fridge size for full timing
- Thread starter jaross
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Tnthompson8
New member
Possibly 60-80L? Depends how deep you are going. 60L-1 week. 80L can stretch to several. Just guessing!
Bbasso
Expedition Leader
I eat anything and like to cook...
My Engel MT45 is great for a single person with easy access to stores to replace every few days, but if I was going off grid for a long stretch then I'd want to double it.
Im a single guy living full time in my rig, but the refrigeration needs for two I might suggest a 60L size if with a reasonable drive to a store.
My Engel MT45 is great for a single person with easy access to stores to replace every few days, but if I was going off grid for a long stretch then I'd want to double it.
Im a single guy living full time in my rig, but the refrigeration needs for two I might suggest a 60L size if with a reasonable drive to a store.
Photomike
White Turtle Adventures & Photography
Years ago I met two different couples traveling the world that opened my eyes to how much stuff you need to take...
The first was a couple traveling by dune buggy around the world. They had VERY little space for anything and were very happy. I asked about food, water, etc and they said that they were traveling daily so they could restock all day long and had no need for anything outside of a small cooler.
The second was a couple in a VW van doing the round the world thing. They had the VW fridge and had more of their opened condiments in there than any real food, they also restocked daily or every couple of days so only carried a day or two of fridge food in case of an emergency.
For me I can eat anything so I try to take a lot of non refrigerated products so not a big deal if it is in the fridge but my weak spot is I LOVE a cold glass of water or Ice Tea at the end of the day so I want space for my water bottle!
You may want to look at this thread http://forum.expeditionportal.com/threads/59235-No-refrigeration-needed
The first was a couple traveling by dune buggy around the world. They had VERY little space for anything and were very happy. I asked about food, water, etc and they said that they were traveling daily so they could restock all day long and had no need for anything outside of a small cooler.
The second was a couple in a VW van doing the round the world thing. They had the VW fridge and had more of their opened condiments in there than any real food, they also restocked daily or every couple of days so only carried a day or two of fridge food in case of an emergency.
For me I can eat anything so I try to take a lot of non refrigerated products so not a big deal if it is in the fridge but my weak spot is I LOVE a cold glass of water or Ice Tea at the end of the day so I want space for my water bottle!
You may want to look at this thread http://forum.expeditionportal.com/threads/59235-No-refrigeration-needed
IdaSHO
IDACAMPER
We are backpackers as well, so we tent to travel real light. We get away with a 35qt Waeco built-in
Food is no exception. The most our fridge is stocked with, for even multi month trips, is dairy.
Milk/yogurt/cheese/etc Beyond some home made frozen/vacuum bagged items, pretty much everything else is canned/dry storage food.
The wife is Italian though, and loves to cook, and has pretty well perfected the on the road cook-for-two. Always enough, never leftovers, and very few dishes.
Meat in the fridge? No way in hell. If I'm buying a steak on the road, It will be from a butcher, and cooked that night. :ylsmoke:
Food is no exception. The most our fridge is stocked with, for even multi month trips, is dairy.
Milk/yogurt/cheese/etc Beyond some home made frozen/vacuum bagged items, pretty much everything else is canned/dry storage food.
The wife is Italian though, and loves to cook, and has pretty well perfected the on the road cook-for-two. Always enough, never leftovers, and very few dishes.
Meat in the fridge? No way in hell. If I'm buying a steak on the road, It will be from a butcher, and cooked that night. :ylsmoke:
86scotty
Cynic
I travel and work in my van 5 days a week now and try to never eat out. I average one bought meal per week usually just out of laziness or busy-ness. I LOVE my Truckfridge T130. Sips power and plenty of room for all of my pre-made meals. The freezer goes all the way to the back of the unit but doesn't freeze stuff like ice cream solid.
https://www.truckfridge.com/tf130acdc/
You didn't really mention whether you were leaning towards front door or chest style. I've had both. If you prefer a chest I have a Truckfridge/IndelB chest too for longer trips and this size has always been plenty for 1-2 of us. Unfortunately it's no longer listed on Truckfridge's site but it's made by IndelB. You can find them lots of places these days.
http://www.indelb.net/portfolios/indelB-YCD45/
broncobowsher
Adventurer
Key part of the question that is missing, how long will you want to go between restockings? Are you just doing a 3-day weekend outing, or will it be 2 weeks before you can restock?
Short trips and good packing you can get by with something pretty small. But if you need it to stay stocked for a couple weeks it will have to grow and/or multiply.
Short trips and good packing you can get by with something pretty small. But if you need it to stay stocked for a couple weeks it will have to grow and/or multiply.
Cummins_expo
Adventurer
We have the 10l Truck fridge- Love the space, plenty of room for lost of cold drinks and food. When we full time we found a huge benefit in a larger fridge/freezer. When you are in bigger towns you can stock up on "manager specials' toss in the freezer for a later date. As you get into smaller towns the price of groceries goes up. We try to keep our fruits and veggies purchases to farmers markets and as needed.
jkam
nomadic man
I have been living full time in my RV for over 11 years now.
It has a 6 cu. ft. RV fridge / freezer. The freezer is important for me.
It had to be big enough for my Tequila to fit in, along with an ice cube tray.
I like ice cream and keep a few pints in there as well. The fridge keeps a lot
of stuff in there, so it's nice to have shelves and bins to keep things organized.
If you will be living full time this way, it is nice to have the things that will keep you comfortable and happy out there.
I prefer to boon dock so have prepared my RV to live that way.
If you want to go with a smaller one like an Engel, I'd suggest a dual zone unit to have a separate fridge and freezer.
It has a 6 cu. ft. RV fridge / freezer. The freezer is important for me.
It had to be big enough for my Tequila to fit in, along with an ice cube tray.
I like ice cream and keep a few pints in there as well. The fridge keeps a lot
of stuff in there, so it's nice to have shelves and bins to keep things organized.
If you will be living full time this way, it is nice to have the things that will keep you comfortable and happy out there.
I prefer to boon dock so have prepared my RV to live that way.
If you want to go with a smaller one like an Engel, I'd suggest a dual zone unit to have a separate fridge and freezer.
Well I am thinking front door (as opposed to chest) but I don't see how that would effect what size I would need. Yes a freezer sounds nice. 4 or four days between shopping would be nice. If I am going more, I can figure out things that won't spoil like summer sausage and tuna. Freeze dried beans are already a staple of mine. I do tend to eat a lot of eggs, but you really don't need to refrigerate those. It would be nice to have room for a 6 pack of beer too. I am in a Ford Transit Full size so I may not want to allot too much space for a fridge. That being said, I had worked my layout to accommodate a an 8.1 cubic foot (226 Liter) fridge. I am thinking that I could get by with something closer to a 5 cubic foot fridge...
luthj
Engineer In Residence
My wife and I can do about 1 week with our 120L fridge. We don't pack it to the max normally, but we could generally get another 2-3 days if we really had too. We have a fair bit of dairy, some meet products, as well as fresh/frozen fruit and veggies. We have found that it is space prohibitive to carry lots of fresh milk. So we generally get 1/2 gallon or so of fresh milk in the fridge, and put a few containers of long-life (ultra pasteurized, shelf safe) milk in a cabinet. We just put one in the fridge when we need it. Surprisingly, good quality shelf-stable milk tastes pretty good.
Freezers are often very small on some of these units. Isotherm and Vitrifrigo have larger freezers in their fridges, which may be helpful for you.
Chest fridges are a bit easier to pack stuff into, as gravity helps. They can also suffer from warm spots if over packed though. I have found that making or buying some plastic containers can really help with getting the max amount of food into a door style fridge.
Freezers are often very small on some of these units. Isotherm and Vitrifrigo have larger freezers in their fridges, which may be helpful for you.
Chest fridges are a bit easier to pack stuff into, as gravity helps. They can also suffer from warm spots if over packed though. I have found that making or buying some plastic containers can really help with getting the max amount of food into a door style fridge.
Stitebunny
Adventurer
Family of 2 parents and an 11 year old boy could go for 4-5 days with a norcold de0051, 2.7 cf/76 liters before hitting a store.
Fridge died recently. Looking into a Truckfridge tf-130. It’s quite a bit bigger. (Ie: more beer)
Old one didn’t have a lot of room for that.
Fridge died recently. Looking into a Truckfridge tf-130. It’s quite a bit bigger. (Ie: more beer)
Old one didn’t have a lot of room for that.
86scotty
Cynic
I didn't mention this before because most van folks want to go small but I have the biggest Truckfridge in my motorhome, the TF2600. It's amazing, almost residential size (8.1cf) with a REAL freezer that freezes like a freezer should. They aren't cheap at about $1300 but are so much better than the propane electrics in typical RVs. Our propane fridge in our class C died shortly after we bought it so I replaced it with one of these. No regrets. 300 watts of solar on the roof keeps it perpetually happy.
Ask TF for a discount and it will probably be granted. I've bought 4 of them at their Georgetown KY location and always gotten a discount and never paid tax because I don't live in KY.
https://www.truckfridge.com/tf2600/
Scotty D
Active member
I am spending the winter in Baja and am very happy that I installed an RCA dorm fridge this year.
I have a medium sized solar unit at 340 watts and two golf cart batteries with an MPPT charger.
I run the fridge off a 600watt pure sine wave inverter.
I like to be able to stock up for two weeks on a remote beach.
I need to be able to freeze fish so that I feel safer about all the sashimi I eat. I just lay it on the bare floor of the old fashioned freezer cold plate and its ready in a few hours.
Also nice to have fresh ice all the time.
I know the ARB and truckfridge units are more efficient but I generate way more power than I use anyway.
The RCA fridge uses about 228 kilowatts per year out of the box. i glued one inch EPS foam to all surfaces except the door and I think I am beating that mark by a good margin.
They also come in custom colors on amazon!
I have a medium sized solar unit at 340 watts and two golf cart batteries with an MPPT charger.
I run the fridge off a 600watt pure sine wave inverter.
I like to be able to stock up for two weeks on a remote beach.
I need to be able to freeze fish so that I feel safer about all the sashimi I eat. I just lay it on the bare floor of the old fashioned freezer cold plate and its ready in a few hours.
Also nice to have fresh ice all the time.
I know the ARB and truckfridge units are more efficient but I generate way more power than I use anyway.
The RCA fridge uses about 228 kilowatts per year out of the box. i glued one inch EPS foam to all surfaces except the door and I think I am beating that mark by a good margin.
They also come in custom colors on amazon!