How to adjust the temperature of a gas refrigerator

Over the years we have sold thousands of Propane Gas Refrigerators and almost all of them have ended up in a remote location for use in a home or cabin that does not have electricity. Because propane is usually trucked to the location or hand carried so it is safe to say that conserving of the gas usage is valued. We would like to provide information on hooking up a digital thermostat to your propane gas refrigerator.

Most rural off grid homes, cabins, and cottages don’t have automatic climate control. This means the off grid refrigerator is subject to a wider range of ambient temperatures during the day as well as the seasonal changes. Gas refrigerators are all manual temperature controlled. No digital thermostats or electronics whatsoever. This is what you would expect from a non-electric refrigerator.

Stabilizing the temperature is fairly simple. It just takes a little time. Starting at the maximum setting, monitor the temperatures of the fridge compartment taking the “true” reading first thing in the morning before the door is opened. When this reading reaches freezing at 32 degrees, start to slightly move the dial toward the minimum setting by approximately 1/12 of a turn. Do this every morning until the temperature reaches your target. My target is usually 34 to 38 degrees.

It is my belief that the best tool you can own when living full time with a gas fridge is a Remote Digital Thermometer. It allows the user to monitor the inside temperatures without opening the door. If an adjustment to the thermostat is needed, It will alert you either by the alarm or by what the display reads. In the case of the fridge stops working from a lack of gas supply, it may save you hundreds of dollars in groceries.

Slight adjustments from this point can be made to compensate for seasonal changes and usage variations. We like to prejudge the high usage times and lower the temperatures in advance to get a head start on the recovery times. For instance, if you are planning a party or family get together, turn the thermostat toward maximum the night prior to the event.

Seasonal changes will usually demand an adjustment. Not only for temperature, but humidity levels will affect the settings more dramatically. High humidity will also produce more frost on the cooling fins and can reduce efficiency. Defrosting is another area of maintenance that can help with temperature stabilization.

One last note, a full refrigerator of cold food will be more temperature stable during the day than one with less food. It is due to the mass of food versus the mass of air. The food mass will retain the cold whereas the air mass will fall out when the door is opened.

For more information regarding Propane Refrigerators contact Gas Fridge at either 928-636-6674 or by visiting our website at http://www.gas-fridge.com/.

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