Date: Thu, 15 Feb 2001 19:34:23 -0700
Reply-To: John Klun <jklun@GJ.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: John Klun <jklun@GJ.NET>
Subject: Re: How propane refrigerators work
Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
Hey all-
I live off grid and rely on propane for everything. I have a propane refrigerator
(a Consul), propane hot water, heat, cooking etc. I have a big generator powered
by propane for the heavy stuff we need to run like vacuum cleaner and anything
that requires high amps. We also have a small gasoline powered generator for the
every other day charging of our batteries for our 1500 watt inverter. We have a
big Maytag washer (needs the big genset) and we hang our laundry out to dry. The
vanagon (REQUIRED VANAGON CONTENT) is parked right outside our back door of our
mobile home. As soon as we can afford it, we'll start buying solar panels to
charge our batteries which we'll later use when we build our house. We plan on
being totally off grid and rely less on generators.
For those of you who are interested in solar power for your westies, there are a
couple of sites on the 'net such as http://www.homepower.com
http://www.realgoods.com.
Real Goods is a catalog company with a lot of excellent information in their
"Solar Living Sourcebook". It is a bible of sorts for solar equipment and power.
It includes inverters and solar panels for campers and motor homes as well as off
grid housing. In fact, they even have a solar power system for on grid homes in
which you can 'sell' back power to the power company; it's manufactured by Trace
Engineering.
John Rodgers wrote:
> Propane refrigerators of today that are found in the Westy's use heat of
> the flame as the energy source to drive the cooling system. This is
> basically the same system that was used many many years ago in the
> Cervelle kerosene fired refrigerators. May rural homes had them when
> there was no electricity and kerosene was a nickel a gallon or less. It
> worked great. I think Cervelle can be found on the internet if any one
> is interested in pursuing it further.
>
> And speaking of heat as a source to drive the ammonia based cooling
> system, I've a friend who uses solar panels to heat water that drives
> his Cervelle based cooling system for his house.
>
> John Rodgers
> 88 GL driver without a refrigerator, propane or otherwise.
>
> Brian Asbury wrote:
> >
> > Not knowing much about Westys or RVs in general, I had always wondered about
> > this. This tip of the day showed up in my inbox. I thought some of the other
> > list members might find it interesting. Check out www.topica.com for more
> > mailing list information.
> >
> > SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY TIP
> >
> > COLD FROM HEAT
> > How do propane refrigerators work?
> >
> > This question comes in from reader M. King, and anyone who's spent quality
> > time in a big RV might have wondered the same. RV propane refrigerators not
> > only cool food by burning gas, they do it without engines, compressors, or
> > any moving parts at all. Here are the basics: Propane refrigerators
> > typically use ammonia, water, and hydrogen gas to create a continuous cycle.
> > The burning propane heats a solution of ammonia and water in the generator.
> > The ammonia gas is separated and flows to a condenser, where metal coils
> > allow the gas to dissipate its heat and condense into a liquid. The liquid
> > ammonia then mixes with hydrogen gas in the evaporator, producing cold.
> > Finally, the ammonia is mixed back in with the water, and the hydrogen gas
> > sent back to the evaporator. Then the cycle starts anew. For a more detailed
> > explanation, check this out:
> >
> > http://www.nh3tech.org/abs.html
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