Can I Keep My RV's Refrigerator On While Going Down The Road?

by Virginia
(Fl)

Running RV Fridge Going Down The Road

Running RV Fridge Going Down The Road

Can I Keep My RV's Refrigerator On While Going Down The Road?

ANSWER: Hi Virginia as long as your trailer's refrigerator has been properly maintained, you can safely keep it going while traveling down the road. In all likelihood the refrigerator in your RV is a two way fridge which means when you are plugged into electricity it will run on electric. When you are not plugged into electric the fridge will run on propane.

If your refrigerator happens to be a 3 way fridge; you will have the choice of either using propane or using the house batteries to power the fridge while going down the road.

A couple of things you need to remember when running your fridge on propane while going down the road. If you are planning to fuel up your tow vehicle at a gas station, you will need to stop somewhere before getting to the gas station to turn off the fridge to prevent the chance of the flame from the fridge igniting fuel vapors at the station. After you leave the gas station you will have to pull over again to restart the refrigerator.

There are also a few tunnels in the US that do not allow you to use propane while traveling through them. Normally these tunnels are well marked and have a place for you to pull into to shut off the propane.


Other than that you should rest assured that a lot of RVers keep their fridges on all of the time while going down the road. Some RVers even run their water heaters and furnaces on propane going down the road. These appliances are designed to be mobile. The key to them operating safely is proper maintenance.

If after all of this you are still not comfortable running your fridge going down the road, you can probably get away with turning it off and as long as you don't open the fridge your food items should stay cold for about 5 hours.

I hope that this information has been helpful.

Do you have any suggestions or comments on this topic? You can add them to this page by clicking on the "Click Here To Post Comments" link located near the bottom of this page.

Happy RVing

RVing Al

Comments for Can I Keep My RV's Refrigerator On While Going Down The Road?

Average Rating starstarstarstarstar

Click here to add your own comments

Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Keep the Fridge cold!
by: Anonymous

Something else you can do to keep food cold in your fridge and freezer if you choose to turn it off while traveling. We two blue ice freezer packs in the freezer all the time. When we are ready to depart for our next destination, the last thing we do is turn off the system(we dont even use the propane option), then we move one of the freezer packs into the fridge, close and lock. We have had no problem keeping our items cold/frozen for up to 7 hours, so far! Good luck and healthy, safe travels!
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		RV battery/refrgerator
by: Anonymous

I have found that running the 3way refrigerator on 12v while traveling will run down the trailer batteries even though I have a charge circuit. I believe the power needed for the refrigerator is too much for the charge circuit. I used to run the refrigerator on propane with my older trailers and it worked fine. I used a fiberglass filter against the inside of the outside refrigerator panels. This prevented wind gusts from blowing out the gas flame. You must be cognizant of rules against having open flames in tunnels or gas stations and shut down the propane before these zones.

Click here to add your own comments

Return to Ask an RV Question.

LEARN HOW TO RUN 2 RV A/Cs ON A 30 AMP CONNECTION