Hey Guys,
I am starting to rework my interior. I am going to eventually get a "home style" fridge that was suggested to me but, I have the Dometic Americana for now. (I don't use propane so why have it??)
Anyway, I digress... Either way I am wanting to set up a vent to exhaust out the heat off the coils in the summertime and be able to close that vent to help heat the inside in the winter time. Kinda makes sense to me.
Any of you done this?? I was thinking some of you may have a suggestion or two I could use or at least build on. I'm hoping for a paint job next year so now is the time to do the outsidefab work.
Any ideas or suggestions??
Chaz
Are you talking building a closeable vent for the current fridge or for a future household fridge?
Ummmmmm..... I see it as working with both. ::)
I am not saying you can't but the fridge in my house pulls air from the bottom then up the back. if you vent from the bottom then out I think you will have a problem. I know if I open my little slide window while driving I can suck my grandmothers teeth out of her head. It takes about 15 seconds to suck all ac out. The vacuum is increadable. I just don't see being able to produce heat inside and being able to vent it out while driving and keep your coach cool. I even thought about making a cap over the window with a hose so my passengers could clean the carpets while underway. But I can be totally wrong
A household refrigerator will generate a negligible amount of heat. Nothing near the amount that an RV style will. The RV style uses heat to make the absorption unit function. The latter does pull cool air in at the bottom (heat rises) thus convection is set up. Two reasons to vent the RV is 1) You want to get that heat out of the coach. 2) If you don't have a path for the hot air to escape to, convection is lost and the heat on the coil is not removed thus the efficiency of the unit is diminished.
This idea was posted sometime ago with a lot of feedback. Take a look. Hope I got the link correct
http://www.busconversions.com/bbs/index.php?topic=15462.msg166294#msg166294 (http://www.busconversions.com/bbs/index.php?topic=15462.msg166294#msg166294)
My problem with the fridge was letting in cold air during our trip to Florida last winter. It was like a blast furnace of cold air as we were traveling. We stuffed towels and what not around the fridge but the cold air continued into the closets and such. It sucked. Something I'll need to address before we go on any cold weather excursions again.
Wow...... good stuff!! Sorry I did not know about that previous thread. Thanx for the link, Kenny.
I guess I am one who leans more toward being as effecient as I can when doing something. (If you have seen my house, you would understand: www.amstudio.us (http://www.amstudio.us) . ::) ;D ;D ;D ) I also belong to another board -AEA1.org- which is some people who discuss doing their best to save energy as much as possible. It's amazing the waste we have!! TRUELY amazing.......... but I digress.
Thanx again for the info. I am still going to try to come up with something that is worthwhile and makes sense. The great info I got from both threads helps me know that to be more effecient I may have to split hairs. :P Will it be worth it?? ?? ?? Sounds like it won't from the posts but from having yet another opportunity to be creative and possibly "save" something (money, electricity, heat, cool, etc.) it should be fun. ;D ;D
'preciate it,
Chaz
Sweet house! I can see you have allot of talent.
Wow! Very creative and inspiring.
Thanks for showing us!
Grant
Chaz- when averaging out the electrical input of the Summit refrigerator, it works out to be about 44 watts per hour. Not that much heat generated, compared to the 1200 watts cooling or so of the typical roof top air conditioning. Good Luck, TomC
Thanx Eddie and Grant. It's my biggest piece of "art" yet. ::) ;D ;D ;D Very efficient, very cozy, very secure and very safe. And you really can "feel" that when you enter. I invite anybody to stop by if ever in the area.
Tom,
As usual, you're a great source for info. That is the frige (your suggestion in another thread) of what I spoke. I guess it really doesn't sound like much but I don't know as I haven't gotten one yet. I will hold off on the vent modification till I get one since you think it isn't much. I know the Dometic puts out way more than acceptable to me.
If it really is negligible, I may not do a vent. But, I know from dealing with efficiency's, a little here and a little there, it can add up. I especially don't mind if it's something I can do once and then let it reap the benefit's over time. But if it's something I have to "maintain" that is a different story.
Thanx again,
Chaz
When i click on the house to view it all i get is a black screen? I can see the sculpture ok, just nothing for the house.
Chopper,
Something is wrong with your frige vent if you have an RV absorption type. The outside air coming in to the frige at the bottom should all be exhausted out the top due to all the heat from the frige creating a chimney effect.
There are strict specifications for clearances by the vent ducting at the rear and rear sides of an RV frige so the chimney effect will work.
It sounds to me as if you don't even have any ducting. I wouldn't be surprised, when I got my bus the RV frige had no outside vent at all!! It was my first RV so I knew nothing about frige vents. If the bus didn't leak air so much I would probably be dead.
I you have an electric house type then forget all I said, you don't need a vent.
Ed,
It may have to do with the browser you are using. It did not work for me with Chrome but did with Firefox.
This DC unit specs 40Watts. 45% run time with 86deg ambient . I like the fact it runs directly from 12 or 24 volts eliminating the inverter losses. A bit pricey but seems quite efficient. At that power level a small computer muffin fan might exhaust enough air to reduce interior heat contribution.
http://www.smallspacesappliances.com/dometic17cuftfrontloadingrefrigeratorfreezer1224vdc110220ac-1-1.aspx (http://www.smallspacesappliances.com/dometic17cuftfrontloadingrefrigeratorfreezer1224vdc110220ac-1-1.aspx)
Tom Phillips
Ed, here is a pic of my house in case you can't open the HGTV link. (It's probably 6 years old) The link had the video they did of my home and a little of what I do.
(https://busconversionmagazine.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi58.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fg279%2FSkulptor%2FMy%2520House%2Fhouse1-1.jpg&hash=332bb57035e21f532325e4b3bce1ea03248e1654)
Back to the regulary scheduled thread.[/i] ;D
I almost hate to admit this guys but I'm guessing my frige is not installed correctly. (go figure)
They have it enclosed in a cabinet/box and do not have any outside access to air. The only entrance/exit from that "box" is around the edge of the front of the frige and they drilled about 10 or so, approx. 1.5 inch holes on the top of the "box" at the back wall. That is where the heat - and lots of it - comes out. When I got the bus, there was a LOT of yellowish residue in the back of the frige, mainly on the floor. It was my understanding that that was from the use of the propane which was not vented to the outside. (I know, I know....)
By the way, altho I know it works, I do not even have the propane hooked up to it.
So anyway... I will be moving my frige to the other side of the bus soon but it may be a couple months before I get a different frige. Money, ya know. But I will make provisions for whatever the next one will be when I do the move.
I'll check that one out Tom. Effeciency means a lot to me! Thanx! But also, to a point. ;) I like the "good stuff", so I save for it till I can get it, or my patience runs out. ;D
Thanx again guys......
Chaz
Our fridge is a small 16 CF household type, I mounted the microwave on top of it with angle brackets and included a thermostatically controled fan behind the microwave that vents thru some closeable louvers on each side of the microwave, the air enters at the bottom of the fridge in the front and side and exits thru the louvers at the top, it's enclosed on both sides and the fan has never come on so the air currents must be enough to cool it, it's set to fire up the fan at 110F.
Chaz! You are one talented individual! Great house! The designs are amazing! I love working on this stuff.........working and creating are two different things.......! ;D You create, I work! LOL!
Thanx Cody!!!!!!!!!!!! I just had a revelation after reading your post!! ;D ;D ;D ;D Seriously!!!!
I too, want to mount my mico on the frige AND, I am planning on mounting the flat screen on the "wall" that I build for the frige. All three heat producers will be in the same area. (someone mentioned earlier that the TV produces a lot.) So "maybe", with a little figuring, I could vent all three via a simple - but quality non-leaking - vent out the top. And then be able to close it to hold what little heat they produce in the winter.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, veeeeeeeerrry intresting! ;)
Chaz
Thanx Pat. (We were typing at the same time.)
Chaz, great looking place......what i can see of it. ;D Tried the HGTV link about a dozen times again with the same result, just a black screen. Lin, i have FireFox, still didn't get anything. >:( Was able to see all of the other links though. I first became aware/interested in underground homes back in the late 70's, early 80's. Even bought the book on them. :) Also met a guy that was building one in our area at the time but never got the chance to go see it. Don't you just hate it when everyday life gets in the way of things?
Sorry Ed. I get the black screen as well, for about 10 seconds or so, and then it comes on.
If ya get out my way, stop by for a personal tour! :)
Chaz
Thanks, i will keep that in mind...if i ever get that far east. ;D
Hi Chaz,
Nice Pad.
I have no special vent for my electric fridge/computer/TV. There is a roof vent not far away. I keep it open varying amounts depending on the weather. If it's HOT out then I keep two vent fans on low from about 11:00AM to about 6:00PM. It keeps the heat from collecting on the ceiling. I also painted the ceiling with BusKote ceramic paint. We live in the sun because of our solar panels and have no air conditioning so we pay more attention to the air flow.
Jerry
Just got back from a weekend at the NSRA Nationals in Louisville and I REALLY found out that the RV frige I have puts out some heat!! It worked great but the heat it puts off is amazing. My buddy threw some buns on top of some of the exit holes and it "baked" them bad boys!! ;D Bottoms were hard and tops were soggy. :P ;D
I guess these are fine if you want to use propane but I need to get a different one. Anybody interested?? ::) ;D
Chaz