs to be in the 400 amp-hour range. That's four group 29 or four golf cart batteries.

Then there is the issue of recharging on the weekend. A good three stage converter is going to be needed.

The other way to go, if the battery bank is small is 150 watts of solar per 100 amp-hours of storage capacity.

Mikesr wrote:
Any reason to worry about leaving a TT fridge on propane for an extended time ?

[pianotuna]

Hi,

You might try running the generator in the morning instead of at night. That way what little solar you get can work towards fully recharging the 4D agm. Once a week I'd 'bite the bullet' and run the generator until the battery bank is at 100%.

jmcgsd wrote:
I campground host at a site with no electric. I run the fridge on propane all summer. With other uses (stove HW heater, etc.) I use one 30# cylinder of propane every two weeks.

However, as others have mentioned, electric is an issue. I have 100W of solar, but am camped in a forest of Lodgepole pines, so the panels are not very efficient. I generally run the generator about 1 hr a night to keep the battery ( a huge 4d AGM battery) charged.

Joe

[jmcgsd]

I campground host at a site with no electric. I run the fridge on propane all summer. With other uses (stove HW heater, etc.) I use one 30# cylinder of propane every two weeks.

However, as others have mentioned, electric is an issue. I have 100W of solar, but am camped in a forest of Lodgepole pines, so the panels are not very efficient. I generally run the generator about 1 hr a night to keep the battery ( a huge 4d AGM battery) charged.

Joe

[Ray552]

While I agree more solar I would also install anther battery.

[wanderingbob]

Thats right , more solar !

[westend]

The best solution would be to install solar, enough to be able to replace what's drawn from the batteries. The addition of more battery capacity dovetails with your usage and the solar efficiency.

[ReferDog]

Can't see the problem with it, they are made to operate both ways, draw to C/B in a week is not that much.

[hohenwald48]

Many cars have wrecked in recent years. I still drive.

[Vet_Man]

Check with the campground maybe you can leave it plugged in for a few bucks.

[SoundGuy]

Ivylog wrote:
You assume too much about the safety as many have caught fire in recent years. I never left mine on unless actually using for fear of a fire.

DownTheAvenue wrote:
If you are that concerned about safety what do you do when you are asleep?

I'd sure like to see stats on what Ivylog means by "many have caught fire in recent years" ... does "many" mean a dozen, several dozen, or even a hundred out of millions sold over the years and in use virtually every day? :h JMO. but that's hardly a reason to avoid using the fridge as it was intended to be used, including having it run when you're asleep or when you may be away from the trailer. :S Out of habit I usually do turn our fridge off if we're not going to be camping for a couple of weeks, merely so I'm not unnecessarily wasting energy, but many of our camping friends who use their rigs on a more regular basis do start their fridge at the beginning of the season and never turn it off until they're ready to winterize, no issues at all.

[DownTheAvenue]

Ivylog wrote:
You assume too much about the safety as many have caught fire in recent years. I never left mine on unless actually using for fear of a fire.

If you are that concerned about safety what do you do when you are asleep?

[WayneAt63044]

Yep, I misspoke, I meant propane detector. I like your switch, SoundGuy, but since I never used the door frame heater, I didn't feel a need to install a switch. The bigger draw on the fridge will be when the gas valve is energized. Yep, we've all done something stupid at least once 😉 but older trailers didn't have all the safety detectors and those of use that remember it that way are still alive. Just need to remember to reconnect things. A note to self left in the trailer should suffice. We are responsible for our own safety. If I run into door frame condensation I may install a switch.

[SoundGuy]

WayneAt63044 wrote:
Pull the 12 volt fuses for the radio and smoke detector to eliminate some of the battery draw, you won't be using them while not there anyway.

For anyone who dry camps at all or as the OP is intending to do - wanting to leave his fridge running while the trailer is otherwise sitting idle - the better solution to unwanted parasitic draw is to install conveniently located kill switches, just as I've done for the radio and my SensarPro TV antenna signal booster. The majority who will have a conventional television wall plate don't need a kill switch as the plate itself is already fitted with a switch that will kill power to the antenna head. I could have also added a kill switch to the 12 vdc power feeding my television but I find it simpler to just unplug the TV when not in use.

Kill Switches



As for the smoke detector I seriously doubt the OP's 2009 trailer has one powered by the rig's 12 vdc system but rather by an internal battery. The only detector that should be powered by the trailer's 12 vdc system is it's CO / propane detector and although it could be disconnected when the trailer is not being used there is the very real danger the OP may forget to re-power it the next time he uses the trailer. Since most detectors typical of those installed in trailer's like the OP's are rated to pull ~ 45 ma that represents a draw of a little over 1 amp per day, probably not enough to worry about when we're talking about just 5 days when the trailer may be sitting idle. Certainly adding a solar panel to restore whatever draw is placed on the battery during those 5 days would be the better solution.

A problem I see would be if your fridge has a heater around the door to eliminate condensation. My older units had switches to turn that off but the Dometic in my 2012 has no switch and it is wired permanently on. Since I boondock some, I have disconnected that heater. I accessed it behind the fridge light/door switch assembly. Then test to see how long the battery(s) last.

A far better solution is to simply add a kill switch to the fridge's climate control heating element, just as I did with my own Dometic DM2652 fridge.

Fridge Kill Switch