Propane Gas Refrigerator
A propane gas refrigerator is the way the real pros keep
their food from spoiling when they're out camping in a vehicle
or RV in the summer.
Your propane gas refrigerator runs on a steel bottle of, you
guessed it, propane gas.
Amazingly, a gas refrigerator has no moving parts. It keeps
your food cool and fresh, firstly by having really good
insulation (at least twice as much as a household refrigerator
has) and, secondly, by burning a small gas pilot light inside a
metal tube.
The walls of the tube are hollow and are filled with
refrigerator gas in a liquid form. When the liquid gets hot it
is forced through a set of tubes into the gas fridge and back
out again. It expands into gas and compresses back down to
liquid again, and repeats the cycle over and over. This carries
heat out from the inside of the propane gas refrigerator. It
disperses that same heat into the surrounding air through a
radiator that's much like the one in your automobile. Except
that there is no fan on a refrigerator's radiator panel.
A bottled gas refrigerator designed for camping will often be
made in a chest shape. This has a lid on top instead of a door
at the front, but manufacturers make both kinds. A chest with a
lid on top keeps much of the cold air from escaping when you
open it. So there is less chilled air lost each time you open
the door. Door-type fridges, similar to the ones you would see
at home, but often smaller, are common in trailers or
caravans.
Depending on your needs, you might also consider for a 3-way
camping fridge, which uses propane gas, or 110/220 volt A/C
mains electricity or 12 volt DC power from your vehicle. These
are very common in campers, caravans and RV units.
Another possible alternative is a kerosene refrigerator.
These too make use of a small pilot flame. They work on the
same principle as a propane gas refrigerator, except there is a
small oil lamp to provide the flame.
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