By Rene Agredano
If you’ve watched food become prematurely moldy or endure freezer burn inside your RV refrigerator, the problem could be resolved as easily as storing less food and adjusting the refrigerator temperature based on the current outside temperature — in other words, turn it up or down depending if it’s hot or cold outside.
RV refrigerators operate most efficiently when cold air is allowed to freely circulate inside the unit. Food that is packed too tightly will prevent circulation and quickly spoil. To prevent this expensive problem always keep your food purchases to a minimum when taking your RV out on the road. Buy your items at least one day before departing and store them in your home refrigerator until leaving. Placing cold food items inside a cold RV refrigerator puts less demand on the unit.
Plug in your refrigerator to get cold air flowing at least a day prior to your departure. Once your refrigerator has cooled to an optimum temperature of about 34 degrees, pack it with the heaviest and tallest items on bottom. Place flat items such as egg cartons on the top shelf so air can freely flow out of the cooling fins. Sensitive produce such as lettuce and berries can be wrapped with paper towels and placed in the vegetable bin to prevent premature spoilage. Finally, the bottom left corner of your freezer is the coldest place in the unit for easily spoiled items such as ice cream and meats.
Pay attention to the weather once you arrive at your destination. Your refrigerator has to work extra hard when the outside temperature rises so remember to cool down the unit during hot weather and increase the temperature during cold weather.
A small battery-powered interior fan can also help cold air circulate more efficiently. If you’re still experiencing food spoilage it’s time to take your RV refrigerator into the shop for annual maintenance.
Read more from Rene at Live.Work.Dream.
