Added Extra's Useful in your Caravan

Perfect solution fo lack of refridgerator space

As a caravanner, if you have a smaller caravan with only a standard sized fridge, there is always the problem of wanting to chill drinks bottles that you cannot fit in your fridge. I lived with this frustration for some time until I invested in a coolbox. I bought one large enough to cool 1 litre bottles and stored it in the awning while we were in the caravan to save room. It is the perfect caravan accessory. This solution works perfectly, allowing you to just keep food produce in the caravan fridge and chilling the beer or wine in the coolbox!

There is a huge selection of cool boxes available these days, some of the best of which are those manufactured by Dometic.

The Dometic Combicool RC1200 fits the bill perfectly. It offers you a range of power sources and can store 2L bottles standing up.

A friend of mine has gone even further and purchased one of the larger waeco 3-way cool boxes which he uses as a fridge He cools his RC2200 EGP Portable Cooler down on 240v at home, continues the cooling process by using 12v in the car boot when travelling and the on arrival at his camp site on then can put it on gas when on non-electric sites or electric if it is available. You could then use it on your boat too.

Condensation Problem with Cool Boxes

There are drawbacks to using a cooler, one of which is condensation.

Things that give rise to condensation in the cool box are opening and shutting it lots as well as putting warmer things into it. Don't leave such things as bottles of milk or the butter lying around on the table for hours getting warm, simply use them and replace them quickly so they don't hsave time to warm up. Also take everything for a meal out at once to reduce a lot of closing and opening of the lid.

Another good tip is to turn off the cool box for two hours if running for more than 48 hours... when you have waited for 2 hours, then empty the water at the bottom which has built up and then turn it back on and use normally. It's perfectly normal for the water to accumulate, and does not imply you have a faulty unit.

Some people put a removable plastic grid in the bottom, which holds the food up above the drips.

When there is a lot of condensation then I would suggest placing a teatowel in the bottom simply to absorb the surplus so that it doesn't spoil any of the food inside. Alternatively, ensure everything in it is in plastic food boxes rather than cardboard packaging.

A cool box can become an essential caravan accessory, after a very short time you will wonder how you ever managed to cope without it!