Medical Cost Sharing – Health Care for RVers

Last updated on November 18th, 2020 at 12:17 pm

November 4, 2020 by Marlan at Rv52 Leave a Comment

The best Health Benefits to go with RV living

Get prepared for your best RV life with Medical Cost Sharing

RV52.com Editor’s note: Art Goetze is a good friend of mine and is the founder of Scoop Health, a great place to start searching when looking for health care options. While this article does pitch his wares, it has lots of great information. I hope you’ll find it as interesting and eye opening as I did. Enjoy!

It doesn’t matter if you are in a Teardrop trailer or a Class A motor coach, proper planning prevents problems from raining on your parade. Before you hit the highways and byways or see the purple mountains majesty, the one thing you need to think about is how will you access quality healthcare without hocking your RV to pay for it?

Whether you are already cruising the highways, or just considering RV living, access to health care is something you need to take really seriously. Once you set out on your new journey, taking care of your health can be a real challenge. Because if you are going to be staying in places where you don’t know anyone, where you might need access to a doctor or a specialist quickly.

Your healthcare is a lot like your RV. Sometimes RVs need wipers, tires or an oil change, sometimes they need a real mechanic and major parts replaced. The difference is the RV can usually wait until you can afford the repair, but it’s not that way with your health. Planning for your healthcare needs in the RV life means thinking about your health and care differently.

Whether you are on the road or camping in Jellystone Park, you will need to prepare to deal with everyday health needs. Pack an extra supply of any regular medications you take and a good first aid kit too. This is especially true if you have routine needs or chronic conditions. Lots of Rvers decide to enroll in a Virtual Primary Care membership. For a flat monthly fee you get unlimited access to your own doctor who knows you and your health situation. Scoop Health can help you find one.

Then, there’s the big stuff. I’m talking about those unexpected surprise medical needs that come at the worst possible time. To sleep well at night in your RV you’ll need to be prepared for unplanned illnesses or an injury while on the road. Whatever your RV looks like sooner or later your RV life is going to require healthcare. Just one bad trip to the ER could end up costing more than a new transmission in your motorhome. You are going to need a plan to take care of the large medical bills or your RV dreams might end up in the ditch.

RV living involves a lot of advance planning. You need to check and recheck just about everything before hitting the road. Like planning out the trip and your stops on your Rand McNally map, you also need to have a back up plan for detours and the unexpected. Preparing for RV living means making advance plans for your healthcare needs both the known, and the unpredicted. It’s not something you want to put off until you are in the ER or a hospital bed in the middle of nowhere. Because when something bad happens you are going to want the best doctor in town and it could end up costing a lot of money.

Unfortunately most health insurance has network restrictions. That means it’s not great for the RV life. You’d have to drive back home to see your doctor or pay hefty out of network penalties. Because using health insurance for out of network healthcare while you are on the road, this could cost you dearly.

RVers need a way to pay for serious healthcare that doesn’t punish your choice of doctor or hospital no matter where you are.

That’s where community based Medical Cost Sharing comes in handy.

One example, Sedera Medical Cost Sharing, is available through Scoop Health and allows members to get the health care they need wherever the wind and that beautiful RV may take you.

Medical cost sharing has been around for a long time since it started in the Christian community.

Today Sedera medical cost sharing has removed any faith requirements so membership is open to anyone. Instead of trusting a profit minded insurance company with their healthcare, Sedera members rely on a community of like minded people to help with their large medical bills. Members also get help finding the healthcare they need, even on the road less traveled. Compared to traditional high deductible health insurance, Sedera medical cost sharing is usually about half the cost for high deductible health insurance with network restrictions.

It’s hard to imagine, but some folks in the RV life are actually taking chances without health insurance at all. That’s no way to protect your dreams.

To be a safe RVer you need a health contingency plan that works with your personal health situation and your RV lifestyle. Your individual health needs to be considered in deciding where you take your RV, where you plan rest stops, and wherever your final destination may be.

With a medical cost sharing membership from Scoop Health, for example, you will have virtual access to a Teledoctor anytime you need a quick medical opinion or a prescription refill. You can also enroll with a dedicated Virtual Direct Primary Care doctor through Scoop Health. With this amazing virtual healthcare service you get a 1:1 relationship with your own personal physician anywhere there’s a cell signal or wi-fi service. No chronic illness will keep you from being the road warrior you’ve dreamed about.

Medical cost sharing members also have unlimited access member helpers to assist you in locating local medical services in the area and booking an appointment. Members also get access to a great RX application to help you find the best price on your prescriptions on the next leg of your RV travels. Best of all Medical Cost Sharing through Scoop Health costs about 50% of a traditional health insurance plan. There are no network limits and your out of pocket per incident can be as low as $500.

To find out more or leave a comment on this post.

13 RV Awning Accessories You Must Have

Last updated on June 5th, 2019 at 08:40 pm

June 4, 2019 by Marlan at Rv52 1 Comment

There are a few important RV Awning accessories that I believe everyone should have, which is why I started writing this post.

While a few of the awning accessories listed out below are expensive, most of these you can buy for less than $50.

RV Awning Accessories- Essential Items First:

#1 Shade Screens- Sunblockers and Side Blockers

A sunblocker is necessary if you’d like to sit outside in the sun. It provides shade, provides a bit of respite from the heat and also blocks off harmful UV rays.

This Sun Shade by TentProInc is the very popular on Amazon. They claim to block about 86% UV light and it is quite easy to install on almost any brand of awning- such as Dometic (A&E), Carefree, Lippert, Fiamma, Solera, etc.

It comes with tie downs, bungees and a zipper bag to store the Shade Screen when not needed. Do make sure you choose the right size for your awning though- with sizes ranging from 6′ X 7′ to 6′ X 19′.

If I had to really recommend one though- this one would be it. It’s easier to install but also slightly more expensive.

#2 Awning Tie Downs

A really important accessory that is recommended to be bought separately- on priority for all.

Why?Because the ones that come along with sun shades and Awning extensions usually leave the user wanting for more.

It goes without saying that investing 20$ on a nice sturdy little tie down will serve you well in the long run- especially given that damage from excessive winds can tear off your awning entirely, or worse, damage the side of your RV.

So, long story short- do ensure you have a few pairs of these awning tie downs.

#3 De-Flapper For Awning

This is a nice little product that will save you potential awning damage from high winds.

It basically two small clamps that will tie your awning fabric to the side rails, further securing it against the wind.

It’s pretty cheap and works well enough that I’ll recommend this de-flapper on Amazon as a MUST have product, along with some sturdy awning tie downs.

#4 Bird Spikes

Birds can cause serious damage to your awnings by perching on top of them. You don’t want any tears in the fabric which is costly to repair or bird poo on the awning which takes up your time to clean it off.

Which is why you should be installing bird spikes, such as this one , to repel them ASAP. I would recommend getting a 3 Pack that covers 30 liner feet total, at the least.

And don’t worry, these are humane plastic spikes that won’t harm the birds, just won’t allow them anywhere near your awnings.

#5 Awning Repair Tape

On the off chance that your awning fabric gets torn, you’ll need some of this this heavy duty awning repair tape to get the job done.

The tape will not work well if you apply it on a dirty surface, so thoroughly clean the awning fabric first and apply some alcohol or mineral spirits, before you apply the tape.

There are mixed reviews for this product though, with some saying it works exactly as advertised and others saying it didn’t work at all. My guess would be that the ones that used it exactly as given in the instructions are the positive reviewers.

In any case, you won’t exactly be breaking the bank by trying it out once.

#6 Awning Cleaner Liquid and Brush

Just spray on some of this liquid cleaner on your awning, leave it on for a minute or two and then scrub it off with an awning cleaning brush and some water to get a completely clean awning fabric. Bird droppings(or not if you heeded to #7 above!), dirt and whatnot- this is a nice, non bleach based cleaner for all types of stains.

The good part is that the liquid won’t discolor or stain your awning as it isn’t bleach based. Again, these are two of those products, that you MUST have at all times.

RV Awning Accessories- Cool Items You Should Have

#7 LED Lighting

You’re out camping with your family, and it’s a nice, cool evening. Wouldn’t it be a total bummer if you had to go back inside just because you didn’t come prepared?

This is why it’s important to invest in a nice strip of LED lighting. There’s just something really relaxing about the idea of just chilling in your comfy chairs with the perfect mood lighting in the outdoors.

There are a couple of great products on the market. I really liked this one on Amazon because it’s rated IP68.

In layman’s terms, that means it’s waterproof due to a silicon covering on top of the standard crystal resin covering that most LED lights have. It’s got over 90% positive reviews out of a total of 232 at the time of writing this post.

Do make sure you buy the appropriate length for the side of your trailer/camper/RV. A 16′ strip would probably be the minimum you’d need.

Another helpful tip to remember is to install the lighting by plugging it in with the existing outdoor light and installing it under the rain gutter, so that it remains under your Awning.

#8 Awning Hangers

These awning hangers come quite cheap for a pack of 7.

What do you do with them?

Hang party lights, wind chimes, flowers or whatever you please ( as long as it’s not too heavy- in which case, please do not!)

#9 Awning Room Attachments

This product may not be for everyone but if you usually go on long-ish trips, you may consider getting a room attachment. It provides you an extra room on the outside that’s like a private zone to go get your work done, for instance, or just relax and read a book.

Easy to install and pack up once you’re done, check out this Awning Room Attachment on Amazon. It’s designed to for nearly all awnings from 10’ to 21’ with awning rail to ground measurements of 86” – 138”. It will fit all traditional and 12 volt patio awnings with an 8 Feet extension.

It’s designed to for nearly all awnings from 10’ to 21’ with awning rail to ground measurements of 86” – 138”. It will fit all traditional and 12 volt patio awnings with an 8 Feet extension.

#10 Awning Mats

Definitely not a must-have, but a nice-to-have product. This awning mat by Camco spruces up the look of your deck or patio and can be used as a picnic mat to sit on.

It’s mildew resistant, and drains moisture through it pretty fast. It also has grommets in each corner and 4 lightweight stakes to secure it to the ground.

After all, how annoying is it to have the sides of your picnic blanket be flapping about because of the wind?

#11 Small Cooler/ Refrigerator

Sitting outside, under the shade of your awning on a nice pleasant day- wouldn’t it be even nicer to be able to crack a couple cold ones?

Instead of making the trip back and forth to your refrigerator inside, why not invest in a small cooler or portable refrigerator that will keep your beer cold?

This one is a nice, compact iceless cooler that can be plugged into any 12V outlet inside your RV. Leave your drinks inside for a couple hours to allow them to cool down and then simply carry it outside.

#12 Window Sunshades

A logical extension of buying awnings is that you should get window sunshades if you want to save the interiors of your RV from getting toasty in the summers.

The added advantage of doing this is that it helps make the work of your air conditioners and refrigerator easier, which in turn, increases their life.

Just a simple hack that you should keep in mind.

#13 Foldable Chairs and Pet Tables

You don’t always want to sit on the grass outside, and so you must have a couple of folding chairs in the back of your RV at all times. I’d recommend getting two small folding side tables along with it to keep some food or drinks or whatever stuff you’re carrying, on.

My RV has no AC Power but there is power to the pedestal?

Last updated on June 5th, 2019 at 08:39 pm

May 5, 2019 by Marlan at Rv52 1 Comment

Hello RVers. Relaying a story about AC power or shore power that you might find helpful.

A friend’s RV had no power. He knew this because he had no power on any outlets, no microwave lights, no air conditioner and the lights were getting dim.

For the rest of this article, you’ll really need a multimeter (I suggested a Fluke as no one ever got fired for buying a Fluke) to do check out electrical as the darned stuff is invisible yet will still bite you on the rear!

Here were the clues:

The pedestal had power (30 Amp plug).
The 30 amp cable had power at the plug connector – in other words the connector was connected properly. Connectors can come lose.
The MAIN power connection to the WFCO power center did NOT have power.

You can assume that based on where you DO/DON’T have power that it is reasonable that the WIRE in between where you DO have power and where you DON’T have power is broken.

RV Electrical Power to WFCO Distribution Center Problem

We decided that the power fault was somewhere between the 30 Amp plug and the WFCO converter. We also surmised that the problem was in the junction box between the heavy rubber coated extension cord and the typical home electrical wire ( I think called Romex ) is connected.

Now an argument ensued.

I didn’t want to go rummaging around the RV under carriage or trying to guess where the junction box was and was willing to let an RV dealer who “just knew” where those things were located find it and fix it.

But my friend didn’t want to pay an RV repair person so he persisted. In this case he was right and I was wrong – it was easier to find than you think.

KEY LEARNING #1: It is HIGHLY likely that the box that lets you push/pull all the RV shore power extension cord in/out of your RV is carefully disguised/integrated with the interior of the RV in a useful fashion. In our case, it was a small side table in between two chairs in a rear living model travel trailer.

KEY LEARNING #2: The electrical junction box will be in that storage box… most likely. I wouldn’t know why it would be any different.

There was a “near death” fire in the junction box!

Once we discovered the junction box would be EASY to get to in the inside side table we took it apart and we were aghast at what we saw.

Inside the junction box, the hot side of the wire had came in contact with the metal junction box which was grounded and the ensuing short melted the wire nut. We assume it melted the wire nut as we found 2 but there should have been 3.

It was very good luck that the fire somehow stopped burning and simply created an open circuit or my friend – a heavy sleeper might have died in his sleep.

We repaired the junction box and the RV worked perfectly after that.

14 Tips For Camper Air Conditioner Troubleshooting

Last updated on June 5th, 2019 at 08:38 pm

April 14, 2019 by Marlan at Rv52 1 Comment

The best part of owning a RV is planning an impromptu trip wherever you feel like. For families, the summer months are very important because that’s practically the only time of the year when you can just bundle the kids up and drive off on a trip.

Of course, because it’s the summers, the RV needs to be a comfortable temperature with the air conditioning working perfectly.

Things don’t always tend to go according to plan on family trips though, and it is very well possible that your air conditioner may start acting up. Rather than spending time waiting for the repair guy to show up, how about you spend some time going through this post and leave home with a few tricks up your sleeve?

I pored over the internet and came up with the most exhaustive list of things that can go wrong with your RV air conditioner and how to troubleshoot.

Let’s get started:

#1 Your RV Air Conditioning Frequently Turns On and Off

The 3 top reasons why this could be happening:

Dirt clogging up the AC system
Faulty thermostat positioning
Low freon levels

Firstly, the on/off cycle of your RV AC could be because of dirt clogging up the insides which makes the compressor coils to freeze up and periodically cycle between functioning and non functioning.

The solution is simple- clean your AC periodically guys, I think that’s the most important thing that comes out of this post by now.

Do also check how the thermostat is placed. Is it too close to the windows? If so, the sunlight streaming in could make it sense a higher ambient temperature and hence, cool more than what’s required.

Similarly, if the thermostat is too close to the supply vent, it’ll make the temperatures rise thinking the ambient temperature is too cold.

If this is the case, you simply need to relocate the thermostat to a more suitable spot.

Thirdly, it could be caused because of low freon levels inside the air conditioner.

When the freon levels decrease, it causes low pressure in the system which makes the compressor to switch off. When it switches off, the pressure slowly builds up again which causes the compressor to start functioning all of a sudden.

You’re going to need to get a professional to take a look, but if it’s freon, you should probably start saving up for a new AC.

#2 Your Generator Can’t Support Your Power Needs

Most RV air conditioners require roughly 3000 W to start and then about 2400-2600 W to keep running.

So, if your generator is only rated at say, 2500 starting Watts and 2000 W for long term use, you are bound to fry it.

It’s generally recommended that you at least purchase a 3000 W generator to power your air conditioning. Mind you, that is just about enough to cover for your air conditioning, and you’ll need extra wattage to power your lights, TV, refrigerator, and other appliances.

The best way to plan is to check the wattage of each appliance and add them up so you know the minimum wattage you need your generator to provide.

#2 Don’t Test Your Thermostat This Way

Some folks tend to set their thermostat at below 60 F and even at around 50 F to test if the thermostat functions at those temperatures. You’ll notice that it does…until it doesn’t, and there’s no cooling.

RV air conditioners are not supposed to be brought to temperatures so low and generators as well, may stop functioning at temperatures below 60 F.

So please please please just don’t set your RV air conditioner to an abnormally low temperature.

#3 Your RV Air Conditioner Stinks

Again- this is mostly a maintenance issue. You need to keep your condenser, evaporator coils clean. Smells can often originate from the radiator so you should clean that out too.

Also, vent filters tend to keep the smells they accumulate so if cleaning them out doesn’t work, just replace them, and that should do the trick.

#4 Your RV AC Keeps Freezing Up

Believe it or not, this is a pretty common thing.

It could be happening because of a few reasons:

Your air conditioner is low on Freon
The air conditioner is getting clogged up with dirt or debris
The thermostat is faulty

I wrote a whole post about this topic where I went into greater detail about what to do if your AC starts to freeze up. You can check it out here

#5 The RV AC Is Leaky

It could be freon leakage or just plain ol’ moisture.

An easy way to find out is to check your condenser coils. If they are dirty, clean them with a brush.(In fact, using a portable vaccum cleaner alongwith is even more convenient). If you still see the leakage after this, it probably is a freon leak.

At this point, you should get a professional to come take a look and see if the leak can be dealt with. In most cases though, the recommendation is going to be clear: Get a new AC unit. The reason being that RV air conditioners are sealed units and cannot be recharged with freon.

#6 There’s a LOT of water surrounding the AC

This could be happening because of a leak OUTSIDE the Air conditioner. A lot of times, it’s because of the AC roof gasket not being tight enough.

A simple check is to examine the unit near the air conditioner’s roof. Tighten any loose nuts and bolts that you see on the gasket.

If you still see a leakage, it could be that the gasket needs to be replaced OR something else entirely. If it’s the latter, you’ll need a professional to take a look.

#7 Your RV AC tends to be overheating

This only usually happens because of dirty coils and filters. You should check all vents filters, as well as condenser and evaporator coils, and give them a good cleaning with a brush to remove any dirt, debris that may have accumulated over time.

#8 The RV AC Is Too Noisy

Noisy air conditioners are all too common and really, if you end up getting a headache everytime you turn the AC on then what’s the point?

Here are a two common reasons why your RV AC could be too loud:

Rubber shock absorbers need replacement
Motor fan might be hitting some loose part inside the AC

As this guy found out, a simple rubber clamp fix was all that was needed to quiet his RV Air Conditioner.

#9 The AC Compressor Is ALWAYS On

A lot of people, such as on this thread, describe the problem in the following manner:

“I switch off the AC and the fan keeps shut, but the compressor keeps humming until I flip the circuit breaker”

Now, this is usually either a thermostat issue or a circuit board issue.

The thermostat has a compressor control wire, which is usually yellow in color(A quick look through your RV AC user manual should confirm this).

If the compressor stops humming after you remove the compressor control wire, it means the thermostat was faulty and needs replacement.

If not, then it’s a circuit breaker issue and you’ll need a HVAC professional to take a look

#10 The AC Doesn’t Blow Any Air Out

This could happen because of faulty capacitors- you need to check the motor fan capacitors first to see if they’re working.

Grab a pair of multimeters and touch it’s probes to either side of the capacitor. If the LCD display shows a random value that keeps decreasing, it means the capacitor is okay- if not, then you need to replace the capacitor.

What a capacitor does is, it stores energy to provide boosts to the motor fan or compressor to work. If it stops working, then the fan won’t get the kick it needs to jump start.

#11 The RV AC blows out warm air

Check if the compressor is getting proper voltage. You’ll need a multimeter for this.

If it turns out that the compressor isn’t recieving the desired voltage, then you’ll need to pinpoint where exactly is the flow of current getting diverted.

I’d recommend getting a professional to take a look for this one.

#12 The AC Doesn’t Cool Much

This could be because you’re simply in a very hot environment. Remember that if you’re on the road during particularly hot days, no AC is going to be 100% effective.

Being smart about your travel on hot days helps. Take adequate breaks, park your RV under the shade while doing so can bring down the temperature of the interiors down drastically and them make the AC that much more effective.

The other, technical reason this could be happening is usually because the compressor capacitors are faulty(See Point #11)

Another reason why is if the thermostat is faulty, it could be making the cooling go haywire.

You can check the thermostat using a multimeter and seeing if the thermostat terminals are receiving proper voltage(12V). If not, you can simply replace the thermostat yourself and your AC problems should go away.

#13 You Switch The AC On And Nothing Really Happens

Another variant of this issue is that the AC just keeps humming for a bit when you switch it on and then.. nothing.

Check if the AC is getting power in the first place. If it’s drawing too much power then it probably tripped the circuit breaker.

Most modern RVs have 2 AC units- it’s more a necessity nowadays but the problem is that the usual 15 Amp power sources aren’t always equipped to provide the required wattage.

Some Really Important RV Air Conditioner Maintenance Tips

#1 Oil the AC fans

According to RV Living Now:

“In case the RV fan motor has oil tubes for lubricating the fan, simply put a few drops of the machine oil into the tubes located on either end of the motor. If instead of having ball bearings, the motor has sleeves, dribble just a little amount of oil where the sleeves come into contact with the fan motor shafts. For these types of motor fans, a small amount of oil can work wonders”
RV Living Now

#2 Cover up the RV during off season

Birds and small animals tend to gather round places such as condenser coils for warmth, which can lead to ventilation problems later on. Plus all the dust that tends to accumulate.

During off season, you should seriously just cover up your RV. I really like one on Amazon.

Sure, it’s a bit of an investment, but one that will save you much much more money in the future.

#3 Clean the grills, vents and coils regularly

Just in case I haven’t emphasised about this in the post enough already, I’m just putting it out there again- clean your AC regularly.

I recommend you get a nice little radiator fin comb, like one on Amazon along with a to make things easier for yourself.

Conclusion

So there you have it. I spent multiple hours compiling this list together and I hope it was as exhaustive and helpful as I planned it to be.

Did you find the post useful? Any other common troubleshooting tip that I may have missed and you’d like to offer?

Jump into the comments below- I’m always on the lookout!

Want to know more? Check out the RV Air Conditioner How-To Page for more in-depth information, great videos, and articles.

How Much Does A RV Refrigerator Cost?

Last updated on June 5th, 2019 at 08:38 pm

April 9, 2019 by Marlan at Rv52 7 Comments

A refrigerator is SO important in a RV that taking some time to look around for the best model really makes sense. Lot of considerations to be had, but price is really the most important thing for almost everyone. So, how much does a RV Refrigerator cost?

RV refrigerators are priced around 1000$ as the starting point and can go up to 3000$ for the top line models. The recurring costs, that is electricity, propane and maintenance costs will be approximately 350-400$ a year.

Why Are RV Refrigerators So Expensive?

This is because RV refrigerators are made up of stainless steel and don’t have any plastic moving parts, unlike residential refrigerators. They have to be built this way to cope with the constant rumbling vibrations of being on the road.

What Are The Types Of RV Refrigerators?

There are generally 5 different types of refrigerators you’ll find on board a RV:

2 way fridges- Run on AC/DC electricity or AC and propane or DC and propane.
3 way fridges- Run on AC/DC/Propane
Propane refrigerators-Like in the ol’ days!
Standard home refrigerator- Some people just prefer to use a residential refrigerator as these have bigger capacities and freezers which RV refrigerators tend to not have
Thermoelectric refrigerators- These are tiny chillers rather than full blown refrigerators, and are usually used as a second refrigerator rather than the only one. At most, they’ll keep the drinks cool for you, but don’t expect much more.

To know more in detail about these types, check out this post I wrote on the different types of RV refrigerators.

The Best Bang-For-Buck RV Refrigerators Online

The following are really good representatives of what you’ll find no matter how hard you search. The market is DOMINATED by Dometic and Norcold, which is something to keep in mind.

I really like this refrigerator by Dometic. It’s a nice 2 way fridge, has a fair 6 cu. Ft volume and isn’t too expensive either. It also has a freezer and door lock handles, which are always needed on the road to keep the doors from flying open.

I also like this fridge by Norcold . It has a dedicated freezer with 1.3 cu ft space, which is quite big by RV standards. It’s on the expensive end of the spectrum of RV refrigerators though.

If you’re still looking for a bigger RV fridge then this 8 cu. ft fridge by Dometic may be the one for you. It’s quite fairly priced as well and has a 2 way operation.

Like I said earlier, expect to shell out about 1500$ for a entry level RV refrigerator and upto 3000$ for the more premium ones.

Running Expenditures For RV Refrigerator

Assuming you have a standard 2 way RV fridge that runs on both electricity and propane, let’s take into account the cost of running the fridge on propane for a day and running on electricity for a day.

According to Enjoy The Wild:

A 4 cu. ft RV fridge will consume less than a pound of propane daily
A 6 cu.ft RV fridge will consume approximately a pound of propane daily
A 12 cu.ft RV fridge will consume approximately 1.5 pounds of propane daily

These roughly cover the spectrum of RV fridge sizes that you’ll see on the market.

A gallon of propane in the US has an average price of 0.7$, over the last 6 months. 1 gallon=8.3 pounds, so let’s say that 70 cents buys you 8 days of refrigerator usage on propane for a 6 cu.ft fridge.

That comes to a roughly 3$ per month cost or 36$ a year running cost for buying propane. If you have a bigger fridge, that figure will be closer to 50$.

Running your fridge on electricity is costlier than propane though. According to Gone With The Wynns, their residential fridge which they installed in their RV draws abou 1.53 kWh per 11 hours. That’s approximately 3.4 kWh daily.

On average, a single kWh costs 12 cents in the US. So, to run a residential fridge inside your RV, you need to spend approximately 42 cents daily. That comes to about 154$ in a year. Keep in mind that this figure is based on a residential fridge which has a higher capacity than a RV fridge and thus, draws more power.

This is why the total costs of electricity and propane come to about 200$ a year.

Maintenance Costs Of A RV Refrigerator

Maintenance of a RV fridge may put you back by about 600$ on average, taking into account the visitation fees of the serviceman and cost of replacement parts, if needed. You can generally expect to shell out this amount once every 3 years. The cost of maintenance, when spread out over this period, comes to 200$ a year.

So, it’s safe to say, you should put about 400$ aside in your yearly budget to take care of all running and maintenance expenses of your RV refrigerator. If you have a residential refrigerator, it’s even better to set aside a 100$ extra since they are more prone to needing repairs on a RV.

Few Things To Keep In Mind About RV Refrigerators

#1 You shouldn’t use a propane fridge while driving.

Think about it. If you crashed with the propane turned on WITH the flame in the fridge ON… BOOM!

That’s because it’s a major fire hazard. What you should do is switch to electric if your fridge has the ability to run the cooling process on DC.

If you don’t have a 2 way or 3 way fridge with DC power, well then, the only safe option is to switch off your fridge and only open it extremely sparingly to maintain the temperature. If you follow this, you can generally expect the temperature to not drop more than 2 degrees in 6 hours.

#2 RV fridges just can’t cool as well as a residential fridge.

If you haven’t been living in a RV for long, chances are that you would take a lot of features in the refrigerator for granted. Small things, such as the fact that most RV refrigerators don’t have a proper freezer will seem irritating to start with. But over time, you’ll get used to having your ice cream slightly soft rather than frozen hard.

#3 Propane-only (1 way) fridges require frequent maintenance.

That’s probably why more and more people are now using 2 way and 3 way fridges

#4 You’ll have lower storing space

Residential fridges are much bigger and getting used to a RV fridge will take you some time. You’ll need a bit of ingenuity and being smart about the kind of foods you bring on board to get by, but trust me, it’s not that hard.

#5 Residential fridges will need frequent repairs

If you just miss your home fridge too much, just remember that they are made of soft metals and have moving parts- neither of which are too durable to the constant vibrations from being on the road.

FAQ

Q1. How long do RV refrigerators last?

You can expect a RV fridge to last you upto 8-10 years, although there are people online I came across on forums that claimed 20 and even 30 year lifespans!

Q2. Should you leave your RV fridge on all the time?

If you’re not going to be on board for a few days it’s best to switch the refrigerator off. A handy hack is that 12 hours before you’re going to board, you switch on the refrigerator. This ensures that it is cool enough for the rest of the day.

Q3. What are some key factors for picking a RV refrigerator?

How much room do you have on board the RV?
How many people will you usually accomodate?
What type of food do you usually eat? If there are a lot of meats in your diet, you’ll need to maintain lower temperatures consistently, if it’s only veggies, they can withstand slightly higher temperatures as well
Do you want a freezer or not? If you’re okay without a freezer, you’ll probably end up getting much cheaper deals. However, be warned that RV fridges don’t have very efficient freezers
How much energy consumption can you deal with?You’ll need to think about how quickly your batteries will get consumed and plan, not just according to the refrigerator’s power draw, but all your appliances. I wrote a handy post on this exact topic that you might want to check out.

A health care plan that works great, even on the RV road less traveled: Medical Cost Sharing.