Chest Style or Front Open Fridge for Van?
- Thread starter RememberTheFallen
- Start date
I really like that, is there enough room under for a small drawer?
RememberTheFallen
Explorer
It seems opinions are pretty well split between front open and top open. Kinda stuck on what to do. My ARB opens from the short end so it would hard to replace the lid with a counter top.
Since I already have the ARB I was thinking of ways I could make it work. If I placed the fridge longways and on a slide them it could slide out to the side while not going so far as to block the passenger seat when facing backwards. It would also allow me to place a solid countertop or maybe even a drawer above it. Making the compartment like a drawer would tidy up the aesthetics as well as giving a handle to pull the fridge out with. Something like this;
Forgive the crude drawing but I was thinking this cabinet would go directly behind my drivers seat and run back to my bed while coming just up to the bottom edge of the passenger window. I know scale is way off my that's the general idea. What do you all think? Anyone tried something like this?
Thanks,
Joe
Since I already have the ARB I was thinking of ways I could make it work. If I placed the fridge longways and on a slide them it could slide out to the side while not going so far as to block the passenger seat when facing backwards. It would also allow me to place a solid countertop or maybe even a drawer above it. Making the compartment like a drawer would tidy up the aesthetics as well as giving a handle to pull the fridge out with. Something like this;
Forgive the crude drawing but I was thinking this cabinet would go directly behind my drivers seat and run back to my bed while coming just up to the bottom edge of the passenger window. I know scale is way off my that's the general idea. What do you all think? Anyone tried something like this?
Thanks,
Joe
Bbasso
Expedition Leader
I think that drawing is really perfect. Keep in mind that the refrigerator gives off some heat, at least mine does, so make sure there's plenty of ventilation so it doesn't overheat. And one more thing, make sure the power cord have some kind of spring attached to it so it doesn't get pinched when you slide it in and out. If I ever rebuild my cabinets I think I might have to use your idea.
RememberTheFallen
Explorer
Thank you!
So maybe a computer fan or just some vents on the forward wall for the heat?
The spring idea is great. Didn't think about pinching the cord. That would be bad! Lol
Teague,
Part of the space below is a battery box for our 2 Lifeline AGMs. The rest is open so I can easily slide in/out a plastic bin that I keep canned goods in. We have recycled rubber matting on the floor so nothing slides around on its own. We have two drawers to the left of the fridge under the open part of the countertop.
Part of the space below is a battery box for our 2 Lifeline AGMs. The rest is open so I can easily slide in/out a plastic bin that I keep canned goods in. We have recycled rubber matting on the floor so nothing slides around on its own. We have two drawers to the left of the fridge under the open part of the countertop.
This has been my experience... the cold air 'spills out', but is replaced quickly & doesn't seem to have any impact on performance. Insulation (think of the fridge as a cooler), venting, volume of stuff in the fridge seem to make the most difference; I'll keep 3-4 32oz bottles of water in the fridge if not much food, acts like ice in a cooler. I find while camping we will reach in the door of the van while standing on the ground outside - we camp next to the vehicle unless raining & just sleep, dress, pee, etc in the van - so bending down to see into the fridge is a non-issue unless we are rolling down the road.
Dometic 2.2: Fan replaced with efficient/quiet fan, the pictured sheet metal vent-tunnel was attached, insulated with 1" recycled denim & 1/4" foil bubble wrap.. these items extended battery run time from 3 days to 4, so 25% gain? I posted this in my build thread, but may help out someone searching this subject:
Dometic 2.2: Fan replaced with efficient/quiet fan, the pictured sheet metal vent-tunnel was attached, insulated with 1" recycled denim & 1/4" foil bubble wrap.. these items extended battery run time from 3 days to 4, so 25% gain? I posted this in my build thread, but may help out someone searching this subject:
After literally years of struggling to build an interior around a chest fridge, I finally went with a front-opening fridge on my most recent build iteration, and I love it:
The whole "cold air spilling out" thing is sort of a myth - it's the temperature of the mass inside the fridge (food/drinks) that really matters; the thermal mass of a couple of cubic feet of air is nothing compared to the food. My Truckfridge TF49 is running the exact same Danfoss compressor that all the big-boy chest fridges use, and it was a LOT more space efficient for me in my small van. It pulls about 25AH/day, so I get at least two days out of my 100AH Group31 house battery even if I don't deploy the solar panel or do any driving.
A chest fridge needs room above to be opened, so either you waste that space, of you have to put it on a pull-out to open it. In my case I also hated having that flat surface in the van because my wife/kid inevitably piled stuff on top if it that I then needed to move whenever I wanted to get a beer or food to cook. Obviously a front-opener needs room to open, but I find most van builds have either a "hallway" or other living space that the door can sweep through without causing big problems.
I sold my 5-year-old Edgestar FP430 fridge when I bought this, so overall this was a very inexpensive upgrade and it made the interior layout in my van SO MUCH more efficient.
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The Engel also originally opened from the short end, but it is quite easy to take off the hinge and latch and reconfigure. We ordered a piece of butcher block from a restaurant supply house online and cut it size and then just went the hardware store for some stainless piano hinge. We actually don't even use the latch we put on the long side as the weight of the countertop keeps it closed tightly. Oh, also got some weatherproofing gasketing at the hardware store to put on the top edges of the fridge under the wood countertop. Getting the height of the fridge shelf right so the top is flush with the rest of the counter is the main fussy task - the rest is amazingly easy.
RememberTheFallen
Explorer
I didn't think that about. I will look at the ARB and see if that is possible. I am afraid since so much of it is plastics that it wouldn't work out well. That is a great idea though for the metal square or rectangular shaped fridges!
Mwilliamshs
Explorer
Did the fridge have pwm fan as oe? Did you retrofit pwm control? Is that a 3 pin or 4 pin (wire) fan?
How big of an improvement did you see with the new fan? What's the better fan's best feature(s)? I'm fan-ignorant.
Am I correctly reading your photos of a Noctua NF-F12 PWM? Am I correct in thinking that's about a $20 fan? Is that the best fan you found or just one you had or...? Sorry for all the ?'s. Thanks in advance
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The biggest improvements were reduced energy consumption & noise. The OE fan & wiring option for the Noctua are 2-wire, simply kicks on with compressor, not pwm. Noctua does have optional setting(wiring) to further reduce rpm/noise/energy used. I used the full setting having the following specs vs the ADDA fan it shipped with:
Amps: Noctua, .05A. OE, .24A. (80% efficiency gain, fridge claims 3.75A with OE fan)
dBA: Noctua, 18dBA. OE, 34dBA
Power: Noctua, .6W. OE, 2.88W
CFM: Noctua, 55cfm. OE, 72cfm. (focused air tunnel should make up difference..)
Yes, the Noctua is inexpensive, yet specifically designed for performance & durability... Not an after-thought.
Mwilliamshs
Explorer
Thanks occasionaldirt. Very helpful. Hijack over