Article by John Booth

Whilst on our recent South Australian holiday, during our stay at Burra, I got talking (as you do) to a fellow Excel owner about their journey to warmer climates much further north from here, Northern Territory and northern Western Australia. This couple were on their way back to Victoria and had been away for some months. The discussion turned to weather as it often does. As it turned out they had some very hot weather. My question arose from this about the van fridge operation in the heat. His reply has prompted me to add a quite successful modification to our van.

In very high temperatures when the heat exchanger side of the van is facing the sun, the fridge works quite hard. This prompted the owner to get an awning made that slides into the channel at the top of the van. The awning is then pegged out onto the ground at an angle providing shade for the fridge heat exchanger. He showed me his awning and I took some measurements and filed it away for future reference.

This reference came back to me when we were at the Flinders Ranges. The spot allocated to us at Rawnsley Park Station had the right hand side of the van facing the afternoon sun. In 35 degrees this was great for us being in the shade from the awning but not so good for the fridge, as even on maximum the internal fridge temperature started to climb such that by 7.30 pm it was 10 degrees in the fridge. The fridge temperature came back down overnight and no food was spoilt, but I had to resort to the freezer section to keep the beer cool. (Good to see you looking after the essentials, John. Ed.)

When we got to Port Lincoln I enquired at the local upholstery place and got made up a piece of white medium gauge awning material (the kind used for boat covers) 1500 mm long x 1350 mm wide with a piece of 6mm rope sewn into the short edge and 3 eyelets into the opposite end with elastic rope attached. This cost $70. I had to open up the front right hand corner of the channel section to slide the awning in and pegged it to the ground at about 45 degree angle.

The next hot day with the sun on the heat exchanger I did not have to set the thermostat above 5 and the fridge temperature stayed at a healthy 4 degrees. The pictures of the installation show how easy it is to fit and has the added advantage of helping out the air-conditioner. Remember there must be air circulation around both of these items so the awning must be pegged out at an angle. I have found this to be a very useful modification and you may well be able to get one made in Melbourne for a bit less. If you would like any more details you can contact me directly on 0416 022 406 or jbooth3042@optusnet.com.au