[tech740]

Takes a day or two to cool my 8cu ft if it is empty. Put cold stuff in and it cools in an hour or so. The tstat you are referring to is a thermistor. The higher up the fin you go the colder the fridge gets. We travel without fridge and freezer full every trip no issues. We leave it on auto and when we unplug at home the gas turns on. When we get back home it is always plugged in so that we can keeps items in the fridge between trips.