venting fridge

[sheila1939]

Just put in a fridge from lowes in my fifth wheel, the other one went bottms up with nothing to fix it but 800.00coils, could not afford that.
What my question is , what about the two venting things i have for my old one, do i close them up? How much venting do i have to have for this house fridge,,houses do not vent them, why do i have to?
Ok now that i have you more experienced people laughing, how about an answer, want this fridge to work right.
It is a house fridge, not another rv one
Sheila

[Bill Adams]

You don't need a roof vent at all but you should keep some amount of ventilation. In a home that usually just means there is space behind the fridge and the air naturally rises up and over the fridge. If you have an opening in the side of the coach which provided circulation for the old fridge you have enough ventilation now and the roof vent will work fine without fans (or with them if you like). One thing to consider is the ice maker water lines. I did not consider this when I was camped in Flagstaff, AZ in 0 degree weather. The side vent let plenty of cold air into that space and burst the line. If I go that cold again I will close up that opening and let the heat of the fridge keep that line nice and cozy.

[MSHappyCampers]

Hi Sheila! I don't have the answer but I bet you will get a lot more responses if you put the question in the "RV Systems & Appliances" section. People don't look for things like that here. Good luck

[Senior Chief]

I would leave the current vents alone. A household fridge is not meant to fit into a tight cupboard without provision for any airflow at all (which is what you'd have if you close off the vents). Cover the vent on the side if you must, but I'd leave the top alone.

Why cause yourself extra work?

[jwmort]

Which model did you buy at Lowes. The fridge in our RV went out and we're trying to find one that fits in the slot (without any cutting). Curious as to if you had that problem with your 5th Wheel.

[jwmort]

Sheila, you shouldn't need the vent since you took the LP system out of the rig. There is no real reason to have it, nor is there any reason why you couldn't cover it from the inside. If it were me, I'd simply get a piece of blue insulation, that's used for house construction, and some duct tape, and cover the hole on the inside. I wouldn't do anything drastic to the exterior, it's a hassle not worth the time. My 2 cents worth. The fridge in our RV is in a "slot" and hard to find the correct size at Lowe's.

[sheila1939]

Its a 9.7 top freezer. As i had a 300 lb double door dometic, i have room left over, plenty of room on both sides and two inches on the top. just make sure you will have room to open both freezer and fridge doors.
My son in law had to cut one inch off the top of the cabinet to slide it in there,so the freezer door would open. This fridge can be ordered in black also, i got the white, cause it was in stock, and i couldnt wait. It was on sale for 359.00, i love it. The local rv place is using this model to replace ones like mine , rv fridges are too expensive, for me anyway. The model number is ETOMSRXTQ02, hope this helps
Sheila

[sheila1939]

Thank you, i didnt know.
But contrary to your advice, i got the info i needed but will be sure to get the right forum for the right thing, thanks again

[paz]

Most household refrigerators take air in to cool the coils at one side at the bottom and vent it back to the room at the other side at the bottom. There is no need for an outside vent.

You will likely need access through the outside door to reach the plug and and water connections for the icemaker if the fridge has one, but you can close off the vent openings.

[Shore2Shore]

We had one from lowes too fitted in place of a dead norcold,a top freezer one. Had to get it inside with the doors off & got through the rigs door fine,then the guy who put it in had minimal cutting at the top & both sides off the cabinet it sits in.

Have often wondered about still needing the roof and side wall vents,has worked perfectly for the 2 years its been installed,that's with the existing norcold roof vent & wall opening as they were.