Draft from fridge vent

There is a continuous cavity in my Symbol from the fridge external vent leading underneath/behind the kitchen units to the under-bed locker with the water heater and space heater. In strong winds this produces a cold draught under the bed. Is this necessary or could I block it e.g. by cramming fibre into the hole at the back of the locker?

I note the space heater says leave ventilation around it but this is supplied I presume by the vent in the under-bed panelling.  Does it really need external air coming into the locker?

The ventilation for the heating burner is of course through it's own independent external vent.

We had similar, was a real blast behind the under bunk and yes we blocked it off. As you say the flue is vented externally and the cabin air inlet has its own entry point.

I agree, there should not be a draught from a fridge install....the 'ventilation' of other devices has nothing to do with the fridge.
To fix it properly, the frisdhe should be removed, a proper replacement sealing surround fitted (these are often 'foam type' strips) and the fridge slid back into position.
A draught into the van habitation area not only makes the van cold but can draw unburnt gas back into the van which won't do the occupants much good and under the wrong circumstances might make the van very hot indeed....

Hmm good point, don't want fridge gas coming through. Especially if we get some of that French Cheese while we're away

The fridge on our warwick duo has no sealing at all when the wind blows in a certain direction we can feel it around the cooker.


Looking from the fridge vent to the cooker.

hmmmm....even our Boleros (2007 & 2010) had draught proofing around the fridge freezer surround....sometimes it can get kinked by a sloppy fitter and this kinking can cause gaps, but I would have thought all installations would require this to keep unburnt gas (as well as cold air) out of the habitation area?

I took the fridge external vent cover off to have a look. There's a 'chimney' flue pipe from the back of the fridge to it's own hole in a segregated area of the vent cover so fumes are taken directly outside.

One thing though is this flue (grey galvanised tube) is a loose fit over the port (black tube) at the back of the fridge so theoretically fumes could leak out at its base if a strong wind exceeds the draw of the 'chimney'. Also a strong wind could deflect the fumes back into the other half of the vent.
I'm not going to touch the flue as I'm not a gas installer (I'm assuming the loose push fit of the chimney is intentional and should not be sealed).

You can see small gaps between the kitchen unit woodwork and the van which will be letting the wind get behind the cooker and then through to under the sofabed. There are more gaps out of shot below. I could plug these - they don't look like they are giving intentional ventilation to the back of the cooker.

JandJ wrote:You can see small gaps between the kitchen unit woodwork and the van which will be letting the wind get behind the cooker and then through to under the sofabed. There are more gaps out of shot below. I could plug these - they don't look like they are giving intentional ventilation to the back of the cooker.

That's exactly what I did, and several other members too.

There should not be any gaps if the fridge was correctly installed, but it's an almost universal problem on all makes of motorhome and caravan. The fridge should be hermetically sealed so no draughts can blow right into the habitation area via the outside vents, for just the reason you stated. In a strong wind, exhaust fumes could be blown back through the gaps and into the habitation area.

Foam rubber and a ruler to poke it in with I'd suggest.

My duo has just had the fridge re sealed under warranty due to a freezing cold Gale coming through.
Must be a common problem.

Generally (for Dave, that one.....) a fridge (or fridge/freezer) in a MH is installed into a (wooden?) sub frame which often has the seal sited around the edge of the cavity.
As the appliance is eased into place, the seal is gently compressed making the unit draught proof....
Ha, that's the theory anyway....
Good luck to all....although it's getting a bit warmer down here...