Need help with fridge/cooler concerns.

[Yarjammer]

One of the greatest benefits of a fridge vs cooler when in camp is knowing that I'm not going to have to make a run into town for more ice at some point. I dread having to make an ice run.




I'm not a fan of ice in my drinks, but I keep soapstone cubes for my wife when she makes mixed drinks.

 

[4x4junkie]

One of the greatest benefits of a fridge vs cooler when in camp is knowing that I'm not going to have to make a run into town for more ice at some point. I dread having to make an ice run.

That, and not having your food floating in the ice getting all waterlogged (or having to freeze the ice in 2L bottles, etc., which doesn't provide as much cooling efficiency... That is the reason ice in bottles or blocks tends to last longer, it doesn't keep things quite as cold).

That said, I still do often bring a cooler w/ice for non-perishable stuff such as soda, beer, etc. (I'll load the cooler up with a bunch of frozen 32oz Gatorade bottles too, which are awesome to drink on a hot day after they've thawed slightly and are all slushy). By the time the ice in the cooler melts I'll have some room to put a few drinks in the fridge, after which the cooler can be used to stow some of my camp gear in.

I have no idea what the reliability numbers of a portable fridge actually are, in terms of MTBF (mean time between failure). If they're good, then I'd expect the warranty to be in the 5 year or so range, for the mechanical parts. I think that's common for a home fridge. The cooler should last 20+. So guestimate the fridge at $500 and 10 year life, and the cooler at $50 and 20 life (being real generous with fridge vs cooler life/cost here) and the fridge is only 2500% more expensive. That's if the cooler only lasts 2x as long as the fridge, which is part of the generous part, I believe.

Lots of reports here of fridges (from ARBs to Edgestars) running non-stop for many years straight (a buddy of mine has kept his Edgestar in his garage as a beer fridge when not camping since 2010).
Also, you have to figure in the cost of fuel and wear & tear on the vehicle to make those inevitable ice runs from camp when factoring up ice costs for a cooler. A fridge very often can pay for itself in a short amount of time.

 

[Berne]

We went with a fridge, and it has totally changed the way we can do certain things. Used to be, you had a dedicated cooler full of ice and beer, and if done right you run out of beer and ice at the same time, then the party is over. W/ a fridge, you really just need room to fit a days worth of beer in there, and keep replacing them, first in first out style. This allows you to transport drinks unrefrigerated, saving TONS of high value real estate.

We spend a lot of time in Baja, where, you can buy warm tecate just about anywhere, but ice can be hard to come by. ARB fridge ******. w/ a big battery and ~100w of solar, the limiting factor to how long we can hide out at a remote beach has become how much water we carry. We can produce cold beer indefinitely.

As far as scotch or boat drink ice, that is the weak point in our system. On trips that require mixed drinks, we keep a separate dedicated small cooler that does nothing but hold a couple bags of ice.

 

[AlbanyTom]

This is good info...and I'm seeing a trend. Pro fridge - California, Arizona, Baja. Wonders why a fridge works well - ny. I'd love to do solar, but we have nowhere near as much sun as the southwest, and I like to camp in the shade. And we have lots of shade. The temps are different, too. Today was an awesome day out - hot by most people's accounts - which means about 80. For weekend camping, 2 people, 1 cooler, don't need to make an ice run. Here, to match that with a fridge, I'd need to run a generator, go to a campsite that had ac power, or pack the equivalent weight of another cooler filled with ice for batteries.

I can see how for some people could make use of a fridge, though.

Berne - I think they make portable fridges that make ice. But if you switch from Scotch to Irish whiskey, you don't need any ice.

 

[Berne]

We are 100% happy with our current system. WHEN we keep ice, its mostly for rum and juice (boat drinks)
We keep mostly food and a days worth of beer in the fridge.

And, for the record, I'm in Oregon....likely very similar weather to what you're used to, and if we move every other day I don't worry about charging batteries. We have the solar primarily for long stays on remote beaches in Baja. Hardly ever use it in Oregon.

--B

 

[TrekkerOutdoors]

I just tried something that might help others dealing with the cooler/fridge dilemma. I took my ARB 50qt fridge/freezer out camping this weekend, but I still wanted a small amount of ice for drinks. I filled up a 40oz HydroFlask (double wall stainless steel bottle) with ice cubes and kept it in the ARB, which was set on 37F. I was shocked that I had ZERO water in the bottle! Some of the cubes had stuck together, sorta like when you have ice melt and it refreezes, but I was able to keep ice over 3 days. I will definitely try this again, but I will pre-chill my bottle in the freezer first and use bagged ice from the freezer, rather than ice from my refrigerator ice maker.

 

[oscar the grouch]

Ive found that pre cooling the cooler helps a ton. that and hard freezing ice. I buy a few bags before heading out and they land in the deep freeze for a day before leaving. most store ice is starting to melt before you buy it.

 

[xplrn42]

Regarding power: I've got an ARB 47qt and a DieHard 31m battery. Yes an expensive combo but I've had my fridge running for over four days then left the dome light on all night in my FJ and it started with no hesitation the following morning.

 

[Sharpie]

Wow! Did not expect this many people to chime in. Thank you everyone for your much appreciated input. I have found a couple double zoned fridges or may go with a fridge and small cooler for the ice. I also like the stone idea for the drinks. It is true the price/weight does go up considerably when u start adding solar and batteries and generators and etc.. I do have plans already for some of these and they are intended to support items like a fridge so I won't worry about that end of it for now. We will see what the future holds but I would like to get away from all the coolers and ice. Can't say that I'm trying to make life simpler because both ways create their own problems. Thanks again everyone.

 

[lysol]

Even if you are thinking about adding solar/extra batteries down the road, you can still run some fridges safely off your starter battery. Our ARB has a setting to auto-shutoff when the battery voltage lowers past a threshold. If set right, this will keep your starter battery from depleting too much. I just ran our ARB 50 off the wife's WK2 this past weekend. It sat for almost 48 hours and the engine fired up with no problem. When the time comes, I'll add in the extra battery and solar panels, but we are enjoying our fridge just fine right now. I'm probably looking at another 2 years before I complete the extra battery in my Wrangler and longer than that before a solar panel gets in the mix.