Refrigerator

[The Wheel]

My wife and I would really like to own a Trailmanor. Our only concern is the refrigerator. We've been spolied by our full size one on our current trailer. Are Portable freezers expensive and heavy?Any help would be greatly appreciated. By the way, we've been looking at Trailmanors for a long time. We visited the old Trailmanor factory in Lake City several years ago.We have a nice dealership close by called Chesapeake RV Solutions. Thanks again for your help.//The Wheel, from Virginia Beach, Va.

 

[wwjam]

Hi... We bought two small refrigerators, one is a cooler type and the other is an actual refrigerator. We like the second one best. I think we paid $50.00 for it. It mostly holds our drinks and a very small amount of freezer stuff, that's all we need. I like the one that Costco sells but it takes up too much room inside the trailer. We put ours on a stand outside, plugged into the trailer. It's small enough to fit inside as well.

Jo Ann

 

[rpcoombs]

Hello and welcome to our "family". I (as a retired Naval officer) used to work for Chesapeake RV Solutions (I bought the first TM they ever sold) and can fully and totally confirm they are "nice". As for the refridgerator that is a problem for those used to full sized models but I have found that I can store most "overflow" foods in a 12 volt portable cooler (there is a 12 volt outlet in every TM). You can even feed the portable cooler's power cord out through the TM's sealing flaps and have cold drinks/foods right at hand at your picnic table. There are portable coolers/freezers which run up to $600+ but I have found my $90 Coleman more than adequate. If you have paid your $12 for full membership, you can do a seach of this site for all you need to know. I would seach on "cooler" and "refridgerator".
P.S. If you need a "tour" of TM's at Chesapeak RV Solutions just send me a private message. I don't get any $$$ out of same except for "at cost" repairs (which I find seldom required!) Cheers, Dick Coombs

 

[genesc]

As for the refridgerator that is a problem for those used to full sized models but I have found that I can store most "overflow" foods in a 12 volt portable cooler (there is a 12 volt outlet in every TM). You can even feed the portable cooler's power cord out through the TM's sealing flaps and have cold drinks/foods right at hand at your picnic table.

If I remember correctly, the 12 volt outlet cannot handle the portable cooler. It draws too many amps on 12 volts. Can someone back me up on this? It burned out my 12 volt outlet. I had to replace it in our TM. Works fine in our tow vehicle but not in our TM.

 

[rpcoombs]

That's right -- I forgot that I had my 12 volt outlet rewired so it went right to the batteries with upgraded wiring. Not a big job but necessary. The 12 volt outlet from TM is even sized (heavy load sockets don't fit) to reflect the fact it has minimal capacity. Sorry!!

 

[PopBeavers]

I have used the Coleman 12 volt cooler, but I plugged it in to 120 volts and used the adapter. I don't think the batteries will last very long when boondocking.

We find the TM fridge more than adequate for 4 people for 4 days, as long as we keep cold drinks on ice. We only have access to shore power about 1 out of 6 trips.

I wonder if anyone makes a free standing propane fridge/freezer that would be viable when boondocking for more than a week.

 

[grill-n-go]

http://www.lehmans.com has some appliances that may be of interest. Do a google search for "kerosene refrigertor"

 

[B_and_D]

http://www.trailmanorowners.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2872&highlight=freezer

Read the posts by Bill & RockyMtnRay, RMR found a freezer that he liked.

We make do pretty well with the TM frig, and there's 4 of us (including 2 teenagers). We bring along small amounts (and containers) of ketchup, mayo, milk, margarine, etc. so that they don't take up so much room. I can pack 3 full meals of frozen chicken breasts, steaks, and burgers (including french fries) in the freezer.

In case we want to have extra room to keep things cold, we just bring along a collapsible cooler that we can fill up with ice. It comes in handy when we grocery shop and have to go a ways to the store.

 

[TM Maine]

I bring a coleman 6 day ice cooler the ice really does last for 6 days and keeps my liquids ice cold...In six days i usually use about 3 to 4 bags of ice.