ARB or Built in Refrig?
- Thread starter phillyd2
- Start date
jeep-N-montero
Expedition Leader
The ARB will use 20-30% less power than a fridge and retain the cold better.
Herbie
Rendezvous Conspirator
I question this statement.
The built-in fridge I just put into my van has the same Danfoss compressor that ARB uses. The old myth about cold air "spilling out" when you open the door also presumes that the air is the only thing cold in the box. (Hint: the thermal mass of the food is >4x higher than the air)
I chose the front-loading fridge vs. the chest because the form factor was a better fit for my situation. I can open the door into the "aisle", instead of having to heave overhead space free to open the lid up towards the ceiling.
jeep-N-montero's statement applies 100% to so-called 3-way fridges, however. The old absorption-style fridges that run on LPG are massively inefficient compared to compressor-style fridges.
What Herbie said ^^^^^
The wife and I love the front opening fridge CR65. Also get a small freezer with a separate door for the ice cream ;-)
they say top loaders hold the cold better because it doesnt spill out when you open the door (as stated earlier). i highly beg to differ. sure, the cold might stay in the top loader if you just open and close it. BUT, usually everytime you open it you need to remove baskets and such to get what you want, that is inevitably at the bottom. basket sits on your counter while you are dicking around getting what you want, then you put it all back. maybe this process takes a minute, did you really not lose any cold? same process in a front load, open the door, grab what you want, close door. did my cold really all spill out to the point that i might die from eating rotten food?
i personally love my front loader for ease of use. even though power draw is very close to the same these day, i would get a bigger solar panel (which every fridge user-top or front-should have) just because i love the convenience so much more. top loaders have their place for sure as in some builds that a front loader would just be awkward (back of a land cruiser for example)
i personally love my front loader for ease of use. even though power draw is very close to the same these day, i would get a bigger solar panel (which every fridge user-top or front-should have) just because i love the convenience so much more. top loaders have their place for sure as in some builds that a front loader would just be awkward (back of a land cruiser for example)
Comes down to flexibility of being able to put the ARB fridge in the truck or else where. I use one of my ARB's as a beer fridge in the shop when its not in my turtle back. If that's attractive to you that is the single biggest reason to go with an ARB in my opinion. ARB also has some interesting features such as voltage shut down so you don't kill your batteries and ability to be used as just a freezer etc. Not sure if those front load fridges have those abilities.
