arcsum68
Norther CA
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My in-laws have a houseboat and someone told them to just leave thier fridge on when they leave the boat, they go about 3 times a month so the thing could be sitting alone for up to 2 weeks at times. He asked me about it, and I didnt have a good answer for him, seems like it would be nice cause the fridge would always be cold, but then theres the possiblity of a problem leaving that propane on. It is a Dometic and does auto ignite, not sure if it shuts itself down if it cant.
Anybody have any feelings on that?
Thanks!
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SKnight
Georgia
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Other than being wasteful I can't see why not. I would do a google search on the particular model and see if there have been instances of fires while unattended. I would test the thermocouple, make sure if it can't reignite it shuts the gas down.
I would think getting a dockhand to go turn it on a day or two before would be better, but I'm also cheap.
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trnfla
Tampa
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It requires that battery to operate. So as long as the battery stays up it should be fine.
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beemerphile1
NE Ohio
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They are designed to be operated for long periods of time but it is a waste of LP gas and requires battery power as well.
I would think that there is also a greater risk of fire that would not exist if the LP gas was turned off at the tank.
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arcsum68
Norther CA
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Yeah, we know its wasteful, problem is you go out there for 3 to 5 days and when its 100 and the fridge side of the boat is sitting in the sun all day it takes a day and a half for the thing to get cool.
I thought those things were pretty efficient in the propane usage, how long do you think it would take a fridge to go through a single tank if it was used exlusively for the fridge?
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catkins
Washington
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I assume you do not have shore power. Battery drain could be the bigger problem along with the use of propane as stated above. Without knowing the size of the propane tank is hard to estimate how long it could last...........
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arcsum68
Norther CA
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Standard 5 gallon tank, hes got 3, but he would create a seperate tank just for the fridge. No shore power at all, his batteries are shot, but he does have a solar panel so it could probably sustain itself. He doesnt have any active venting, so we may try that first, since I just read about it.
Thanks for all the help
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Finally Fulltiming
Summer: Finger Lakes, NY; Winter: Somewhere warm
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My Norcold refrigerator with separate freezer (unsure of size/model) ran for 30+ days straight on less than 7 gal.'s of propane.
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Hornet28BHDS
Parker, PA
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I can't see a problem with it!
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Dancing Bear
upstate New York
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Ours has been on since July fourth weekend. I do run a HF solar system though, so battery drainage is not an issue and since we're dry camping I do have a 60 gallon propane tank hooked up. As of last weekend the tank gauge reads 54%. This includes a few weekends of frig AND heater use from April to the end of June as well.
Filled with 48.5 gallons initially, so 30% 0f 48.5 = approx. 15 gallons. And at @ $3.20/gallon = $48 to date.
Sorry to wander off the original concern. But if you lose power, the gas solenoid will shut off gas flow. Our neighbors found that out the hard way when husband left only one battery hooked up and left it running all week after a weekend of fairly heavy use.
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