Changing the 3 way fridge
Hi Everyone, We are revamping our motorhome, and have decided to change the fridge that is in there to a smaller one. Can anyone advise me on how easy this is to do, or do I need to get some one in to do this. Are 3 way fridges the better ones or a compression fridge. Any help and advise would be appreciated. Thanks
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I’d stick with a 3 way for versatility of running options and silence.
https://www.jacksonsleisure.com/absorption/
https://www.jacksonsleisure.com/caravan-and-camping/fridges/compressor/
As for doing it yourself, it depends if you’re competent at connecting power and gas supplies. It could perhaps be said that someone needing to ask the question maybe shouldn’t tackle the job🤷🏻♂️. Only you can decide.
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Just a personal opinion but is it wise to go for a smaller fridge? Our current motorhome has the fairly standard under counter fridge with tiny freezer and having had a larger fridge/freezer in our previous motorhome we find the one we have now on the small side especially if you are going to be away from shops for more than a couple of days.
David
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You can never have to much fridge capacity. Don't go smaller.
Colin
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Cheers for your replies. I personally am not competent in doing this, but my husband is a sparky so is, just wanted to know if easy to do as very new to motorhoming. Thank you for your link, I will have a good read.
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When my Compressor fridge failed I only needed a little, non-technical help to swap it for the new one ! Placed the new one just inside the side door of Ducato then removed securing screws { One per side } eased the old fridge forward, removed 12 volt cable CAREFULLY ! - lifted it onto the top of the replacement Instructed the 'Help' to carefully lift & remove old one, moved new one into approx position - connected wiring, slid { with a slight lift } into position, inserted side screws took some goodies from household fridge and some from freezer put in new item & turned it on --- A gentle hum and soon a nice cool drink of Milk was available & enjoyed !!
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There are, even dual electric ones but I think most are transformer driven when on 240volts. We had one when camping but to be honest it was a pain, took an age cool down and was not that elective or efficient. Never got cold beer on the hot days of summer.
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Horrid thought that, Micky Lad -- but mine was good until it failed and the replacement { which as before works from the 12v camping battery, not the engine starter } is still capable of keeping my icecreams solid all on its own, Honest
!! Merve would never forgive me if I needed mains on a summers evening after a sweaty steam rally 
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I tend to agree that reducing capacity might cause problems unless pretty confident about supply of fresh 'replacements. Certainly, being away from shops for a while might highlight a change like this.
what is the benefit to you, the users, of any space freed up?...an extra cupboard or small wardrobe?
then there is the technical side of running different types of device...
Compressor fridges, with small capacity, are all the rage in small camper vans and these are usually 12v driven, but can take lots of battery power.
so even small vans can end up being kitted with larger batteries and solar to keep things running...ok, if on mains the batteries will get topped up
with a three way fridge there are the other power options...direct mains but also gas which can still power your fridge on a series of dull days despite not having access to a mains supply.
all this depends on the benefit (and cost) of the change re layout and whether one type of fridge has any specific advantage over another when it comes to the style of camping the OP does.
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ScreenName4D2CCDB855, you don't say whether your existing fridge is a three way absorption or an electric compressor type. If it's the former, you could replace it with either type. If it's the latter you would need to make many changes regarding provision of gas, mains electric and exhaust of combustion products to fit an absorption type.
As discussed by others, compression fridges are generally more effective than absorption type, particularly in warm weather, but the downside is the high 12V current consumption and the constant humming noise.
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