12v Fridge - Cheap Alternatives?

[Saenzm]

Hello! I am building my 3rd van and am thinking about a 12v fridge. I am not a van dweller, more of a weekend warrior/explorer/adventurer. Are there any good quality 12v fridge freezers out there worth taking a look at? Not really interested in dropping 1K+ on a fridge that will get minimal use. Thoughts?

Thanks,
Mark

 

[Robert Bills]

I have an Engel 12v fridge semi-permanently mounted in my offroad trailer but for my Jeep and Xterra I decided against one and use a small 26 qt. rotomolded Wally World cooler instead. [Spending $800-$1,000 for a second fridge wasn't on my list of priorities].

On a recent 3+ week overlanding trip in Baja California (without trailer) I carried many of the "no refrigeration needed" foods/drinks discussed in the thread linked below. I never wanted for ice on occasions when I needed it, and overall my life seemed to be simpler than the lives of my buddies who carried fridges - no power consumption/charging issues, less weight, less bulk, less complexity.

https://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/no-refrigeration-needed.59235/

Admittedly, I couldn't carry ice cream or frozen food but I didn't miss those items.

I know you want a relatively inexpensive fridge, but there are other workable alternatives if a high quality 12v fridge isn't in the budget and the cheap options (if any) are low quality/low performance/low reliability. However, if you want an honest review of Engel fridges I will say that mine has been plugged into shore power or battery power 24/7 for almost 20 years and is working as well today as it was when new. I use mine as the "extra freezer" for stuff that won't fit in the kitchen fridge when the trailer isn't being used for camping. Engels may be expensive to acquire but when amortized over their useful life are actually a very good buy.

 

[Herbie]

TruckFridge and Edgestar

I had one of the early 43qt Edgestars and it was great. Sold it when I built a custom cabinet into my van, which now as an "upright" TruckFridge TF49. Also very happy with that one.
TruckFridge also has a "chest" line, in addition to the uprights.

TruckFridge is OEM by Indel-B, and uses the same Danfoss compressor as Engel, ARB, Vitifrigio, etc.

 

[luthj]

X2 on truckfridge. Whytner brand is also fairly cheap.

What size do you need? A good mini fridge could possibly be run from a decent bank for a couple days. You would need a small pure sine inverter. There are ways to use the thermostat on the fridge to power the inverter on/off when needed to save power.

 

[dreadlocks]

for a weekend warrior, just use a cooler.. I did for decades and was completely content.. it was not til we started going on multi-week adventures and had issues with loosing food (customs opening everything up and not closing it correctly) or finding ICE (out in BFE, it can be time consuming and expensive).. The biggest thing that moved us to a Fridge tho was backpacking, If you leave base camp for 4-7 days a cooler is not going to ride that out unsupervised in a hot bear locker, or vehicle.

Its not just the fridge, but the underlying power requirements that make it a daunting proposal.. u wanna be able to start your engine and stuff after a few days soaking in the sun, that adds weight.. its alot of complication and expense for little return, even if you try to do it cheap.. until you start spending weeks/months out exploring at a time its more of a luxury than a necessity.

 

[Pinnacle Campers]

Hello! I am building my 3rd van and am thinking about a 12v fridge. I am not a van dweller, more of a weekend warrior/explorer/adventurer. Are there any good quality 12v fridge freezers out there worth taking a look at? Not really interested in dropping 1K+ on a fridge that will get minimal use. Thoughts?

Thanks,
Mark

Do you have or plan to put in a decent size (200ah) battery bank?
No=don't bother with fridge
Yes=Why wouldn't you put in a fridge (if you actually dwell in your van)

I couldn't be happier with not having to deal with the ice mess.
A car, truck, SUV, different story, van, that you are staying/traveling in? its a must.

 

[i bike]

I’ve got a Whynter 45qt slim I picked up new off CL for ~$350. New on amazon they’re a little less than $500. I can run it for a few days off the chassis battery in my van without putting a dent in the battery. I just run the van for 20-30 minutes every day I’m out just to be safe.


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[Pntyrmvr]

Hi,

We have propane so separate freezer and fridge units is our path. I paid so little for them so I keep moving them to my next project truck.

Hints from our days with a huge, coffinesque fishing cooler.

Fridge/freezer chill all the contents ahead of time. Buy or make block ice. We used small commercial ice cream containers free from the local ice cream stand. They are tough enough for the job and make a good size block.

Keep the cooler shaded. Find a spot that stays shaded all day. Even a white sheet over the unit helps.

Lastly buy your cube ice in the biggest bag you can. Our local Legion branch sells 50lb bags for $9. We brought them home and put them in our basement chest freezer to lower the ice temp 10 additional degrees below freezing. This step added days to the ice lifespan. The ice was cold enough to stick to bare skin. The clumps added longevity too.



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[86scotty]

I'm a Truckfridge fan. I've had 6 or more in various rigs. My work truck and weekend truck both have them and my work truck one is beat on daily and has been for years.

That said......there are a lot of cheaper ones on Amazon now which are direct copies. Iceco, Alpicool, Costway, etc. Obviously direct Chinese rip offs but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. Find the cheapest one with the best warranty. I have a friend who bought an Alpicool and loves it.

 

[Scotty D]

Without knowing what your aux bank and solar situation is its hard to make a recommendation.
I do winters in baja. First year I used a cooler and ice , that got old after a month or so for the next year I put in a robust solar system and found the most energy efficient dorm sized 120v fridge. I prefer that to expensive units and the power consumption is reasonable.

For a week here and there and you dont have solar panels , get a cooler and deal with ice. In the short run its not that big a pain if you learn all the tricks

 

[iggi]

Can you share which dorm fridge you're using and what the rough power consumption is?
Seems like a adding a couple more solar panels to support slightly less efficient but way cheaper fridge would be the less expensive option.

Thanks @Scotty D

<snip>I put in a robust solar system and found the most energy efficient dorm sized 120v fridge. I prefer that to expensive units and the power consumption is reasonable.

 

[dreadlocks]

solar in baha is not going to be comparable to what you get in Canada @iggi, lower latitudes, all day w/out shade.. its pretty easy to get more solar than u need and rely very minimally on batteries.

its riding out days of overcast with 2-5% output of solar that those Dorm fridge's gonna kill yeh.. 30W vs 180W is a huge impact on runtimes when the solar is not cooperating.

 

[iggi]

Thank @dreadlocks That's the sort of number I was looking for. At 180 watts draw, even with 400 watts on the roof most of the year I wouldn't be able to keep up.

solar in baha is not going to be comparable to what you get in Canada @iggi, lower latitudes, all day w/out shade.. its pretty easy to get more solar than u need and rely very minimally on batteries.

its riding out days of overcast with 2-5% output of solar that those Dorm fridge's gonna kill yeh.. 30W vs 180W is a huge impact on runtimes when the solar is not cooperating.

 

[dreadlocks]

yeah I got 650W of solar w/LFP bank, and this season I added a 120W Ice Maker to the rig.. it makes a batch of ice every 6mins, so when the batteries are full and the sun is shining.. we can crank out some ice w/the excess solar for drinks/spirits/ice cream maker.. but even at that power level I doubt its going to be plugged in much when the solar panels are not getting a full day of sunlight.. since its a extra luxury we can go without, not so much with a fridge where you'd lose food/money when it cuts out.

Long term boondocking w/solar dependency makes those high end fridges like Engel/ARB/Etc pretty attractive, 15-20AH a day to keep your food going is a much easier target to reach with the limited space and weight we all contend with.. they kick the crap outta most RV fridges, let alone dorm Fridges.

 

[luthj]

Duty cycle is the missing factor, 180w may be fine if the duty cycle is only 10% for example.