Keeping refrigerator cold??

[skiptut]

Yep, I'm new and about to set off on a 1st camping trip. We will be driving for about five hours and I don't know how the frig will stay cool. I have a new Thor Windsport 29m. Sorry for such a newbe question.

[gdi_m]

Congrats and welcome to RVing. Hope you have many great adventures. Just give yourself extra time on your first trip because everything takes a little longer when you haven’t done it before. I’m not familiar with your unit but I can give you a couple tips that I learned from mine. I turn on my refrigerator and load it the night before we leave because it seems to take a while to bring everything done to temperature. I plug my RV into my house AC with an adapter (maybe $5-$10 at Walmart). This allows me to run pretty much everything except the AC without using my gas or batteries. I then switch to 12v and run off batteries while traveling. Good luck and have fun!

[be happy]

If you start with a cold refrigerator and do not open the door things should stay cold for that period of time. With that being said, I always run with the generator going. That not only keeps the frig cold but I run the AC to keep the coach cool as well.

[JamieGeek]

Looks like you have a gas/electric RV fridge (according to Thor's website). Make sure the propane valve is open, and leave the fridge on "Auto". It will be fine.

Make sure you turn it off at gas stations, however.

[blw2]

Originally Posted by JamieGeek

Looks like you have a gas/electric RV fridge (according to Thor's website). Make sure the propane valve is open, and leave the fridge on "Auto". It will be fine.

Make sure you turn it off at gas stations, however.

yep....
adding this, if you are turning on the fridge right after opening the LP valve, make sure it lights before you go. It takes a while for the LP to prime the line to the fridge. If the fridge doesn't lite in a certain amount of time, it will error and the light will flash (on my model anyway). Once that happens it will not try to relite itself.
So
I will normally light a burner on the stove first since that primes the line to the kitchen must faster.
Then I switch the fridge on to auto and wait for it to indicate that it's lit before I finish loading or start driving.

[SuperD]

The fridge will usually work better on propane because it generates more heat than the electric rod. A small battery fridge fan on the inside circulates air and helps the interior of the fridge cool better.

[Bob Denman]

Originally Posted by JamieGeek

Looks like you have a gas/electric RV fridge (according to Thor's website). Make sure the propane valve is open, and leave the fridge on "Auto". It will be fine.

Make sure you turn it off at gas stations, however.

I agree... I start with a Fridge that's been plugged in overnight at the house, and switched to propane as we get ready to leave...

[The_Breeze]

Originally Posted by SuperD

The fridge will usually work better on propane because it generates more heat than the electric rod. A small battery fridge fan on the inside circulates air and helps the interior of the fridge cool better.

The fan is a definite plus. Make sure everything you intend to put in the fridge and freezer has been pre-cooled and pre-frozen in the house, if that's an option for you. It keeps things from working overtime to get and keep everything down to temp.

[halfprice]

When i turn on my fridge i put a frozen one gallon milk bottle in the fridge and freezer. This helps cool it down in a couple hours