Refrigeration in France, Italy and Spain etc
Thinking about refrigeration in Europe for our summer visit, while sitting in the relative cold of a late winter climate in the UK tends to muddy the thoughts a little.
In previous years, when we have visited France and Italy during the summer months, we have always taken an extra fridge with us (with compressor facility) to supplement the caravan fridge. Now we are moving to a caravan with a larger (absorption) fridge, I'm just beginning to wonder if we really need the 'awning' fridge. The trouble is, the awning fridge, having the campressor facility, is generally more efficient than the caravan fridge as it is less dependant on ambient temperature.
Should I bite the bullet and leave the awning fridge at home (which takes up room in the boot of the car and is really quite heavy to lump around) or take it with me. If I take it, we will probably have more 'fridge room' than we need, but, my awning fridge is efficient!!
In the end of the day, it is only us that can make the right decision, but I thought it might be useful for others to share their 'fridge experiences' while visiting warmer climes across the channel.
David
Comments
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We always have (and probably always will) take an extra fridge. We find that having plenty of room to keep drinks cold is helpful, we can shop less because we have a fridge full of food, and we can help ourselves out in the awning, on a hot day, to really
cold water, beer, white wine, or cordials - and we can even make extra ice outside.Personally I wouldn't be without ours. I really don't know how we would keep drinks cold without as our fridge is fairly small and generally pretty packed with fresh food.
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David, we have a 122 litre Dometic 8 fridge/freezer in our caravan and in Austria/Slovenia last year had temperatures of 30/32 degrees, and it coped admirably on a 60% setting.
Cooling capacity: refrigerator +7°C, freezer compartment
down to –12°C at ambient temperatures up to 32°C
(corresponds to climate class SN)0 -
Hi BB - just for information our current (absorption) caravan fridge is 115 litres and our compressor fridge for the awning is 40 litres (Total 155 litres). Our fridge in the new caravan is 133 litres. In terms of capacity, we have not had a problem with 155 litres of space, but the two fridges have different systems for cooling - the awning fridge being much more efficient.
I'd forgotten about keeping water cool, Val - and we do drink a lot of it while over there - and other soft and acoholic drinks too. I'm feeling I might miss my awning fridge.
One all then, so far!!! - and I think Dave may be in the 'leave the awning fridge at home camp!
David
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Absorbsion fridges by their nature can only cool down roughly 25-30 degrees from ambient. That is why the compressor fridge works better in a hot climate.
We keep things like smelly cheeses well out of the van in the awning fridge along with the beer.
Dave
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We changed our caravan last year and one of the main things I hate about the new caravan is that the fridge is only half the size. {well, it feels like it} I never thought about an extra one for the awning. Is it a bog standard fridge you use or special for caravanning?
Got excited at the idea then remembered we don't use an awning any more so no where to put it.
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We rarely put our awning up either - and here you can see the fridge under the 'cooking table' at the side of the van (under the blue plastic tablecloth).
DSB Edit: I hope you don't mind Val, but I've edited your picture to make it fit the width. Best wishes, David
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In the past we have taken a small LEC fridge with us and when we got fed up with the weight and always having it level we changed to a Halfords cool box. However for the last 5/6 years we have not bothered. Our last caravan had a fairly large under work top fridge and our motorhome has a large fridge freezer so we don't think we need additional cooling. I suspect as we have got older we have tended to drink less alcohol which has reduced our need for more storage!!!
David
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In the past we have taken a small LEC fridge with us and when we got fed up with the weight and always having it level we changed to a Halfords cool box. However for the last 5/6 years we have not bothered. Our last caravan had a fairly large under work
top fridge and our motorhome has a large fridge freezer so we don't think we need additional cooling. I suspect as we have got older we have tended to drink less alcohol which has reduced our need for more storage!!!David
Write your comments here...If that is a sign of getting older we are not going to look forward to that then! We are both 75% this year .............is it down hill now then?.
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In the past we have taken a small LEC fridge with us and when we got fed up with the weight and always having it level we changed to a Halfords cool box. However for the last 5/6 years we have not bothered. Our last caravan had a fairly large under work
top fridge and our motorhome has a large fridge freezer so we don't think we need additional cooling. I suspect as we have got older we have tended to drink less alcohol which has reduced our need for more storage!!!David
Write your comments here...If that is a sign of getting older we are not going to look forward to that then! We are both 75% this year .............is it down hill now then?.
Panic not ADP1963. The problem does not afflict all senior citizens. My efforts to reduce the EU wine lake remain undiminished.
Write your comments here...Thanks DD we were getting worried for a moment.We thought Oh No we are the Back Sheep again!.
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I'm veering towards taking it with me, but Ill pop back a bit later to see if there are other responses!!
David
I would. We have one of these for
our beer fridge ... it wasn't quite as much as that... and usually take it with us even in the UK where it lives in the awning. It's been great & always chilled our drinks though it's not really had to work very hard in the past few years.0 -
My advice is to take the awning fridge with you. If we have another summer like last year in Italy you'll need it.
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