Fridge shade

Colin Penrose · Senior Member

Fridge shade

Possum3 · Guru

I forsee two possibles;
1. Tent peg launched into someone by öccy strap".
2. Coming back to Hilux to find fridge and any thing else in the tub missing, if window left open. Security of goods should be paramount.

Consider a window fan operated by solar www.amazon.com/AUTOLOVER-Powered-Exhaust-Radiator-Ventilation/dp/B075STK4WG/ref=sr_1_3

Colin Penrose · Senior Member

Hi. Not much tension needed to hold shade in place. No problem at all. Dont know where you are coming from in regards to security ?? I generally free camp so all my stuff is secured to keep the opportunist at bay. Touch wood I have had no problems in ten years of Caravanning. Col

Warren-Pat_01 · Guru

Hi Colin,
I live in the tropics.
When I had the Eagle Outback camper, I added a couple of sections of sail track to the pop-up roof, then slid in two pieces of shade cloth held in place with some 5mm dowel. The whole lot was pegged out to the ground at an angle. Together with fitting a couple of computer fans (one at the top to suck & one at the bottom to blow), we had no more issues with the fridge.

Our current van has minimal space to add the fans & I haven't had to add the shade cloth yet.

From what I have discovered, a "T" rated 3way fridge just has one fan fitted to the air gap behind the fridge. Even vans sold in Townsville & Cairns are all "S" rated!!

denmonkey · Senior Member

I prefer to look at the positives in a situation, so am curious if you've noticed any improvements with the fridge or is it too early to tell ?

My 3 way is rubbish on a hot day, but most of the time I have my awning out which provides shade.
Always looking for ways to improve it though.

Do you have any pics of the install ?

cheers Brett

Delta18 · Guru

When we had a 3 way fridge in the van I fitted a sail rope track also just below the top vent. I had a piece of shade cloth made up to shade that section of wall below the vent.

I also had a fan to circulate air up through the condenser & also packed insulation material all around the fridge to prevent dead air gaps.

I fitted a cardboard shield on the top of the fridge to direct air out the top vent so it couldn't wash over the fridge.

These are things that all van manufacturers should have already done instead of just slapping vans together.

The Travelling Dillberries · Guru

This was posted by Jimricho ................about Fridge fans Denmonkey.

(You can also get some good ideas for fans by searching "3 way Fridge Fans")

An interesting comparison.....

Yesterday my 3way's cabinet temperature rose to 7 degrees in an ambient temp of 33 degrees with the exhaust fan off (240v, thermo set to 3 1/2 ). I switched the fan on and checked an hour and a half later and the temp had dropped to 3.8 degrees. The fan is a single 120mm cable tied to the top vent. Ambient temp and thermo setting were unchanged and the fridge was not opened at any time and the temp of the contents had stabilised.

The exhaust fan is not hooked up via a thermostat, just a simple "manually operated" switch. I have found that it's best to anticipate a hot day and switch the fan on early. I can switch it to operate off the tug's 12v system when on the road.

Obviously a compressor type fridge is a better option if 240v/12v (including solar) always available and noise level inside the van is not an issue.

Aus-Kiwi · Guru

Have no actual temp numbers . I fitted a house type solar vent to top fridge vent on roof and two vans with cowling ( tube) to direct air in one direction to cooling tubes Went from chilli bin to Proper fridge . But still took some time .,tried fitting shade cloth on outside . In this case made little difference over the fans .

Warren-Pat_01 · Guru

Chris & Sharyn,
I had a 10w solar panel connected to my two fans on the Eagle - both worked well. The wires came out of the lower fridge vent & I used clip leads.

Brett, no I didn't take pictures of the setup - there wasn't much to see other than the shade.

patrol03 · Senior Member

It must be remembered that the pipework at the back of the fridge must exceed 70c to be effective.Too much cooling can be detrimental to the fridge operation. Make sure the unit has insulation on two sides and the top and the vents are adequate to provide a good flow through. If your fridge is tropical rated all the better.

tilly013 · Newbie

Thanks for that, hubby and I had a discussion on were to place the sunshade. He said under the top vent I told him he didn't know what he's talking about so I eat crow again he won.

JayDee · Guru

WE installed a 5m x 2m sun shade on the off side of the van where the 3 way fridge is. Then I also added a smaller shade on a track above the fridge vent under the large sail shade.

Any support for the fridge efficiency is a good idea.

Jay&Dee

Baz421 · Guru

If it's hot enough to need to shade fridge maybe you need a sail track and shade cloth across whole side of van,,, works for us, track across top of van and pegged to ground.

I can walk between van and shade cloth.