Refrigerator ?

[Willy]

I'm in Canada, and been on the road 'n such for 28yrs. ..Willy.

 

[petetheskriller]

I have to put all that stuff in there? the initial expense and work isnt worth it to me the money im saving cooking from scratch and keeping it in coolers affords me the propane tank refills way easier and more efficient all the way around for me lets not forget we dont all have fun building a van for living I can appreciate that some of you guys enjoy this as a hobby I do the same with hydroponic set ups but myself? I just want to eat healthy efficiently as. possible I just cant see myself cooking small portions of beef stew when I could make three days worth do you know how long it takes to cook beef stew ? LOL god bless you guys gnight

 

[flying kurbmaster]

OK, I give up.:huh:
How long does it take to make beef stew

 

[Belinda2]

All this volume, in a limited space, with limited water, limited sanitation, and small cooking quarters?... The idea makes my head whirl. What is the matter with saving money by buying "the family pack", breaking it down into smaller portions, cooking each portion with variety, each time until it's gone, and repeat? Get a job on the fishing boat or with the transporters or vendors from the boat. Cut a deal with someone that you meet and save $$ this way. Remember: Time = money. Space = money.

 

[wagoneer]

I got a Waeco 45 love it, coupled with a great cooler. Freeze bottled water and never run out of room. Total solar.

 

[GotSmart]

Pete the scriller. Are you a professional writer?

 

[akrvbob]

pete, I think we all agree with your basic plan, it's a good one! Freezing ice and and putting it an ice chest is a great idea!!! You have experience with that and are using it to your advantage.

On the other hand we have experience with living in vans and using solar and propane fridges and we're offering you advice based on that experience. If we put all of it together, I think you will have a better plan!

Based on our cumulative experience we think you are trying to put too much stuff in too small a space. That's just math and physics. So keep the basic plan, just down-size it. Start out with one cooler and one freezer and see if that works. If it doesn't you can always add them later, right?

Most of the people reading haven't spent a winter in Alaska so they think solar would work year around--it won't!!

While I am a huge fan of solar and compressor fridges, in Alaska there is next to ZERO sun in the winter so there won't be enough to run a cooler. Plus your batteries will be cold and not very effecient. So propane really is your only option in the winter.
bob

 

[Willy]

Forgot about solar in the winter but, seriously, does a person REALLY need a refrigerator during the winter in Alaska? Up here, in BC, during the winter I stick my Waeco cooler in the cab of my pickup and, while it's turned on, it almost never runs. ..Willy.

 

[akrvbob]

If you heat the van in the winter you do refrigeration. I lived in a box van for 6 years in Anchorage and kept an ice chest even during the winter. I heated the van so a cooler in the living space had to have ice. In much of Alaska if you put your cooler in the cab of the truck it's no longer a cooler it's a freezer. Then you'd have warm sells and it would thaw and then freeze and then thaw. No, living in a van in Alaska it needs to be heated (or you're not heating it you're not really living in it, it's just a metal tent) and if heated it needs a cooler if you are cooking.
Bob

 

[Willy]

Well, with a decent cooler (unpowered), sticking some bottles of water in the cab of the truck, or outside to get frozen, should last at least a few days when brought in and stuck in the cooler. Some of those coolers claim 1 week or more of ice retention. As for having to heat your living quarters, well, that's kind of a given. ..Willy.

 

[Trekking]

If you heat the van in the winter you do refrigeration. I lived in a box van for 6 years in Anchorage and kept an ice chest even during the winter. I heated the van so a cooler in the living space had to have ice. In much of Alaska if you put your cooler in the cab of the truck it's no longer a cooler it's a freezer. Then you'd have warm sells and it would thaw and then freeze and then thaw. No, living in a van in Alaska it needs to be heated (or you're not heating it you're not really living in it, it's just a metal tent) and if heated it needs a cooler if you are cooking.
Bob

So you don`t recommend living in a van year round in Alaska Bob.That would be a great year get away.

 

[akrvbob]

Winters in Alaska are very dark and very long, but not always all that cold. When the jet stream reverses and bring the cold down to the south 48 Alaska is warm. This has been one of the warmest winters in Alaska history with the lower 48 having one of the coldest. You can deal with a normal winter with insulation and Olympian heaters.

So it's not the cold that's the problem, it's the darkness. IT'S OPPRESSIVE!! Humans need light and it just isn't there.

They can also be very long. The snow that falls in early October may not melt until late May. The trees don't bud until late May and then drop their leaves in September. Then some summers are sunny and spectacular and others rain almost every day. So you endure the long, dark, cold winter and then don't get a summer. Horrible place!!!!! I'd never live there again under an conditions!!

But I have a son who was born there and still loves it and swears he will never live anywhere else.
Bob

 

[Willy]

I remember reading that it was rather warm up there this winter when those polar vortexes had the midwest of Canada and a lot of the lower 48 in a deep freeze. Crazy weather that. ..Willy.

 

[VanLifeCrisis]

So how long does a 20 lbs bottle run a propane fridge in a moderately heated area? I guess hard to say if you heat from it too...

 

[Lucky mike]

HHhhhmm....a 20lb bottle in artic conditions including heat and hot water lasts 4 days in NH......during the summer a month.

but it depends on your lifestyle ,equipment consumption.....we are all different on being conservative!

in my RV I take on 40 gallons in the spring and do not need to refill until late fall...thats heat, hot water,refrigeration,cooking and outside grill....

 

[highdesertranger]

dazar I think there are allot a variables. it's been awhile since I used a propane frig. I have a buddy that lives in the Mojave desert and in the summer a 5 gallon bottle will not last 5 days. don't no if this will help but that's all I have. highdesertranger

 

[Willy]

..Mojave desert and in the summer a 5 gallon bottle will not last 5 days.

Especially if you have a dog. I swear, Coco must piss twice her weight in water every day during the summer: gotta mark absolutely everything. ..Willy.

 

[SoulRaven]

dazar I think there are allot a variables. it's been awhile since I used a propane frig. I have a buddy that lives in the Mojave desert and in the summer a 5 gallon bottle will not last 5 days. don't no if this will help but that's all I have. highdesertranger

Greetings!

That's why most of the off grid homesteaders I've known use Kerosene for heat & fridge/freezers. Even in the desert a fridge/freezer will run for a month on a gallon of kerosene.

Don't know about the newer boats, but in the older ones, kerosene was the fuel of choice for them too.

My fridge/freezer in my camper van is out of a boat and is kerosene. Uses about 1 pint a month of fuel. The heat tube is like an inverted funnel, I'm guessing to compensate for rough seas.

Cheers!

The CamperVan_Man

---

and cooking a few days worth of food if you have the fridge space (like 2 coolers) with properly placed ice bottles is waaaaay more cheaper and efficient. than pulling over every now and than. LOL. yeah after 25 yrs. of. travelling the boonies of ak im sure this is effective when im fishing russian river and find a good parking spot I stay there as long as possible same thing with clam gulch and this is how I do it WOW you people in the lower 49 dont know anything about boonie living do you?

Greetings!

Wouldn't a single kerosene fridge/freezer be more efficient?

Most of the old boats had kerosene appliances, so they shouldn't be to difficult to find up there... I got mine from an abandoned boat in the middle of the desert.

I carry 2 x 7 gallon jugs of kerosene, and that will last over a year for cooking/fridge/freezer + moderate heating.

I think my fridge is about 8cf and the freezer maybe 1.5-2cf.

Cheers!

The CamperVan_Man

 

[akrvbob]

CamperVan-Man, I'm curious about kerosene fridge/freezers and did a Google search on them and couldn't find one for less than $1900. Can you find us a link to some small ones we could afford? I'd love to see it!

Where did you get yours and how much did you pay. Have you ever seen them in a store somewhere? If so where? I'd probably try one out if you can send me a link.

Thanks! Bob

 

[wagoneer]

http://conergas.en.alibaba.com/
More to come
When I was in north/east Africa in 1968 it was common and they had a really neat French made bonifide big model