After dealing with standard coolers, melting ice and soggy food under less than ideal methods of refrigeration while on the trail and camping, I decided it was time to spring for a portable electric Freezer/Fridge. I had heard about the EdgeStar fridge on another forum and the folks that had been using that brand were quite happy with the product. I did some research on my own and found that the EdgeStar brand of products are from Texas and built in China. They are assembled with high-quality parts and have a good reputation.
The size I opted for holds 43 Quarts and will hold 60, 12 oz cans. It's the smallest EdgeStar portable freezer/fridge, Model# Model FP430. (Other options are 63 Quarts and 86 Quarts.) It's a bit on the large size, but once you get it loaded with food and drinks for a few days, the size becomes quite welcome. The outer dimensions are as follows-
Height: 20.8
Width: 24.7
Depth: 17.7
Weight is 45 lbs.
Pics for reference-
The EdgeStar is built with quality hardware, a spring-loaded carrying handle on each side, a pair of heavy duty hinges, a spring-loaded locking latch and a couple of wire baskets for placing food items into. The baskets are very handy, as you can load your food into them without having to take the fridge out of the vehicle. There are also 2 drain plugs, one on the inside and one on the outside, for defrosting and cleaning out the inside of the fridge.
The EdgeStar freezer/fridge has 2 power plugs, one for 12v or 24v DC power from a vehicle (by way of a plug for your cigarette lighter)and another for household power with a 115v AC plug for home use. Using 12V power, the unit draws 4.5 Amps. It is very quiet, I rarely hear it kick on and off. If we're traveling, the noise from the vehicle will drown out and noise the freezer/fridge may be making. If you stand right next to it, you will hear it the compressor and fan turn on and off, but even right next to it, the sounds are minimal.
The temperature control panel on the side is simple, yet allows some good options. The freezer/fridge has a operating range from -8* to 50* Fahrenheit. It also has a Fast Freeze option, which will quickly bring the temperature down to -8* when you need to quickly freeze food. You can set your desired temperature with the control panel. I've been setting it at 38*, because the temperature will fluctuate up and down a few degrees as the fridge kicks on and off and temps in the car change.
The case of the freezer/fridge is very well insulated, it will maintain the internal temperature for several hours without power. I've been impressed with how cool food stayed over night after being unplugged. One of the neat features is that the EdgeStar will shut off if the battery is run down too far. If the battery dips below 10.4V, the freezer/fridge will shut off. Once power is restored to the battery, the EdgeStar won't turn back on until after reaching 11.8V.
With the freezer/fridge plugged in safely at home, I did some tests to see how long I could run the fridge and still start the vehicle. I let the EdgeStar run overnight and attempted to start my FJ80 24 hrs later. It fired right up without a problem. I shut it off quickly, so as to not fully recharge the battery. I let the vehicle sit for another 24 hrs and tried again... 48 hrs with the fridge running and not letting the battery charge and the engine turned over normally and fired right up.
After 72 hrs, the freezer/fridge was registering low voltage and no longer maintaining the temperature. The indicator light on the side was flashing yellow, indicating the low power. The digital temperature display still functioned, but showed the increasing temp. I'm very pleased that the freezer/fridge will run for 48 hours without draining the battery and preventing the vehicle from starting! These tests were conducted using a Orbital dry cell battery.
