Fridge draughts

[Robert_374242026]

Could anyone help on this,our fridge has a considerable draught around the top and sides,i asked Coachman about it and he said it was installed and "passed". the other day i took a look inside and found only the metal strip attached to the rear top was fixed and no other type off draught strips were attached around the sides, in fact you can see daylight from the front of the fridge. I cannot believe this to be correct , the model is 2001 Pastiche 460/2.

 

[gary]

You don't say the make of fridge, with electrolux it's not that important but with Thetford fridges the back is meant to be very well sealed.

Of course where draughts are concerned it's alway important and this can simply and quickly be remied with 6ins wide strips of Fibreglass roof insulation. You can push these firmly down the sides and top of the fridge through the outside vents, but nothing along the bottom.

 

[Robtel]

A previous van of mine had a similar problem, could be really draughty. In that van there was some form of insulation around side and top of fridge, it just hadn't been placed in very evenly. I'm sorry but I never could find out the name of the material used, it seemed like a sort of fibre glass wool type of stuff. Not long before that there had been an article in Practical Caravan magazine featuring one of their contributors replacing the insulation around his van's fridge. It was stated then that as well as cutting down draughts the insulation also improved the performance of the fridge.

I posted a request on here for info at that time and received a bit of stick for trying to cut down on the necessary ventilation so could I make clear that I am not saying to block off the under floor vents or the ventilation behind fridge but only at sides and top between units and work surfaces.

Robert

 

[chrisn7]

My Bessacarr came with its Electrolux installation manual, but it seemed that Swift couldn't read it. The receiving cabinet was supposed to be sealed, save for the upper and lower exterior vents. Yet there was a 2" gap at the top of one side, and a feeble half hearted attempt to seal the top edge Robert refers to. Further, an uninsulated central heating pipe ran under the lower vent, thus wasting heat, and warming the fridge that trying to lose heat ! Oh and the rear of the fridge was totally unsupported.

So Robert you are right to question this, and you can probably improve your comfort and that of the fridge at the same time.....

 

[gary]

A previous van of mine had a similar problem, could be really draughty. In that van there was some form of insulation around side and top of fridge, it just hadn't been placed in very evenly. I'm sorry but I never could find out the name of the material used, it seemed like a sort of fibre glass wool type of stuff. Not long before that there had been an article in Practical Caravan magazine featuring one of their contributors replacing the insulation around his van's fridge. It was stated then that as well as cutting down draughts the insulation also improved the performance of the fridge.

I posted a request on here for info at that time and received a bit of stick for trying to cut down on the necessary ventilation so could I make clear that I am not saying to block off the under floor vents or the ventilation behind fridge but only at sides and top between units and work surfaces.

Robert

"I'm sorry but I never could find out the name of the material used"....

...Rockwool perhaps? a scruffy looking fibreglass or to be perfectly correct

Insulation material consisting of stone wool based mineral fibres [man-made vitreous (silicate) fibres].

 

[rob_jax]

Hi Robert,

You are right it's not correct, and in support of the other posters - the working region (back) of all fridges should be sealed from the interior of the van. This is to allow the air vents to work properly, but also to stop the possibility of flue gas exhaust entering the caravan.

If you can see daylight, and run on gas, then that's a safety issue.

For optimum operation of the fridge (cooling performance) it's important that the volume of air behind the fridge is within limits set by the fridge manufacturer (actually quite small - so that the heat promotes a good air flow) - leaks won't help - and fridge performance will suffer

The fridge should be sealed around it's circumference in the cabinet / work top, and the cabinet should be sealed against the caravan.

Robert

 

[Robtel]

"I'm sorry but I never could find out the name of the material used"....

...Rockwool perhaps? a scruffy looking fibreglass or to be perfectly correct

Insulation material consisting of stone wool based mineral fibres [man-made vitreous (silicate) fibres].

Gary,

Your description matches the material that I was referring to, there just wasn't enough of it in place. Thanks, I'll know the name the next time.

 

[Robert_374242026]

Hi, many thanks for all your comments about fridge draughts,we have just changed to caravanning after 20 years motorcaravanning and in that time every "expert "has said about these problems and of course it can lead to exhaust fumes coming in to the interior, so that is why i spoke the the tech'guy at Coachman who said it it had been "passed".Regardless i will take up your suggestions and pack some fibre glass around the Electolux fridge,unfortunatly above the fridge is a sliding shelf which has a 10mm gap to the worktop which stops us using this shelf if i fill that in.