How to Adjust Temperature on Dometic RV Refrigerator
Keeping your food cold in your RV isn't a difficult task anymore. Once you learn how to adjust the temperature, your food should remain nice and fresh throughout your RV vacation. Having fresh food is one way to stay on your healthy lifestyle while you are away from home
How to Adjust Temperature on Dometic RV Refrigerator: Like most fridges, the Dometic brand in your RV is not hard to adjust when you need cooler or warmer temperatures. Normally there is a little white adjustment handle on one of the fins that does the job for you.
To learn all about adjusting the temperature on your Dometic fridge just keep reading. Our article is filled with the information you need to know to have fresh cool food all RV vacation long.
Dometic RV Refrigerator Temperature Control
One sign that you need to adjust your RV’s Dometic fridge is seeing drips of water coming down from your freezer. This drips tell you that you need to make the fridge and freezer cooler.
Another sign is when you see ice forming in the fridge part of the unit. Now you have to move the temperature control to a warmer setting. It is not hard to reset the temperature in your Dometic fridge
The temperature control in an RV Dometic fridge should be a little lever that goes up and down on the same fin. You do not want to move it side to side as some people have done. That movement does nothing to change the temperature inside the fridge.
The correct movement is up and down along the same fin. To remember which direction is cool and which is warm, you can think about up equals north. Going north means colder.
Then down equals south and the further south you go, the hotter the temperature gets.
Dometic Fridge Settings 1-5
You may not get a lot of range when adjusting your RV Dometic fridge. The numbers may only go from 1 to 5. The trick to finding the right temperature for your food is to remember that the higher numbers indicate the coldest settings.
Some people have found that #4 works best for them and keeps their food nice and fresh. Your results may differ and you may find that the middle of the dial is best for you.
The key to using your temperature dial or fridge setting is that the more food you have inside, the more stable your temperatures inside the fridge will be. If you are not sure how cold or warm your fridge is, you can use an inexpensive thermometer to double check for you.
What is the Correct Temperature for an RV Refrigerator
You may think that the RV Dometic fridge is different from the one in your home but that would be a miscalculation on your part. The two are basically the same unit that does the same task.
That means that the ideal fridge temperature in your home is the same as the one in your RV. Your ideal RV fridge temperature should be between 40 and 42 degrees F. If the temperature is not getting that low, you either set the temperature control too high or there is something wrong with your fridge.
You can go lower than 40 degrees to keep your food cool but you do not want to go any lower than 35 degrees F or your food will freeze. One way to check your fridge’s temperature consistency is to use a fish tank thermometer, and place it in a jar filled with water.
Close the jar with a lid making sure the thermometer is fully covered. Stick the jar in the fridge, close the door and wait for awhile. You should get an accurate reading on your fridge’s temperature performance when you check the thermometer later.
Acceptable Temp Range in a Dometic Fridge (Average RV Refrigerator Temp)
As stated the ideal cooling temperature for your RV’s Dometic fridge is between 40 and 42 degrees F. But sometimes the ideal is hard to maintain or you may have accidentally set the temperature control to the wrong level.
In either case those are not bad situations as you have some leeway in temperature ranges. For an RV Dometic fridge, you should not let the unit get warmer than 50 degrees F. it is just unsafe to store cold food at high temperature settings.
The lowest number on the acceptable scale is 35 degrees F. Also stated earlier, any lower and your food can freeze, ruining it or making it unsafe to eat. For the freezer 0 degrees F is ideal.
You can go as high as 30 degrees F if you want and temperatures around 10 and 20 degrees F are also acceptable.
How Long Does it Take Dometic Refrigerator to Cool
This will depend on which power supply you use and the model of your Dometic fridge. Some people have had to wait up to 24 hours before their fridge was cold enough to hold any food.
Others have found that if they put ice inside the fridge, their units took anywhere from 3 to 4 to 12 hours to get down to the ideal temperature. 8 hours may also be a possibility.
Your experience may be different and it depends on a variety of factors. People seem to use ice to help the cooling process go a lot faster.
Some Final Words
Getting your Dometic RV fridge to work properly is not that difficult. It may be a little time consuming but in the end, it is worth the time spent. Once you understand how the temperature control works, up and down, and which setting is the coldest, higher numbers, then you should be fine.
Just make sure your Dometic fridge operates at the ideal temperature setting, 40 to 42 degrees F, or remains in the acceptable temperature range, 35 to 50 degrees F, and you should be fine.
If you have questions consult your owner’s manual to help you find the right settings. Remember there are always tricks you can use to make sure your fridge is performing like it's supposed to.
