justintime420
Active member
does anyone own one? How cold can they get?
Propane Freezer
- Thread starter justintime420
- Start date
justintime420
Active member
got it kinda figured they wouldn't be too efficient
That was a propane heated ammonia refrigerant refrigerator. They also had to be relatively level to work well and stank badly of ammonia when the cores failed.
They now also make refrigerators using propane as the refrigerant, more common in Europe than here, and I've never personally used one.
Perhaps one of our European brothers will chime in.
I don't think it's legal to sell appliances with combustible refrigerants in the US. I could be wrong.
Dometic still produces Servel branded propane & kerosene powered refrigerators mostly for use in remote locations. They work on a different principle than compressor type units called the absorption cycle which is also used in very large commercial building & food processing applications. Higher upfront costs are offset by higher efficiency & extremely low maintenance costs. They have no wearing parts other than the burner & its controls.
The low capacity RV refrigerators aren't a very good example of the technology. They're marginal in term of power to do the job.
As you say, leveling is critical for proper operation & units should remain upright during transport & storage.
I have lived off grid my whole life have been around propane appliances the whole time, there are completely legal but expensive. If you turned up the freezer I bet you could reach normal freezer temps at least and more especially if you glued extra insulation around the outside of the freezer.
The reference was to propane as refrigerant, not as fuel.
So quick to knock. He was referencing to a propane cooled refrigerator, which I have never seen any refrigerator use "fuel". Only refrigerant. Maybe you should have read & pondered on his post a lil more before jumping the gun?
propane appliances being expensive, living off-grid, added insulation to fridge were all key words in deducing this conclusion... But I too have been wrong in the past.
GratefulOne
Member
There seems to be some serious confusion in this thread.
Propane can be used as BOTH a refrigerant and a power source for refrigeration.
R290 (n-Propane) is a common refrigerant esp in Europe. Propane powered refrigeration is used for off grid and RV use. Propane works great in both uses but they are very different things.
The OP is not clear to his question but I assume he meant propane powered units. They works great as Pusbag says.
R290 works great for the appropriate temp range in equipment designed for it.
Propane can be used as BOTH a refrigerant and a power source for refrigeration.
R290 (n-Propane) is a common refrigerant esp in Europe. Propane powered refrigeration is used for off grid and RV use. Propane works great in both uses but they are very different things.
The OP is not clear to his question but I assume he meant propane powered units. They works great as Pusbag says.
R290 works great for the appropriate temp range in equipment designed for it.
I was perhaps too matter of fact.
Propane refrigerators aren't common at all & are used in remote locations where electricity is scarce, like from a small generator or not available at all. There have been several manufacturers.
They use an entirely different refrigeration cycle. This explains it pretty well-
http://mysite.du.edu/~jcalvert/tech/servel.htm
The candle at the lower right of the diagram is the heat source, the power to make it work. In real life, it's a propane or kerosene burner.
Propane can be used as the refrigerant in a compression cycle refrigeration device rather than the usual flavors of cfc's, hcfc's & ffc's. Diagram & explanation here-
http://www.mobileair.com/refrigeration-cycle
Explosive gasses are a poor choice of compressor cycle refrigerant even if they work well for obvious safety reasons. A variety of flammable gasses were used years ago & set aside as modern refrigerants became available-
http://www.ul.com/global/documents/library/white_papers/UL_WhitePaper_FlammableRefrigerants.pdf
I worked on medium sized 10 ton capacity compressor cycle air conditioners for decades & did occasional side work in restaurants.
