Hi, our fridge isn't brill in our Abbey Vogue and we have been given a 50 cm electric one. Would it be easy or very difficult to just take out the old one and replace it with the new one (We think it will fit with wheel arch, sink etc.). Has anyone any experience of doing this? Be very grateful for any advice!! Thanks.
I do not see any reason why you cannot just use a kitchen one.
The fridge in our van is a compression fridge (just like a household fridge) except that ours runs on 12v and is specifically made for vehicles. Compression Fridges do not need any regular maintenence and get down to a working temp within minutes of switching on.
Their only downside is the noise from the pump but we found we quickly got used to it and it doesn't bother us at all now.
a domestic fridge is a different kettle of fish to a compressor fridge for a caravan (or the 3 way types)
A domestic fridge uses different chemicals to get the cooling, so should be left to stand for a while before switching on,
also the compressor is spring mounted, the springs in time break, especially when moved alot, this can then lead to very noisy running as the compressor is them just sat in the metal casing, worst case the refrigerant leaks and makes it useless.
My partner fitted an electric fridge into our 1989 Abbey Sommerset. It looks and works fantastic. Obviously you can,t run it while towing but if you place your food items in already chilled from leaving home you will find that these little electric fridges are so well insolated that your food will still be chilled or frozen even after a 3 hour journey. On one occasion we went to an event where there were no electric hook ups - I kept the food chilled by buying a bag of frozen ice and placeing it in the fridge in small containers - this lasted about 3 days. A bit but it worked for the time of our stay and has saved us £110's on a 3 way fridge.