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Tractor Talk Discussion Forum

OT Propane refrigerators

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SimonW

08-31-2004 20:25:23




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My dad told me that they once made home refrigerators that worked off of LP gas and that they were common on farms before they had rural electricity. Does anyone know about these? Did they work very well? He suggested I try to find one for my cabin in Colorado.

Thanks




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Roger H

09-02-2004 22:48:06




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 Re: OT Propane refrigerators in reply to SimonW, 08-31-2004 20:25:23  
I used to fix them when i lived in Indiana, they contain anhydrous ammonia water & hydrogen & a rust inhibitor. Like Mark said they are all around N Indiana area.



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Mark - IN.

09-01-2004 17:31:12




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 Re: OT Propane refrigerators in reply to SimonW, 08-31-2004 20:25:23  
Never heard of them until I considered buying a farm from a young Amish couple 1/2 year or so ago. Went through the house, all plumbing was AG hose and valves, and there in the kitchen was the first ever LP refridgerator I've ever seen, and new to boot. The central air that the house had but they weren't allowed to use, same with the natural gas range upstairs stayed with the house, but that LP refridgerator and the wood burning stove in the basement were going with the couple. Apparently common around LaGrange, Shipshawana, Millersburg, Goshen, and anywhere else my Amish neighbors live. Pretty neat, I guess. One thing's for sure, where I bought I'm on a big LP tank, and you've just given me something to look into...Hmm? Hey, thanks.

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T_Bone

09-01-2004 09:06:50




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 Re: OT Propane refrigerators in reply to SimonW, 08-31-2004 20:25:23  
Hi Simon,

buickanddeere gave a good over view on how the absorbsion refrigerators work.

You will need to add a fresh intake chimney, approx 6" x 24" x 6" that takes in outside fresh air for burner combustion and condensor coil cooling and a supplys a exhaust thru the roof of combustion gasses.

Look at Camping World or on-line RV Parts for RV refrigerators as they run about $1200 for a 12cft. They don"t need perfect level, about 5º out of level is fine. Something new in the past couple years.

They still make the Sevrel refer"s that are about $1800 for a 14cft ? I lost all my bookmarks so I can"t refference them.

The RV units are a much better buy.

You will also need a 12vdc source. A couple golf cart Trojan T-105 deep cycle batterys (about $70eh) with a solar PV pannel of 64w (about $300eh) and a charge controller (about $45) for a complete solar orperation.

This will also give you great lites for the cabin. I also use a 12vdc RV water pump (about $55) and a 6gal LP DSI water heater.

Use a 2kw genset for cloths washing with a LP dryer.

Stay away form invertor use. Very expensive when most everything can be had in 12vdc for a reasonable cost or ran on a genset cheaper.

Hard to beat the cost RV parts for remote installs.

T_Bone

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Red Dave

09-01-2004 05:54:06




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 Re: OT Propane refrigerators in reply to SimonW, 08-31-2004 20:25:23  
Not uncommon around here, the Amish use them. Don't know much about them, I never had one myself.



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Jimmy King

09-01-2004 05:47:41




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 Re: OT Propane refrigerators in reply to SimonW, 08-31-2004 20:25:23  
I had a Great Aunt that had a kerosene Frig. I think she bought it in the 30"s or 40"s and used it until the eary 70"s



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buickanddeere

09-01-2004 05:31:57




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 Re: OT Propane refrigerators in reply to SimonW, 08-31-2004 20:25:23  
We use one at the hunt camp every year after chasing the mice out. Spiders often plug the burner/chimney when left unattended. Keep a spare thermocouple on hand. Not a fast unit to cool freeze an entire fridge full of warm food/meat. A few guys have lost hair lighting the old abused LP clunker we used to have. Runs quiet and LP consumption is modest. Will freeze everything stiff if someone leaves the thermostat on the coldest setting thinking that makes it run "faster". Like any other thermostat, set it for the temp you want and leave it alone. Two trays of ice cubes every 3-4 hours is no problem. Needs ventilation or the C0,C02 or what ever detector will shut the fridge off. The top/back of the fridge is warm and makes a good place to set bread to rise before baking. Uses ammonia, water and hydrogen as the heat transport fluid. Pretty clever system but needs to be absolutely level. Can be had in kerosene versions as well. Not cheap particularly from Lehman's non-electric. Great reliability with the gas/electric units for storm prone areas.

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Dick2

09-01-2004 04:46:52




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 Re: OT Propane refrigerators in reply to SimonW, 08-31-2004 20:25:23  
We had a Servel propane refrigerator at the farm; bought it new in 1948 - two years before we got electricity. My brother replaced it with an electric about 1980 when he remodeled the kitchen.



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Servel (sp?)

09-01-2004 04:21:14




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 Re: OT Propane refrigerators in reply to SimonW, 08-31-2004 20:25:23  
Were common at one time. Servel (sp?) gave/gives a 100 dollar payment to destroy them, some thing to do with the invirerment. Don't ever volinteer to help move one. They weigh 10 times more than a reg reefer.
Kenny



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Dennis wisconsin

09-01-2004 03:35:11




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 Re: OT Propane refrigerators in reply to SimonW, 08-31-2004 20:25:23  
I live in northern wisconsin and here propane refrigerators are very common **** If you use propane check with your dealer *** most propane dealers around here and upper michigan carry them **** good luck



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Schmidty

08-31-2004 21:59:25




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 Re: OT Propane refrigerators in reply to SimonW, 08-31-2004 20:25:23  
It actually works like a reverse heat pump. Heat to create cold...HMMMM! It works for my camper!



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Noah W

08-31-2004 20:51:19




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 Re: OT Propane refrigerators in reply to SimonW, 08-31-2004 20:25:23  
Ran one in a camper continously for 6 years. The only problem I had was it would freeze up if I didn"t keep it fairly full. A small battery operated fan designed for circulating air inside them solved that problem.



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Bob

08-31-2004 20:34:35




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 Re: OT Propane refrigerators in reply to SimonW, 08-31-2004 20:25:23  
Technically, they're called absorption refigerators, and they're popular in campers and RV's. Check at a camper dealer, or search on Google for propane refrigerator.

Here's one site:

http://froogle.google.com/froogle?q=propane+refrigerator&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=ff



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Ray,IN

08-31-2004 20:55:12




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 Re: OT Propane refrigerators in reply to Bob, 08-31-2004 20:34:35  
There are many websites such as this one selling products for off-grid use:



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tr

09-01-2004 02:29:23




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 Re: OT Propane refrigerators in reply to Ray,IN, 08-31-2004 20:55:12  
I have one in my hunting cbin. Must be better than 50 years old. Still works good. Brand name is Servel or Serval. Can't remember the exact spelling. They did still make them up until a few years ago.



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