Keeping your food and drinks cold in you RV refrigerator and coolers can be easy by using freeze packs. The key is to rotate as the packs unfreeze and replace with frozen ones.

We have an older RV and even thought the refrigerator does work well this process helps it not to work so hard keeping proper temperature. This process also keeps you from buying ice and dealing with the mess of melting ice in the little cooler. It’s a good idea to always carry a cooler in case of emergencies or just to put extra drinks and food overflowing from the refrigerator.

Starting two or three days before we leave for a trip, I turn on the RV refrigerator this starts the cooling process. Over the years we have collected six or eight freeze packs place them in the deep freezer at home to get a hard freeze. These can be purchased at almost any store that sells coolers mine are about eight by eight inches square and about two inches thick. Then it’s time to go to the grocery shopping to purchase what I think we will need for the trip. I’m not too good at this and always buy more than needed I don’t think so but my wife tells me so, so it must be true! Everything that needs to be cool or frozen I bring in the house and put up. I will also cool as many water and soda bottles I have room for. Everything that is to be put in the RV refrigerator, freezer, or the extra cooler is already at temperature before loading RV.

The night before leaving I load the refrigerator and cooler. Usually the cooler will just have drinks if anything.  In the refrigerator I put the food in the proper place and also two or three of the freezer packs, same for the cooler usually put two, the rest put in the RV freezer. I have a thermometer on the door shelf of the refrigerator to keep track of the temperature. I want to keep it between 33 and 40 degrees out of the danger zone. In the beginning I keep the refrigerator on high cool and adjust from there. If it gets too cold I put it on the medium setting. Also don’t forget to check the freeze packs every couple of days exchange with the frozen ones in the freezer.  It really works to keep the temperature steady and at the proper temperature. Especially on hot summer days we were in the southwest last summer and the refrigerator stayed nice and cool.

Another tip is to keep in mind the RV refrigerator is not like a home refrigerator the air is still and doesn’t circulate very much when the door is opened the cool air pours out and is replaced with warmer air that has to be cooled. Try to keep the door shut as much as possible, get out what you need and close it as soon as possible.

This process and tips can help keep food and drinks fresh and cold ready when you need it. Happy Camping.