Fridge efficiency in Cold Weather.

[WelshGas]

How efficient is the fridge in Cold weather. Should it be turned up/down?

Some domestic fridges stop working if the ambient temperature is 10c or less. Is the California similarly affected?
I presume the fridge heat exchanger is between the insulated container and the outside vehicle wall, so with the cupboards closed and heating off or even on could get to ambient outside temperature?
Anyone have any info?

 

[Meoncoast]

Cant answer but we do not to turn on the fridge this time of year our Christmas Beer's all very cold and butter hard when left in fridge this time of year.
You could try a max/min thermometer to see what the fridge temp does up to over the day when off

 

[GrannyJen]

I have never turned my fridge pff, often had it on freezing in freezing weather, it still all works.

 

[SimonB]

I had my fridge on 3 for a few days in N Wales before Christmas, 10C+ outside. The round temp gauge from camping shops read over 7C and the fridge never felt cold. I put it on 4 after that and from time to time there was a bit of ice forming on the sides. You could also hear the unit operating.
The milk, etc felt cold but the temp gauge was still higher than I would have expected.
I'll take a wireless thermometer this time and check more accurately.

 

[MattBW]

It should in theory just use less electricity , as the compressor won't need to work as hard or as often to keep the temp set.

 

[WelshGas]

I have never turned my fridge pff, often had it on freezing in freezing weather, it still all works.

What setting was that on GrannyJen?

 

[Skylark2.0]

When it was warm over Christmas we had ours set on 4 rather than the usual 3 and the wine and milk was nice and cold. Probably 10 - 11deg outside.

 

[GrannyJen]

I keep mine around 5, unless I'm carrying frozen stuff, but it works fine on that setting

 

[WelshGas]

I keep mine around 5, unless I'm carrying frozen stuff, but it works fine on that setting

Thanks.

 

[larrylamb]

How efficient is the fridge in Cold weather. Should it be turned up/down?

Some domestic fridges stop working if the ambient temperature is 10c or less. Is the California similarly affected?
I presume the fridge heat exchanger is between the insulated container and the outside vehicle wall, so with the cupboards closed and heating off or even on could get to ambient outside temperature?
Anyone have any info?

Just tried to put my fridge on (level 5) and nothing is happening, it works on max so I guess the ambient temp in my fridge is already cold so not switching on. It is about 3-4 degrees outside and the Cali has not been used for a while so it is cold inside, I wanted to switch it on ready for food tomorrow.

 

[GrannyJen]

Yes, if the fridge is already at 5 it will need to do nothing when set on 5....

You could say it's just taking five




ok... my coat's over there.... and there is no need to throw it at me!

 

[larrylamb]

So if i stick my food in and set off tomorrow presumably the fridge will kick in as the van temp warms up?

 

[MattBW]

Yes it should

 

[CYCLOPATH]

We had ours on 4 on trip to Alps recently....milk kept cold, turned it to 3 when there as sub zero outside
Milk kept for the whole week.....as we didn't eat cereals , and use milk, because the breakfast pastries were so nice.
And no ice either.

So
I haven't understood, is setting 3 a temperature, or how hard it works, which was my thaught, but only because that is how my home fridge works......and it seems to work that way,,,,,,had it on 5 last summer in France, , and seemed about right(in martins van)

 

[larrylamb]

The settings have possibly changed on the T5 but on our 2015 Cali it ranges from 1 to 6/max we normally have it on 4/5 in the summer. A bit like a domestic fridge the higher the number the colder the setting.

 

[bigmac77]

Just spent a couple of nights with the kids at Drayton Manor over half term. It was below freezing both nights and not much above that during the day. The fridge would not run unless I put it on max and then it would cool down to -1, if set on 6 or less it wouldn't do anything. We had the van heater running for 15 hours on 1 to warm us up but the fridge still didn't want to do anything unless on MAX. When I reached into the cupboards the inside skin of the van was very chilly indeed (not surprisingly), if the fridge thermostat is located between the back of the fridge and the skin of the vehicle it isn't going to demand cooling in cold weather.

I tried putting the fridge on 6 for 12 hours it warmed up to 8 degrees. Not ideal. I did find a work around though, I put it on max for 4 hours then turned it down for 6 and then repeated throughout my stay. Not ideal but milk didn't go sour and the prawns and salmon were eaten without problems, wine was cold too.

Hopefully when weather warms up it will work okay.

 

[SimonB]

We have similar experiences with the fridge. I put a wireless thermometer inside the fridge with the receiver on the passenger seat. The fridge never seemed to go below 4C even though it was colder outside. Turning it higher did have an effect, but not as much as I expected.
You can hear the fridge operating when it comes on, so it is definitely working. It just doesn't come on very often.
I'm wondering if it operates with a compromise between battery consumption and temperature. The milk and wine were always cold enough on setting 5, but things that were frozen did gently thaw out.

Having not had any summer, or anything approaching "sitting outside weather" in the 4½ months we've had the Cali I don't know how it will perform in the warmer weather.

Do any of the more experienced members, or those in hotter countries, know any more details?
Many thanks Simon

 

[CYCLOPATH]

Odd Bigmac ,as I wrote above, mine seemed to work fine in the sub zero Alps