Gas Consumption - Fridge

B

BubbyBoyUK

Joined
Sep 10, 2021
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Location
North Devon, UK
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84,092
MH
Renault Master 2.5 T
Good day - We've inherited an Electrolux RM 4270 fridge which is powered by either gas or mains 230v. It's currently linked to a 7kg Calor Butane bottle. It runs well on both gas and mains, however, the bottle's not in a proper gas proof locker. It fits very snugly into it's current locker - so snug in fact, that there's insufficient room to install a gas proof locker without substantial alterations to the surrounding structure, which I'd like to avoid - height is the main restriction. However, a 4.5kg bottle locker will fit in nicely. The previous owner of the van, tells me that the gas consumption of the fridge is 'minimal', other reports on the 'net' contradict this! I fully appreciate that power (gas) usage is subject to many variables, but for interests sake, I'd appreciate hearing the experiences of others who have the same or a similar fridge. We hope to use our van, mainly 'off grid', for about 6 to 8 week a years. If we do go to the 4.5 kg bottle, we plan to carry a spare (in an appropriate gas safe locker). Ideally, we should really replace the current gas fridge with a 12v/mains one, but as beginners to 'vanlife', it might be better to stick with what we've got for the moment.

Thanks for listening!
 
A 7 kg propane holds approx 14 litres of gas ,we have a tall dometic fridge freezer and we use approx 1 litre of gas per day with cooking on gas rings ( if we use the oven or gas heating,it's a lot more ) the 7 kg costs about £26-28 to exchange.but currently hard to find exchanges
The 4.5 kg bottle only holds 8-9 litres of gas. And costs around £15 to exchange. ,If you can find someone with 4.5kg bottles that is.
Butane is not the best gas to use in the winter unless your van is warm enough for the gas to evaporate ,normally it's propane but butane does have a higher calorific value ,IE it burns hotter and is more efficient per litre than propane .
Personally I would go for the 7 kg( 6 kg propane). And improve the size of the gas locker.
A more expensive route to consider is fitting an underslung tank.
 
The consumption is also influenced by the ambient temperature. In a typical UK winter it won't use very much but in a Spanish summer you might be looking at up to a Kg a day as already suggested. Our small 20 litre fridge can use up to about 0.7 litres a day when it's very hot. Apologies for the mix of units but we have an underslung tank and buy gas by volume. Outlets for LPG for underslung tanks have become fewer in recent years but they can still be found. Its an option worth considering

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This is all that the User Manual says for gas consumption............ 0.27kg per 24hrs.
The spec'n below says that on 12v it takes 120W (10 amps) so a 120Ah wet battery might run it (only the fridge) for around 6 hours as you will only get useful voltage down to around 50% of its declared capacity.

Manual is here:

Dometic RM4270 User Manual | Manualzz

View online (10 pages) or download PDF (179 KB) Dometic RM4270 User manual • RM4270 fridges PDF manual download and more Dometic online manuals
manualzz.com manualzz.com


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Take a look underneath and see if there's room for an underslung tank. Then you can get a much larger tank and don't need a gas locker at all.
 
You can run a fridge on 12 v but three way fridges are expensive to buy ,and for 12 v whilst stationary you will need a lot of solar and batteries.If you don't have lots of solar then the 12 v option is only with the engine running.
 
DBK said:
Outlets for LPG for underslung tanks have become fewer in recent years but they can still be found. Its an option worth considering
Click to expand...

However, they haven't reduced as much as reliable outlets to buy Calor!
 
Thanks to you all for taking time to reply. I've still not decided which route to take. However, I've taken delivery of a 140 w solar panel (van has a 135 ah wet leisure battery) and will fit that shortly, giving me the 12 v and 3 way option for a new fridge. I don't wan't to totally dismiss keeping the existing fridge without a little more research. As Jimbohorlicks points out, availability of the Calor 4.5 and 7 kg is a real issue. The next question is, which gas bottle brand is most widely used and readily available in the UK?
 
BubbyBoyUK said:
The next question is, which gas bottle brand is most widely used and readily available in the UK?
Click to expand...
Calor is the most widely available in U.K. but availability has varied from patchy to unobtainable during the pandemic period.
(The shortage is claimed to be the effect of shortage of steel for new cylinders, isolating or too few delivery drivers, increased demand for gas from holidaying in U.K. motorhomers, plus the increased requirement for cylinders to equip new motorhomes).
 
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Your van may not be wired to use 12V except when the engine is running. Can you not line the existing locker with alloy sheet to make it gas tight? You could then retain the larger bottle.
 
BubbyBoyUK said:
Thanks to you all for taking time to reply. I've still not decided which route to take. However, I've taken delivery of a 140 w solar panel (van has a 135 ah wet leisure battery) and will fit that shortly, giving me the 12 v and 3 way option for a new fridge. I don't wan't to totally dismiss keeping the existing fridge without a little more research. As Jimbohorlicks points out, availability of the Calor 4.5 and 7 kg is a real issue. The next question is, which gas bottle brand is most widely used and readily available in the UK?
Click to expand...

If you want to run your fridge off 12V without your engine running, you'll need to buy a compressor fridge (which uses a fraction of the energy, but can't run on gas). These have a number of advantages and disadvantages compared with traditional 3 way fridges. Which is best for you depends on many factors.

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Hello again - regarding insufficient locker height for fitting a 7 kg bottle, gas safe locker - the locker adds extra height to the overall height of the installation, causing the main workings of the Propex heater unit behind it, to be inaccessible. This would be unacceptable from repair/ service/safety viewpoint. There is however, a sturdy locker above the current bottle location (see attached photo) which would accommodate the locker/bottle perfectly. There's a shelf above this lock, which I can, if necessary, raise to suit. The 'drop out vent arrangement ' would comprise a standard drop out vent towards the side of the base, beneath which, would be fixed a plastic vent pipe , leading to a skin fitting at floor level (thus venting beneath the van) in the locker floor, below. For added safety, I can 'box' the plastic pipe into the side of the lower locker, (where the 7kg bottle is currently located). I've done a 'lift test' - although I a feeble old chap, it's no real effort to lift the 7kg bottle the extra height - it would add a little to instability, but nothing dramatic. Does anyone have any significant, negative thoughts on the idea????
 

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BubbyBoyUK said:
Hello again - regarding insufficient locker height for fitting a 7 kg bottle, gas safe locker - the locker adds extra height to the overall height of the installation, causing the main workings of the Propex heater unit behind it, to be inaccessible. This would be unacceptable from repair/ service/safety viewpoint. There is however, a sturdy locker above the current bottle location (see attached photo) which would accommodate the locker/bottle perfectly. There's a shelf above this lock, which I can, if necessary, raise to suit. The 'drop out vent arrangement ' would comprise a standard drop out vent towards the side of the base, beneath which, would be fixed a plastic vent pipe , leading to a skin fitting at floor level (thus venting beneath the van) in the locker floor, below. For added safety, I can 'box' the plastic pipe into the side of the lower locker, (where the 7kg bottle is currently located). I've done a 'lift test' - although I a feeble old chap, it's no real effort to lift the 7kg bottle the extra height - it would add a little to instability, but nothing dramatic. Does anyone have any significant, negative thoughts on the idea????
Click to expand...

I'm not sure of the rules around what counts as a compliant gas locker, but I would seriously doubt that it is worth doing until you eliminate the possibility of an underslung cylinder, which will be safer, larger and probably cheaper to install, let alone cheaper to run.
 
Thanks CMC75 for your advice. At this stage I wanted to only consider mods I'm confident that I can do myself. Fitting an underslung cylinder is certainly the ultimate, but it's not something I would attempt to do myself. Having maintained and fitted out yachts all my life, I'm reasonably confident at DIY, but it's now come to the stage in life where I'm very restricted in the 'flexibility' stakes. Crawling under or any task below the waste is usually too much effort, unless I'm really desperate. However, on your advice, I will check out what's involved in getting an underslung tank professionally fitted. Thanks again.
 

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