Fridges in a pop-up

[tlhdoc]

We use a 2.5 cubic foot refrigerator bought for less than $100 at WalMart.
 
We have not tried any kind of dry camping at this point. If we were to attempt dry camping (DW is resistant at this point), I'd investigate the 5 day coolers and look to buy ice.
 
That's the way we do it anyway. It's interesting to read the various methods of dealing with this "problem". Those of you that use a 3 way 'fridge in your camper, where do you store your dry/canned goods? Almost seems like we're all just "swapping space".

Since we usually don't have power at our campsite, we can't use a regular fridge.  I keep the can goods in a cupboard that is over/around one of the wheel wells.  I only put light weight stuff on top of the plastic wheel well and the can goods sit on the floor in the cupboard.  I also use 4 stacking bins sitting on the small counter in my PU, for things like bread, chips and other stuff I don't want to get squished or that I want easy access to.

[JimQPublic]

With me it's a love/hate thing.  I love being able to spend a week in the wilds with cold food & frozen ice cream.  I love having a fridge instead of a cooler swimming in ice water where the thing I want is always at the bottom.

I hate that mine (Norcold N300.3) has a problem with the propane safety valve where all the electrical contacts have to be cleaned every trip or it doesn't work right.

I don't like having to always be sure the trailer is level to avoid damage to the fridge.

Ours has enough capacity and plenty of cooling power for us.  We can keep three half-gallons of ice cream in the freezer, three half-gallons of milk and all our condiments in the door, and all the meat, eggs, etc. in the fridge compartment.  Ours has 2.3 cubic feet of fridge and 0.4 cubic feet of freezer space.  The freezer stays between 0 and 5 degrees F, the fridge generally stays below 40 F.  I've given up bringing lettuce because it always seems to get frozen.

IF I was getting a new trailer and IF I lived somewhere that most of the campgrounds have electrical hookups, I would get a compressor driven fridge instead of an ammonia absorption type.  They're much less finicky, hold a more stable temperature, and don't have to be level.  The drawback is they consume 25 to 50 amp hours of juice from your battery every day.  If you have hookups it's no problem.

[Buzz]

The itty bitty thing that is built in will keep beer/soft drinks cold enough to drink but not enough room to keep a few days supply of food cold. We have 2 Coleman Extremes and a Rubbermaid 5 day. They advertize 5 days but I usually have to make ice runs every couple of days.
I just picked up a dorm fridge from my mo in law (we gave it to her a few years ago now she doesn't use it).
When we get the pup outa the cave next spring I am going to see if it is practical to haul. It should sit nicely on the 6' fold in half table we use beside the pup under the awning. It has a small freezer hopefully big enough to make enough ice cubes for cocktails.
If it works out like I plan it will be a money (ice) saver and a heck of a lot more convieniant.

[dthurk]

It has a small freezer hopefully big enough to make enough ice cubes for cocktails.
If it works out like I plan it will be a money (ice) saver and a heck of a lot more convieniant.

Our experience with the dorm fridges is that it is either a refrigerator or freezer.  If it is set cold enough to freeze water in the "freezer compartment", everything else in the thing freezes also.  In most cases, we set the thermostat on it to a middle setting.  That usually keeps the interior temp cold enough to chill food.  If we bring anything that had already been frozen at home, it will usually stay frozen in the small freezer compartment without freezing everything else.  
 
We own a small motel with one of those in every room, so we own about 14 or 15 of them.  The biggest complaint we get from guests about the refrigerator is that it freezes everything.  When we check it out, we find they have changed the settings and made it colder.  
 
At any rate, it's unlikely you'll be able to make ice for cocktails without freezing everything else.  If you bring some clean ice from home in a cooler, you should be able to keep it ice in the refrigerator for the duration of your trip.

[Buzz]

Our experience with the dorm fridges is that it is either a refrigerator or freezer.  If it is set cold enough to freeze water in the "freezer compartment", everything else in the thing freezes also.  In most cases, we set the thermostat on it to a middle setting.  That usually keeps the interior temp cold enough to chill food.  If we bring anything that had already been frozen at home, it will usually stay frozen in the small freezer compartment without freezing everything else.  
 
We own a small motel with one of those in every room, so we own about 14 or 15 of them.  The biggest complaint we get from guests about the refrigerator is that it freezes everything.  When we check it out, we find they have changed the settings and made it colder.  
 
At any rate, it's unlikely you'll be able to make ice for cocktails without freezing everything else.  If you bring some clean ice from home in a cooler, you should be able to keep it ice in the refrigerator for the duration of your trip.

Thanks dthurk...If I can haul it I will experiment to find the best way to use it.
My wife and her friend can really use up the ice mixing Margaritas

[kampingkoge]

Have only had a PU since June.  Only have used the internal fridge for storing dry goods.  Makes for a good bug free cabnet.  I use two coolers, one an extreme, for beverages and perishables.

[Fishin BC]

Our fridge is used as a bathroom cabinet.  It's too small, doesn't cool enough and cools too much.  It is perfect storage for the bath supplies.  We take two coolers one an extreme and freeze all meat before leaving.  done 10 days in the Sierra with no problems.

[springer02]

The fridge in our Coleman Cheyenne (don't know what size it is, about the size of a small dorm fridge?) is fine.  It tends to keep things on the cold side but that's OK with me.  We use it for meats, dairy products etc. and keep the drinks and things we need more often in one of two Extreme coolers we take.

Oh, to be camping now ...  we're enjoying an ice storm right now, no school today and probably none for tomorrow.

Tena