Does anyone use a fridge for basecamp-style travel? By that I mean driving for 8-10 hours and dry camping somewhere for 4-5 days at a time, only driving about an hour a day for side trips. No solar because campsites in my area (East Coast) are usually wooded, plus I don't feel comfortable leaving the fridge and solar equipment at camp for people to steal. It seems to me that in this scenario (for example), a Dometic CFX-65DX, which reportedly uses about .5 amps per hour once cooled down, would drain a 100 ah battery 50 percent in about 4-5 days -- i.e., the same amount of time a high-end cooler will keep ice. So that means I would either have to drive the car for 8-10 hours every 4-5 days to recharge the battery, or find a convenience store with ice every 4-5 days. The latter seems easier, especially in the more populated East. Plus I'd save about $700 going the cooler route once I buy the fridge and associated gear, which would pay for a LOT of ice. Thoughts?
Fridge vs. cooler for basecamp-style travel
- Thread starter jk6661
- Start date
Laps
Active member
I've been pondering the same dilemma for months now as I live in east Tennessee, and the camping areas are heavily wooded, so solar wouldn't be ideal. However, based on the number of posts in these forums, I'm suggesting that possibly the majority of "overlanders" are west of the Mississippi and of course the reasons for having a fridge out West are more heavily weighted towards solar/fridge setup. Would be interesting to see as to the actual uses of those in the West vs those in the East. Presently I have a Pelican cooler and plan on using it for all of my ventures, which can be anywhere from a few days to a few weeks. My travels will also include to the West as well as locally.
Bbasso
Expedition goofball
I'm on the east coast and did the cooler with ice thing for about a year. I've been in the mountains with heavy cover to the beaches in Florida and I finally gave in and got myself an Engel mt45. Best decision ever. But disclaimer, I already had 200 watts of solar and a blue sea 7622.
Nomad1
Observer
I have yet to run into anyone that has gotten a proper compressor fridge that was not happy with the buy...
What are you poor that you cant buy one well then you sure cant afford to be camping with a 4x4...
But just about everyone I have been with on camping trips that have the old ice coolers has ************** and complained to no end about soggy food and where can they get more ice to keep things cold these coolers are old news you don't see anyone these days with an ice house anymore everyone has a fridge at home these days do ya think their may be a reason for that Do'h....
What are you poor that you cant buy one well then you sure cant afford to be camping with a 4x4...
But just about everyone I have been with on camping trips that have the old ice coolers has ************** and complained to no end about soggy food and where can they get more ice to keep things cold these coolers are old news you don't see anyone these days with an ice house anymore everyone has a fridge at home these days do ya think their may be a reason for that Do'h....
vectorsc
Adventurer
I run solar and a 140ah battery and an ARB 50QT. That said, I find it useful anyway without the solar rig loaded up. I leave it in the truck hard mounted and when I drive anywhere more than an hour away it'll cool the drinks I leave in there 24/7.
I think I would have gotten the Engel had I a chance to do it again.
I think I would have gotten the Engel had I a chance to do it again.
perterra
Adventurer
This place has a **** load of smart asses, seriously
B
BPD53
Guest
Well spoken.
Anyway.....I'm on the east coast as well and we have found that a cooler is better suited for base camp style camping. I recently had to send back my ARB fridge for repairs and started looking at coolers again. I will admit that if you are driving all day and stopping at night then the fridge wins hands down. When we go somewhere and stay a few days then the cooler wins.
Solar in WV sucks! I tried a solar setup, but a man would need a 500 foot run of wire to find the sunshine in some places. They have to pump in sunshine to some of the place we camp.
I think having both is awesome so you can choose, but honestly a cooler is tough to beat for the people I camp with in WV.
Good luck.
I'd probably delete "smart."
Winterpeg
Active member
Your little 1 hr side trips would more than compensate for the battery drain from the fridge (assuming it was topped up pre-trip). When I was only running 1 battery (grp31 blue top Optima with 155 RC) I would run the FJ 10 minutes every day after the first 3 days. The ARB fridge also has a battery protection mode so it doesn't kill your battery.
I now have 2 batteries and it can easily go 4-5 days with no issues.... so a dual battery setup may help you out.
Keeping the fridge set to a moderate temperature also helps... don't have it set for -15... a few degrees above freezing is plenty for refrigeration.
I now have 2 batteries and it can easily go 4-5 days with no issues.... so a dual battery setup may help you out.
Keeping the fridge set to a moderate temperature also helps... don't have it set for -15... a few degrees above freezing is plenty for refrigeration.
krick3tt
Adventurer
I did start vehicle camping with an ice chest and did really get tired of soggy food and nearly warm beverages. Hard to take the thought of buying frozen water over and over. I got to using milk cartons frozen in my freezer at home to contain the ice and after it melts I have cold water to drink. Kind of a two-for-one deal.
I have been using an ARB fridge for about 12 years and do not find it at all inconvenient. When it was in my Pinzgauer with 24V system there was never a worry about not having enough battery to keep it going at any situation. Now that I have an LR3 I did install a second battery and a dual charging battery system. Traveling for 1/2 a day to get to camp is more than enough to fully charge the house battery and it is good for at least three days. I have now gotten a 100 watt solar panel and although we here get a bit more sun than those camping in the woods back East, it has not been used yet to charge the house battery, although soon to take an extensive trip to the desert...lots of sun there.
I have been using an ARB fridge for about 12 years and do not find it at all inconvenient. When it was in my Pinzgauer with 24V system there was never a worry about not having enough battery to keep it going at any situation. Now that I have an LR3 I did install a second battery and a dual charging battery system. Traveling for 1/2 a day to get to camp is more than enough to fully charge the house battery and it is good for at least three days. I have now gotten a 100 watt solar panel and although we here get a bit more sun than those camping in the woods back East, it has not been used yet to charge the house battery, although soon to take an extensive trip to the desert...lots of sun there.
Gooseberry
Explorer
My 2cents on this. Ice chest for drinks and a fridge for food. This way your power consumption is lower because you don't keep opening it for a beverages and your food stays dry.
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Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Happy Joe
Apprentice Geezer
Spent decades using many brands of inferior cooler and base camping... not the greatest choice, rare to have ice left after 3 days in the summer.
Spent a season trying to base camp with a 12 volt fridge: worked ok for a couple of days then had to run the vehicle daily to recharge the battery; not a good choice, for me...a better but still not good option was to use a very small, relatively fuel efficient, generator to recharge the battery still not ideal, Noisy. (Since then I acquired a quieter inverter generator (Yamaha) but it takes excessive room to pack and still needs fuel).
Spent about half of that season trying to make solar work base camping with the fridge; spent a good part of each day moving the 50 watt panels around, chasing the sun/to keep them out of the shade (I like shady campsites).. again not a good choice for me, the small generator was better, though far from ideal.
Acquired a good modern high quality cooler (Pelican) keeps ice for 5+days if the cooler and food are pre-chilled; Success. No soggy food (since a cold tray(adapted steam table tray) is used to keep the unsealed items out of the water)... best compromise so far; since we are usually ready for a run to the store or to change sites/areas after 4-5 days...
Enjoy!
Spent a season trying to base camp with a 12 volt fridge: worked ok for a couple of days then had to run the vehicle daily to recharge the battery; not a good choice, for me...a better but still not good option was to use a very small, relatively fuel efficient, generator to recharge the battery still not ideal, Noisy. (Since then I acquired a quieter inverter generator (Yamaha) but it takes excessive room to pack and still needs fuel).
Spent about half of that season trying to make solar work base camping with the fridge; spent a good part of each day moving the 50 watt panels around, chasing the sun/to keep them out of the shade (I like shady campsites).. again not a good choice for me, the small generator was better, though far from ideal.
Acquired a good modern high quality cooler (Pelican) keeps ice for 5+days if the cooler and food are pre-chilled; Success. No soggy food (since a cold tray(adapted steam table tray) is used to keep the unsealed items out of the water)... best compromise so far; since we are usually ready for a run to the store or to change sites/areas after 4-5 days...
Enjoy!
Hummelator
Adventurer
Go put this on and sit in the corner while the adults have a conversation.
I've been on the fence with the whole cooler vs fridge. I think I'm leaning towards cooler.
Few things to think about:
-As you mentioned,once you've purchased the fridge and batteries you're looking at a good chunk of change. But the cost may not end there... what if some part of the refrigeration system breaks after the warranty period? That will add to the cost. What about replacing the battery eventually?
-How many days a year will your cooler or fridge actually get use? I only camp 10 nights a year tops ( though I wish it was more) and at that rate it would take a long time for the fridge to pay for itself.
-Suppose you are at the lake and you want to bring cold drinks down to the beach with you... cooler will still work, but the fridge will stop cooling once you unplug it.
That said, getting home after your trip and not having to worry about the food going bad if you don't unpack the cooler right away is a definative plus in my eyes.
What are the pros and cons on your list?
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I appreciate people's comments, but I wasn't meaning for this to be a typical fridge-vs.-cooler thread. There are plenty of those already. I'm really talking about using fridges or coolers for extended base camping in the East, where convenience stores with ice are plentiful and ground-level sunlight is not because of all the trees. It seems to me, and some of the comments here appear to agree, that this totally changes the equation compared to somewhere like Colorado or Utah.
vectorsc
Adventurer
You might be a little screwed there. I think both probably suck some when you can't replenish easy. That said, frozen water in milk jugs or other containers is smart. Deals with some of the issue.
Resale on these things is usually pretty good - buy both and try them lol.
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Resale on these things is usually pretty good - buy both and try them lol.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk