> Many RV fridges are spec'ed +/-3 in one direction and +/-6 in the > other. Ours is +/-8 either way. My camper manual with my '87 Westy specs 7 degrees. I took a level and checked and decided that I would not consider the van level enough to sleep in WAY before 7 degrees, so that was my measure. I only shut down the fridge when parked on very steep slopes such as a trailhead parking lot, etc. > If you're expecting performance like a compressor fridge, you're > doomed. You get to pick between home-fridge performance (compressor > units) or silent long-duration (weeks) operation on propane > (absorption units). Most RVs, including the BIG RIGs, have absorption fridges--side-by- side units. Lots of rural houses around the world have absorption fridges. Servel is owned by Dometic now. We used Servel fridges in mtn cabins growing up. Anyway, absorption fridges and freezers can work great in all conditions. The real problem with the 182-sized fridge is size. The bigger the fridge, the easier to keep cold. Surface area goes up by the square but volume by the cube. Most RVs have fridges that are "somewhat" or "a lot" bigger than the 182--and so they work better. A small fridge like the 182 has cooling sized to work in the middle temp range. At the extremes, it has a disadvantage--it can't stay cold or gets too cold. The cooling is sized to the volume not the surface area. A fridge that is a 1 unit sphere has area of 4pi and volume of 1.3pi. Make it 4 units and the area is 64pi but the volume is now ~85pi. The same math says that a Vitri that is double the size of what we are installing would work better--use fewer amps, have steadier internal temp, or be better in some way. Or maybe just have thinner insulation! Richard |
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