I'll chip in with Dave. The Dometic, while not as good as it could be, is far from worthless. It's free if you already have it. It will run for three weeks without bothering you for ice. It will keep things nicely cooled in moderate weather. In hot weather, it needs all the shade it can get. In really hot weather, bring a cooler for daytime backup. The versatility of the 3-way fridge fill makes up for its performance shortcomings to an acceptable degree. Coolers and ice are cheap, and make a good backup in really hot weather. During the part of the year that the family camps with me, the Dometic is fine. I, on the other hand, go kayaking all summer long, and I supplement the dometic with a cooler. I spend about 30 nights and days a year in my westy, and I live in Alabama, so I have run into just about everything you can imagin temperature-wise and situation-wise. You can get better-performing refrigerators that fit in that space, but you can't get one that runs on 12v, 110v and LP gas that I know of. Next time mine's out, it's the mylar bubble wrap for me. For those inclined to go on extended stays in really hot weather, may I suggest a Yeti cooler. The marine police down here use them. They keep stuff cold for a week or so. Expensive, though. Jim |
Please note - During the past 17 years of operation, several gigabytes of
Vanagon mail messages have been archived. Searching the entire collection
will take up to five minutes to complete. Please be patient!
Return to the archives @ gerry.vanagon.com
The vanagon mailing list archives are copyright (c) 1994-2011, and may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the list administrators. Posting messages to this mailing list grants a license to the mailing list administrators to reproduce the message in a compilation, either printed or electronic. All compilations will be not-for-profit, with any excess proceeds going to the Vanagon mailing list.
Any profits from list compilations go exclusively towards the management and operation of the Vanagon mailing list and vanagon mailing list web site.