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Old 08-28-2016, 04:20 PM   #1
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Gas or electric which is better?

When cooling down your refrigerator which works better? When you are at an RV park which is better for the fridge.
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Old 08-28-2016, 04:23 PM   #2
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It's best to cool it down before you get there ( 24 hours ). I would not use propane at a CG if I had electric.
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Old 08-28-2016, 04:33 PM   #3
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I agree totally.
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Old 08-28-2016, 05:27 PM   #4
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When at home and just starting the frig cool down we use the gas setting - works faster than the electric option. After the initial cool-down and whenever power is available we use that - and all works well ...
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Old 08-28-2016, 05:56 PM   #5
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Originally Posted by Lv2Roam2 View Post
When at home and just starting the frig cool down we use the gas setting - works faster than the electric option. After the initial cool-down and whenever power is available we use that - and all works well ...
This aligns to my experience.
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Old 08-28-2016, 07:42 PM   #6
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Always use electric when it's available.

If you are not paying separately for electric its more economical. Saves you on the cost of propane and reduces your trips to fill the propane tank.
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Old 08-28-2016, 08:01 PM   #7
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If it is hot outside, we use propane even in a campground. A refrigerator doesn't use much gas. We use electric only in moderate temps in a campground.
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Old 08-29-2016, 06:58 AM   #8
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It's my understanding that these fridges use so little propane that it's not even worth being concerned about. I find our fridge cools better on gas and generally leave it on that setting. The big propane drain is the furnace and to a lesser degree the water heater.
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Old 08-29-2016, 07:13 AM   #9
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I went to factory school on the Dometic and Norcold refrigerators. They had cutouts of cooling units that were restricted and had to be replaced. I noticed that the restrictions were right where the electric elements sat. I asked the instructor if this was caused by the heating element getting hot in a much smaller area than the gas flame area. He said the factory approach was both were equal, but he and most of the guys at the factory felt Gas was better and would prolong the life of the cooling coil. I run my refrigerator on gas almost all the time.
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Old 08-29-2016, 09:43 AM   #10
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do you have an 'auto' on the power selection? select that then enjoy life.
my auto always turn to electric whenever it's present.
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Old 08-29-2016, 11:59 AM   #11
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Wink

Older fridges had weak electric heat elements and generally worked better (faster cooling) on gas. Newer ones have more powerful electric heaters and the difference in cooling time is probably insignificant.

Once the heat is sufficient to boil the ammonia coolant, adding more heat doesn't really make it any colder or cool any faster. There are no doubt some marginal conditions where electric heat is barely enough and the gas does better, but that would NOT be in high outside temperatures. Cooling in hot weather depends largely on the ability of the condensor fins at the top of the cooling unit to quickly shed heat, and then for the evaporator fins in the two cooling sections to do likewise. A hotter burner, whether gas or electric, doesn't help any.

Since it seems to be an article of faith among RVers that gas cools faster/better, I've probably wasted my energy typing this.
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Old 08-29-2016, 12:20 PM   #12
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Older fridges had weak electric heat elements and generally worked better (faster cooling) on gas. Newer ones have more powerful electric heaters and the difference in cooling time is probably insignificant.

Once the heat is sufficient to boil the ammonia coolant, adding more heat doesn't really make it any colder or cool any faster. There are no doubt some marginal conditions where electric heat is barely enough and the gas does better, but that would NOT be in high outside temperatures. Cooling in hot weather depends largely on the ability of the condensor fins at the top of the cooling unit to quickly shed heat, and then for the evaporator fins in the two cooling sections to do likewise. A hotter burner, whether gas or electric, doesn't help any.

Since it seems to be an article of faith among RVers that gas cools faster/better, I've probably wasted my energy typing this.
Most likely this is a true statement but I agree that electric works just as fast as gas in my coach and anytime I can hook into a plug I will run things that way. Interesting about the older electrical units not being as good because that seemed to be the case with my older 97 Adventurer.
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Old 08-29-2016, 12:21 PM   #13
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I went to factory school on the Dometic and Norcold refrigerators. They had cutouts of cooling units that were restricted and had to be replaced. I noticed that the restrictions were right where the electric elements sat. I asked the instructor if this was caused by the heating element getting hot in a much smaller area than the gas flame area. He said the factory approach was both were equal, but he and most of the guys at the factory felt Gas was better and would prolong the life of the cooling coil. I run my refrigerator on gas almost all the time.
I heard the exact same thing. Also, cooling unit failures on models without the ARP control happen on AC mode. Now, it's off level operation that eventually causes the failure but apparently it's been noted to occur on AC rather than LP. Maybe because it's a direct heat source on the flu tubing rather than at the bottom of the flue opening.
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Old 08-29-2016, 02:45 PM   #14
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I turn mine on several days before a trip with electric mode then gas or genny while driving then back to electric once I reach my destination.
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