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Old 02-18-2016, 01:00 PM   #1
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Cooling the fridge quicker

I tried something on the last trip to see if I can cool the fridge faster. This should work for any RV fridge or really any fridge. Typically if you just turn the fridge on and let it cool down on it's own it would take many many hours for the RV fridge to cool down on it's own. I have seen where it has take more than a day to get it all the way down to preferred temp.

I did two things to help with this. I bought a fridge fan to help circulate the air better. I also started collecting Gel freezer packs. (I have a friend that owns a clinic and they get alot of meds shipped in cold packs). He gave me about 12 or 15 cold packs a couple of them where the bigger ones. I turned the fridge on, put the packs in all around the fridge and set the fan at the bottom of the fridge.

less than 2 hours later it had gone from 60 degrees down to 38 degrees. I felt good to put the food in and hit the road and let it run on gas. We were at the camp ground around 2 hours later and it was down to full temp and all food was cold.

I just moved the freezer packs to the freezer and we camped for the weekend. Next time I will do this and keep the freezer packs at home.

I hope this helps.
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Old 02-18-2016, 01:06 PM   #2
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That a good idea, I guess you could do the same with frozen water jugs and leave them home after the fridge cools down. I'm gong to try it this spring, I do't have access to the gel packs
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Old 02-18-2016, 01:19 PM   #3
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Since I drink a lot of bottled water, I just freeze the bottles,arrange around the fridgeand then drink the water later after they thaw.. bought a fan recently and trying it out this weekend. Put fan in last night and fridge was down to about 32 this am.
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Old 02-18-2016, 01:30 PM   #4
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The key here is to remember how a fridge works. It removes heat ( energy) creating cool. An empty fridge ( RV or home ) has relatively little mass to absorb heat. Air has very little heat absorbing capacity. If you add cold mass in the form of gel packs or cold drinks, it will cool down much faster. The same goes for the fridges ability to stay cold in use. If the fridge is full the temp will vary much less upon opening than if it were empty. The simplest way to accelerate cooling is to add all your cold drinks ( already chilled) when you start it. The drinks will help cool things down and can just be left in when you add the other items.
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Old 02-18-2016, 01:38 PM   #5
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Since we usually take ice along anyways ... I put a 10# bag of ice in the freezer as I fire up the fridge ... this also cuts down on cool down time before a trip. Your idea is probably even quicker due to placing some in the refrigerator part as well.
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Old 02-19-2016, 07:20 PM   #6
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Cooling Fridge Down

Found the trick others talked about, with cold/frozen drinks and a little fan made a big difference in cool down time. I found the fan at the bottom and trying to keep a chimney effect on the shelves above it sort of guides the air around in somewhat of a circle. Seems to get the temp down a little quicker than without the fan... Keep the brews cold, ya know...
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Old 02-19-2016, 07:40 PM   #7
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I do pretty much what you do. I keep frozen water in juice jugs which I use in coolers and in the fridge. The day before I wish to load the fridge I pack the fridge and freezer with ice packs and frozen water jugs. The next morning I turn it on and in the afternoon load the fridge. As FlyBob stated the more cold mass you have the better the system works. When the food is loaded the extra space is filled with the frozen juice bottles and ice packs. We keep our water bottles in a cooler and the frozen jugs and ice packs are cycled through there.
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Old 02-19-2016, 11:22 PM   #8
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I freeze water bottles and put them in the freezer and refrigerator. It is a quick way to get the temperature down. We load up and are on our way in short order.
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Old 02-20-2016, 10:21 AM   #9
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Frozen 1/2 gallon milk containers work Great,,, in a fridge or on the bottom of a cooler,,, just do not fill them all the way before you freeze them !!!
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Old 02-21-2016, 12:35 PM   #10
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Best Fridge Cooling Fan???

What's the best fridge cooling fan to get? When I check on Amazon several come up with varying reviews on each. Anyone have any recommendations / preferences?
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Old 02-21-2016, 02:04 PM   #11
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Originally Posted by Ontherock View Post
What's the best fridge cooling fan to get? When I check on Amazon several come up with varying reviews on each. Anyone have any recommendations / preferences?
I just grabbed the "white one" on camping world for $13/$14... Nothing fancy, no off/on switch - uses 2 D cells - pop it open when done & take batteries out..the 2 batteries lasted us all last season. I have heard the "blue one" doesn't work very well, just some reviews somewhere, no personal experience . .
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Old 02-21-2016, 02:12 PM   #12
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I have had the blue cool can for years and it has worked fine bought it on Ebay. 2 D cell batteries and an off on switch which seems to be the weak link in the cool can. My observation is that it does help keep the temp even in the frig. I think they are worth the few dollars they cost. IMHO
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Old 02-21-2016, 02:38 PM   #13
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Originally Posted by Ontherock View Post
What's the best fridge cooling fan to get? When I check on Amazon several come up with varying reviews on each. Anyone have any recommendations / preferences?
This is the one I bought several years ago. It has stood the test of time and it seems to be very effective. I can tell the difference when the batteries have died and it is not blowing. It runs on two D batteries and will run for about one month.

http://www.amazon.com/Camco-44123-Fr...ds=Camco+44123

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Old 02-23-2016, 01:53 AM   #14
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I don't do anything.....just turn it on at home, and about 2 hours later it's at the proper temp. All we do is refrigerate all the items that will go in the RV frig ahead of time. Too much trouble doing all that frozen stuff, then moving it all, then doing it again every time we go camping! Rather let "Mr. Energy" work then me!!
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Old 02-23-2016, 05:49 AM   #15
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My rig stays plugged in when not traveling.
Fridge is on. Put cold items in a cold fridge. I haven't yet, run the fridge on propane, and even after 3 hours on the road, everything is still cold.


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Old 02-23-2016, 07:46 AM   #16
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We turn ours the night before we want to load it,,, when we do load it we put as much Ice in the freezer as we can,,, we make as much as we can store @ home a few days before we leave !!! I hate sending the wife to the store for a $5 bag of frozen H2O !!!
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Old 02-23-2016, 09:35 AM   #17
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I think I'm going to try to make sure we have a couple of frozen steaks to include every time we load the 'fridge...
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Old 02-23-2016, 09:42 AM   #18
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I think I'm going to try to make sure we have a couple of frozen steaks to include every time we load the 'fridge...
Don't forget the Brats !!!
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Old 02-23-2016, 02:39 PM   #19
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Don't forget the Brats !!!
The brats can eat hotdogs. Steaks are only for the DW and I...




Oh, you mean bratwurst.
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Old 02-23-2016, 02:45 PM   #20
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The brats can eat hotdogs. Steaks are only for the DW and I...




Oh, you mean bratwurst.
LOL !!! Yes I did !!!
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