Propane Fridges

An absorption fridge is magic. It makes fire into ice!!
(Obsession over exactly this was one of the bases for the insanity of the protagonist of Paul Theroux's The Mosquito Coast.)

In 2009, Gabe and I found a beat-up RV propane-only fridge in a ditch in a gravel parking lot. I fixed it up, added a back and we camped with it and used it during power outages e.g. after hurricanes, for a decade. The fact that it ran only on propane wasn't really an issue, but it was quite heavy and a bit finicky. Its pics are at the bottom.

Fast forward to June 2021: imagine my delight when I saw a three-way (12v car power, 110v, and propane) portable fridge, an early 1980s Dometic RC-160, for sale on FB Marketplace! I made an offer and immediately drove out to Middle Sackville with $40 in my hot little hands. I'm the third owner; I bought it from the daughter of the first.

It looks great, lights immediately, never blows out, and works perfectly in all three modes.

Energy use: in electric it uses 85W or about 35¢ worth of power a day; on propane it burns exactly a half a pound (25¢ worth from Costco, 75¢ from Irving or 3.35$ in the 1-lb canister shown here, per day.)

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