This post may contain affiliate links.

I tried to like our RV’s fridge.  Really, I did.  I even went so far as to cut the door down to make it less ridiculous.  In the end though, I just couldn’t make myself love absorption refrigeration, and that sealed this refrigerator’s fate.  I’m officially embarking on replacing that refrigerator with a (twin) compressor-driven fridge from Nova Kool.  As you watch the video below, think of the beginning of Gilligan’s Island where you see the boat leaving the harbor…  “a three-hour tour…”  Because that’s pretty much how these projects go.

 

I freely admit that I didn’t do everything I could have to make the absorption refrigerator work great.  Here is a partial list of things I didn’t do:

  • Always start the fridge 24 hours before you load it for a trip
  • Add an additional powered fan to circulate air in the refrigerator
  • Don’t pack the fridge too tightly so air can circulate
  • Disassemble, clean, and reassemble the burner before each trip
  • Use the “winter covers” when the temperature drops outside
  • Be sure to rotate your rig so the fridge is out of the sun when the temperatures outside rise

 

I didn’t do any of those things BECAUSE THEY’RE STUPID!

If someone told you to do any one of those things with a new household refrigerator – you’d tell them to take a hike and you’d buy a different fridge.  Nobody would accept that in the real world.  Yet for some reason, RV consumers have accepted these limitations and poor performance since biblical times.  Maybe because pretty much ALL RVs have had these propane-powered refrigerators for decades, people assumed nothing else was available.  But there have been other, better options available for a long time, and that’s what I’m installing.  It’s simply a better way to go.

So, as you watch this video – and the ones to come – hopefully you’re entertained.  But I also hope you’re inspired… to look for better refrigeration options in your next RV purchase!  If everyone quits accepting absorption refrigerators in RVs, maybe they’ll quit selling them!  And when they do, we’ll all be better off.

Wish me luck!

James