Best Fridge/Freezer I can get for my truck? Also go biggest you can afford?

[4x4tripping]

It is mostly a tradeoff between travelling comfort / offroad capability / camping gear.

Considering the weight and available space, you can`t be on top on each, if you try to keep your vehicle legal (weight).

As we sleep inside, the storage space is limited too..

It is not easy to find the right setup considering anything.

Personally I did fail (weight) to get the balance... Like many other overlanders out there. Bit overweight during travelling.

But did like the comfort (did live one year inside, during trips in africa, iceland, south america and europe ( >60`000 Miles), half time with 2 Persons.

The Fridge Size could lead to a trailer/roof top tent based setup, or just space for one traveller - but will dont change much on travelling / living comfort - I always was able to carry the needed stuff who has to be cooled.

Always had butter, ham, salami, different cheese`s, milk, meat and a cold beer. Even salmon if locally available.

A bigger fridge would have lead to a roof top tent - what is not so nice on bad weather sitations, than just sleeping inside. If the Tent is wet over days - not nice to setup/sleep/fold down at sample.

It is always just personal preferences. Not anyone could use a former 7 seater as 2 seater in daily live (need hours to rebuild). Without sleeping inside, a bigger fridge is an option who dosnt hurt considering space. But weight, will probably an issue, if your build has bigger tyres, frontar and so on.

 

[67cj5]

It is mostly a tradeoff between travelling comfort / offroad capability / camping gear.

Considering the weight and available space, you can`t be on top on each, if you try to keep your vehicle legal (weight).

As we sleep inside, the storage space is limited too..

It is not easy to find the right setup considering anything.

Personally I did fail (weight) to get the balance... Like many other overlanders out there. Bit overweight during travelling.

But did like the comfort (did live one year inside, during trips in africa, iceland, south america and europe ( >60`000 Miles), half time with 2 Persons.

The Fridge Size could lead to a trailer/roof top tent based setup, or just space for one traveller - but will dont change much on travelling / living comfort - I always was able to carry the needed stuff who has to be cooled.

Always had butter, ham, salami, different cheese`s, milk, meat and a cold beer. Even salmon if locally available.

A bigger fridge would have lead to a roof top tent - what is not so nice on bad weather sitations, than just sleeping inside. If the Tent is wet over days - not nice to setup/sleep/fold down at sample.

It is always just personal preferences. Not anyone could use a former 7 seater as 2 seater in daily live (need hours to rebuild). Without sleeping inside, a bigger fridge is an option who dosnt hurt considering space. But weight, will probably an issue, if your build has bigger tyres, frontar and so on.

My Van/MPV is a 7 seater but I removed the 3rd row of seats to fit my camp box conversion which has a small kitchen and a dining Table and when I fold the 2nd row seats down flat the camp Box folds out and it makes a double bed, My conversion also came with a 12v Cooler which I replaced with a proper fridge/freezer, and it has 240v power and well as many other 12v setups so I am never stuck for power,

 

[tanuki.himself]

I've gone with a Webasto / Indel B that can run as either a fridge or freezer, but I don't know if they offer a 2 zone. Main consideration for me was that it runs a Danfoss compressor who are one of the longest standing names in that field so parts are available.

My personal experience of a variety of Dometic stuff including fridge/freezer is never again - designed to fail in such a way that it can't be repaired or they don't make the parts available, so you have to replace the whole thing.

Mine is top opening so whilst there will be some loss every time you fo into it, its nowhere near as bad as a front opening for dumping the cold air on your feet.

For robustness Ozzies I know swear by Engel. Mine will live in a protected cubby hole so i went for lightweight plastic rather than damage-resistant metal....

 

[vomhorizon]

I'm in the final phase of pulling the trigger for a fridge as well for my 4Runner. Given the current backlog and covid related supply chain disruptions I'm OK having to wait a month, two or even more to get my hands on a fridge as long as I can get in line. I'm picking up a used Alu Cab tilt slide (Small/Medium) this week so my only size consideration is that it fits that and not be more than 22" tall as that may have issues clearing my trunk with my storage boxes installed.

We are a family of 3 that are going to be planning several long-weekend getaways a year, and at least a few other longer trips (5-10 days) a year. Since this is an investment, I would like it to be robust and flexible enough (size) to support evolving needs in case we have some longer (10-14 days) adventures. Also, I would prefer the fridge (or fridge/freezer) to be useful at home as both a backup (power outages) fridge/freezer and as a freezer so that we can stock up. It will probably not live in the vehicle 100% of the time so we plan to make full use of it in the house and therefore don't mind a bit more capacity then what we need for camping (knowing that this impacts draw).

My battery situation : I have a 50 Ah LiFePO4 portable battery that will be paired with a 20 Amp DC-DC charger, and at least 100 watts of solar panel on the roof. May decide to go bigger with solar. Additionally, I currently have a 68 Ah starter Odyssey battery that will eventually be upgraded to a 90 Ah AGM in a few years when it needs replacement. My vehicle is wired to run high draw appliances either via the starter battery or the portable battery.

Camping Use: I would say that our style is almost exclusively over night stays with at least 2 hours of driving in between camp sites with an occasional 24-36 hour stationary period thrown in. I can see us changing that up a bit but I doubt we'd ever be stationary for more than 48 hours without running the engine.

After going back and forth between a number of choices out there here are the fridges that I've shortlisted. I don't mind paying a bit more upfront but want the device to last and perform. I'd expect at least a solid decade out of it, if not considerably more.

Based on these parameters, I've determined (please correct me if I'm wrong) that the 40 - 50 L range is a good range to play around with. Closer to 50 L begins to sound more useful at home while the smaller 40 L units sound more efficient for 12 v use and our camping needs.

1) Engel MT45F-U1CD: This is the 40 Liter Engel Combi fridge (compartmented)

2) National Luna 40L Legacy Fridge/Freezer: This is the single-zone with 60 mm insulation I think is the best in the class

3) National Luna 50L Legacy Fridge/Freezer: This is the dual-zone with a 40+10 set up (40 mm insulation)

Would love to get some advise on which to chose. I'm leaning towards the NL 50L Legacy with their own compressor with an extended limited-warranty, primarily because of its size and it being more useful when one factors in non camping needs. Would love to get some idea about how the power consumption is likely to differ between 40 L and 50 L fridges particularly given the varying insulation thicknesses.

 

[67cj5]

I'm in the final phase of pulling the trigger for a fridge as well for my 4Runner. Given the current backlog and covid related supply chain disruptions I'm OK having to wait a month, two or even more to get my hands on a fridge as long as I can get in line. I'm picking up a used Alu Cab tilt slide (Small/Medium) this week so my only size consideration is that it fits that and not be more than 22" tall as that may have issues clearing my trunk with my storage boxes installed.

We are a family of 3 that are going to be planning several long-weekend getaways a year, and at least a few other longer trips (5-10 days) a year. Since this is an investment, I would like it to be robust and flexible enough (size) to support evolving needs in case we have some longer (10-14 days) adventures. Also, I would prefer the fridge (or fridge/freezer) to be useful at home as both a backup (power outages) fridge/freezer and as a freezer so that we can stock up. It will probably not live in the vehicle 100% of the time so we plan to make full use of it in the house and therefore don't mind a bit more capacity then what we need for camping (knowing that this impacts draw).

My battery situation : I have a 50 Ah LiFePO4 portable battery that will be paired with a 20 Amp DC-DC charger, and at least 100 watts of solar panel on the roof. May decide to go bigger with solar. Additionally, I currently have a 68 Ah starter Odyssey battery that will eventually be upgraded to a 90 Ah AGM in a few years when it needs replacement. My vehicle is wired to run high draw appliances either via the starter battery or the portable battery.

Camping Use: I would say that our style is almost exclusively over night stays with at least 2 hours of driving in between camp sites with an occasional 24-36 hour stationary period thrown in. I can see us changing that up a bit but I doubt we'd ever be stationary for more than 48 hours without running the engine.

After going back and forth between a number of choices out there here are the fridges that I've shortlisted. I don't mind paying a bit more upfront but want the device to last and perform. I'd expect at least a solid decade out of it, if not considerably more.

Based on these parameters, I've determined (please correct me if I'm wrong) that the 40 - 50 L range is a good range to play around with. Closer to 50 L begins to sound more useful at home while the smaller 40 L units sound more efficient for 12 v use and our camping needs.

1) Engel MT45F-U1CD: This is the 40 Liter Engel Combi fridge (compartmented)

2) National Luna 40L Legacy Fridge/Freezer: This is the single-zone with 60 mm insulation I think is the best in the class

3) National Luna 50L Legacy Fridge/Freezer: This is the dual-zone with a 40+10 set up (40 mm insulation)

Would love to get some advise on which to chose. I'm leaning towards the NL 50L Legacy with their own compressor with an extended limited-warranty, primarily because of its size and it being more useful when one factors in non camping needs. Would love to get some idea about how the power consumption is likely to differ between 40 L and 50 L fridges particularly given the varying insulation thicknesses.

The National Luna would be my choice due to the fact is can go right down to -30*c / -22*f which is great if you want to deep freeze items before you leave home and then set it to around -10 to -12*c while your travelling because it won't power back up for around 24 to 36 hours saving you a heap of battery power while you are travelling,

IE, Last night I set my ARB 47L to -10*c and let it run for a few hours and then at I set it to 1*c and it has not come on at all in the past 18 hours And Counting So If I was you I would be buying the NL 50L, Also the NL 50 has a TURBO MODE which is handy for cooling stuff down in a Hurry in hotter climes.

Hope that helps,

 

[mep1811]

I've have an ARB 50qt for over 20 years and it has worked great. It is in the back of the Land Cruiser on a LoadSpotter Levitating Slide.

As for fridge size, don't buy something that is larger that you realistically need. First it takes up space. Depending where you put it you can have issues getting to the contents.

Fridges work more efficiently when full so a monster fridge might not be very efficient if you don't fill it up.

I use a Engle 15 qt along with the ARB. During the day I can get into the Engle for cold drinks and lunch items. I've also turned the Engle into a freezer at times. I like the versatility of having two fridges.

 

[vomhorizon]

The National Luna would be my choice due to the fact is can go right down to -30*c / -22*f which is great if you want to deep freeze items before you leave home and then set it to around -10 to -12*c while your travelling because it won't power back up for around 24 to 36 hours saving you a heap of battery power while you are travelling,

IE, Last night I set my ARB 47L to -10*c and let it run for a few hours and then at I set it to 1*c and it has not come on at all in the past 18 hours And Counting So If I was you I would be buying the NL 50L, Also the NL 50 has a TURBO MODE which is handy for cooling stuff down in a Hurry in hotter climes.

Hope that helps,

I was leaning the NL50 way as well especially since here in the US the price difference between it and the Engel combi is only about $100 (+/- shipping if applicable) and neither really seem to go on any substantial sale (and both are sold-out or on pre-order) so it isn't about the cost difference between the two but really about capacity, features and longevity. I've reached out to Equipt on the forum to see if they have some data around what the consumption difference is between the 40 L single control and the 50L dual control considering the former has a 60 mm insulation while the later only 40 mm. I've heard the NL40 is the efficiency champ in that lineup but it would be good to know a ballpark Ah difference (If it's around 3-5 Ah / day or even slightly more than that's manageable but if we're talking about a double digit Ah consumption difference then that may be problematic). But the utility and the size of the 50 L is something that is really attractive considering that neither NL or Engel have something in the 42-45 L range.

 

[vomhorizon]

As for fridge size, don't buy something that is larger that you realistically need. First it takes up space. Depending where you put it you can have issues getting to the contents.

Thanks for the great advise! I agree, I don't want to run a half empty fridge that's why tried to narrow down on the size range and kept it between 40 and 50 L. A 45L would probably be an ideal size but that's not an option with these two brands. 50L is probably slightly bigger than what we need (even with room to grow) but it will really come handy at home or when using it in the rig while not camping. 50 L will probably also mean that we have everything we need loaded in the fridge already whereas with a 35L or perhaps even a 40L we would have had to carry some food and drinks outside the fridge and move them in as space was created.

I'm not too worried about the physical dimensions as the difference isn't too large and since I've already bought the slide and budgeted space for it above my storage boxes. The same physical footprint of the alu-cab slide accommodates the Engel 40 and the NL40 & 50 options.

 

[mep1811]

Thanks for the great advise! I agree, I don't want to run a half empty fridge that's why tried to narrow down on the size range and kept it between 40 and 50 L. A 45L would probably be an ideal size but that's not an option with these two brands. 50L is probably slightly bigger than what we need (even with room to grow) but it will really come handy at home or when using it in the rig while not camping. 50 L will probably also mean that we have everything we need loaded in the fridge already whereas with a 35L or perhaps even a 40L we would have had to carry some food and drinks outside the fridge and move them in as space was created.

I'm not too worried about the physical dimensions as the difference isn't too large and since I've already bought the slide and budgeted space for it (and both will fit it).

With the 110V cord you can use the fridge as an freezer in the garage

 

[67cj5]

I was leaning the NL50 way as well especially since here in the US the price difference between it and the Engel combi is only about $100 (+/- shipping if applicable) and neither really seem to go on any substantial sale (and both are sold-out or on pre-order) so it isn't about the cost difference between the two but really about capacity, features and longevity. I've reached out to Equipt on the forum to see if they have some data around what the consumption difference is between the 40 L single control and the 50L dual control considering the former has a 60 mm insulation while the later only 40 mm. I've heard the NL40 is the efficiency champ in that lineup but it would be good to know a ballpark Ah difference (If it's around 3-5 Ah / day or even slightly more than that's manageable but if we're talking about a double digit Ah consumption difference then that may be problematic). But the utility and the size of the 50 L is something that is really attractive considering that neither NL or Engel have something in the 42-45 L range.

A Twin or Duel Control will use a bit more power than a Single which is why I went with ARB because you can set it to -10*c or -12*c and it is cold enough to keep frozen foods solid and in the top and the Dairy area you can put things you don't want frozen, You can't do that with the Engel because it does not have a Dairy area, Personally I would be buying the NL 50L Single control.

Regardless of what company says, a Twin will chew more power, The NL would be the best Twin to buy because it was made for the WHO and uses less power than any other Twin on the market, Don't bother with snomaster because they can eat 3 or 4 times the amount of power than most brands,

Having a Twin is nice but you need to make sure your AUX battery charging system is up to the job,

Don't get sucked in to the Thicker insulation Hype, because ARB and Engel use less insulation yet they work just as well as the NL 70mm wall, Fact is it is down to the type of insulation used and how even it is applied within the walls,, Like I said earlier It took my ARB 18+ hours for it to warm up 10*c so it would power up and it has either 50mm walls, Using my ARB 78L it took over 3 days for it to rise from 2*c to 16*c when I switched it off In an Ambient temp of 24*c, Once a fridge has been running at a set temp for a week or so it will take days to come up to the Ambient temp,

Another thing to note is NL, ARB and Engel are way higher Spec than any Domestic fridge you can buy, They use less power, they cool faster and they retain their temperature better, So forget anything you know or have learned about House hold fridges, Ok.

Buy whats in ya heart, just make sure you have the power to feed it and you will be over the moon with your choice, And don't spend time beating ya self up on which one to buy because these 3 are all equal so get the one with the features that suits your needs and Enjoy,

 

[vomhorizon]

With the 110V cord you can use the fridge as an freezer in the garage

Yes that would be probably what it will be used as 99% of the time it isn't in the car. This is why the 50L is more attractive than a smaller 35 or 40 L. For non-camping in car use, I meant just day trips and BBQ's etc..

 

[vomhorizon]

A Twin or Duel Control will use a bit more power than a Single which is why I went with ARB because you can set it to -10*c or -12*c and it is cold enough to keep frozen foods solid and in the top and the Dairy area you can put things you don't want frozen, You can't do that with the Engel because it does not have a Dairy area, Personally I would be buying the NL 50L Single control.

Yeah I figured that some draw will be a result of the dual controls. However, I guess one could run both sides at the same temperature if one needed to be frugal. The 52L NL single control is also an option but I figured if I was going for that 50/52 form factor then the dual control looked attractive. The NL50 is apparently no longer available in the US. The choice in that form factor is between the 50:L Dual Control, or the 52 Liter Legacy single control (the dual control is essentially the 52L but with the smaller compartment having more cooling coils to allow for the temp difference. Both have the NL compressor as opposed to the danfoss. Let's see If I here back from Equipt/NL on the power draw. Will give them a call and see what the difference is in the draw b/w the standard 52 L and the 50L dual control..I think both the 52L single zone and 50L dual zone will serve our needs. Just need to understand the power consumption and then decide to see if the extra $$ are worth it.

 

[vomhorizon]

Another thing to note is NL, ARB and Engel are way higher Spec than any Domestic fridge you can buy, They use less power, they cool faster and they retain their temperature better, So forget anything you know or have learned about House hold fridges, Ok.

I agree. Disregarding the current status of the Dometic vis-a-vis the recall in the US, I just don't see the plastic lid doing very well (in our case) with prolonged use especially moving it in and out of the rig etc. I would prefer the metal fridges and the ones with a solid reputation for reliability and performance. While I'm sure Dometic makes good fridges, the CFX3 line is too early in its product cycle to tell (and is already having issues) so despite the $120 discount over an already lower price (relative to Engel or NL) I removed it from consideration. If I were looking for a short term fridge (doing a few major trips and then selling it) then it may have been a viable option..but I'm looking to hold it for a long time so I'd take the robustness and reputation of the NL or Engel and will happily pay a premium for that as I'll,hopefully, recover that over time.

 

[Herbie]

With the 110V cord you can use the fridge as an freezer in the garage

Early in the COVID lockdown, our MVP was the Truckfridge TF49 in our van, plugged into shore power in the driveway - we used it as an overflow fridge to store extra bulky items (like vegetables) since we were trying to limit visits to the grocery to about 2x/month.

 

[vomhorizon]

Just pulled the trigger on the National Luna 52L Legacy Fridge/Freezer. I had kept delaying the decision on the fridge because I was hoping that Engel USA will bring their MTV line in 2020 but once they confirmed that nothing is planned for at least another year, the choice to go with National Luna was a lot easier. The choice b/w the 52 L fridge/freezer and the 50L dual control (same form factor) was not easy and I went back and forth quite a bit. But as @67cj5 and others have said you can really manage the temps by prepping before you leave on your trip. Since we probably don't see ourselves going on any super long trips with our current setup the individually controlled 10L freezer section wasn't as enticing as it would have been had we thought of longer duration trips (or more remote than what we see us doing).