???'s About 12v Fridge

[texaslawman]

Im about to purchase one of the edgstar 12v fridge's but Im wondering what size to buy 40q or 60q. Our trips are normaly 2 adults and 2 kids and last 3 - 4 nights. We usualy take a 100 quart cooler for drinks and a 40 quart cooler for food. My therory is a lot of room is taken by ice in the normal coolers, and with the 12v I can add warm drinks as we use the cold ones. For those of you that use these things does that sound right? Or should I get the larger one? Another factor would be the less space I use the better but thats secondary.

 

[socaljeeper]

I have the engel 45 and also have a wife and two kids. We recently went on a four day trip and I was able to hold all our food, half gallon of OJ and half gallon of milk in the 45qt. I did take an extra cooler to hold beer and soda. If you have the room for the 60 qt, I think you would be able to hold everything nicely. If you get the 40qt you will have to do some creative packing of the fridge, and maybe fill the drinks as you need them.

 

[Hank]

EE has some good comparison on the fridges here. http://expeditionexchange.com/engel/

I got the Engel35 so I could close my loadspace cover and hide the fridge and anything else in the rear of my Rover. I wish I would have gotten the Engel45 now. The Engel35 is about 2" too short for items such as a wine bottle.

 

[RHINO]

heres the problem i see. you use 140qts total right now with ice. how much space ice is taking up, half? that puts you between 60 and 80 for a fridge, even if you add drinks as they are used 40 is gonna be small and you'll constantly be adding drinks running that fridge full tilt.

i have a wife and 2 teens. drinks are the killer of space. we rarely have soda in the house so we dont need to bring it camping. i have always brought a water cooler with ice water and powdered mixes, like gatorade. doing it that way allowed us a (small for 4) 80qt ice chest and now a 40qt fridge. the only drinks normally in our fridge are milk and OJ.

 

[discotdi]

I have and Engel 45 and can usually get everything in for a 3-4 day trip. I do restock the drinks as needed. I also installed a wire basket that I zip tied to the side. this helps in the organization. If ice is not an issue then I usually take a small soft sided cooler that I also keep drinks in, mostly beer. then you can put cold drinks into the cold fridge. the 60 is great but just too big for my Disco 1.

 

[texaslawman]

Drinks=beer dont put water in the coolers may take a few cokes but the least Ive ever taken is two cases of beer. It dosent look like the 60q is that much bigger as far as area it uses. But its $100 more. On average say I drink 6 cold drinks from the fridge and then put 6 warm ones in how long aprox till they are cold? Same as your home fridge or longer??? And how long would it take to freeze water aprox?

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

Drinks=beer dont put water in the coolers may take a few cokes but the least Ive ever taken is two cases of beer. It dosent look like the 60q is that much bigger as far as area it uses. But its $100 more. On average say I drink 6 cold drinks from the fridge and then put 6 warm ones in how long aprox till they are cold? Same as your home fridge or longer??? And how long would it take to freeze water aprox?

My Norcold 60 would hold 107 - 12oz cans (Advertised)

 

[SAR_Squid79]

I will be buying an Engel in the near future for my trailer. You guys that already have the fridges - what do you think about the MT45 Two-Zone? Would you go with the Two-Zone or the MT60?

 

[Hank]

I did not know there was a 45 2-zone.

 

[texaslawman]

I will be buying an Engel in the near future for my trailer. You guys that already have the fridges - what do you think about the MT45 Two-Zone? Would you go with the Two-Zone or the MT60?

I dont have a fridge yet and the two zone would be nice to carry food drinks on one side and ice cream on the other! But for me I think the one zone will be better if fishing or hunting I can use the whole space for a freezer and a regular cooler with the gel ice packs for everything else. Re freeze the gel packs as needed with the 12v. At least thats my theory.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

I dont have a fridge yet and the two zone would be nice to carry food drinks on one side and ice cream on the other! But for me I think the one zone will be better if fishing or hunting I can use the whole space for a freezer and a regular cooler with the gel ice packs for everything else. Re freeze the gel packs as needed with the 12v. At least thats my theory.

I think your confusing the idea of the Two-Zone (which is an additional unit that goes on top of the fridge) with the side by side units offered by Engel. :sombrero:

I've done the ice cream in the bottom of mine and it was a tough sell for the items even at the very top and forward of the fridge, they were struggling to stay thawed, a good problem to have I suppose

 

[go4aryd]

I have a Two-Zone and love it - but I use it with my MT-35. A MT-45 was just too big for all the solo trips I run. If I were going bigger, I would go for the two partition Engel MT60-Combi.

 

[SAR_Squid79]

I have a Two-Zone and love it - but I use it with my MT-35. A MT-45 was just too big for all the solo trips I run. If I were going bigger, I would go for the two partition Engel MT60-Combi.

Is this the one you mean?
http://www.engel-usa.com/mt60combi.htm

...I had not even seen this one before - I think that might be the one for me!

 

[spressomon]

Is this the one you mean?
http://www.engel-usa.com/mt60combi.htm

...I had not even seen this one before - I think that might be the one for me!

Just know (from a good friend's recent experiences with this model) you can not use the two compartment "zones" independently. For instance you can not have freezer/freezer or fridge/fridge use. The freezer portion/compartment/zone stays 40 degrees below the temp of the fridge side portion.

A true dual control unit would be more useful for me...

 

[SAR_Squid79]

...you can not have freezer/freezer or fridge/fridge use. The freezer portion/compartment/zone stays 40 degrees below the temp of the fridge side portion.

This is from Engel's site:

The fridge compartment is fixed at 40°F and the freezer compartment features variable temperature regulation from 40° down to below 0°F.

Sounds to me like you CAN have fridge/fridge. Just not freezer/freezer...