Single-zone vs. Dual-zone

[wileybyrd]

BLUF: Is the extra cost of a dual-zone fridge worth it?

I'm in the market for a fridge. I've been squirreling away cash for a while now. I'm considering a budget, mid-grade, or premium model as noted below. I have a family of 4 and the fridge will live in the back of a 2007 100 series Land Cruiser. On average, we camp for 3 nights at a time, typically setting up a basecamp with my trailer/RTT and exploring via truck, bike, and hike. I already have 2 ga wire run to a distribution block in the back in anticipation for the fridge addition (and for a previous HAM radio install). I have no experience with 12v fridges.

I am considering purchasing ONE of the following:

Whynter FM-62DZ or Whynter FM-65G
OR
Dometic CFX 65DZ or Dometic CFX 65W
OR
SnoMaster LP61 or SnoMaster LP66

Within each of the manufacturers, would you recommend the single-zone fridge or the dual-zone?

Thanks for your input.
-Will

 

[OmegaMan73]

I think it depends on whether or not you plan to keep items frozen or freeze them. I had an arb fridge but traded it for a snomaster. The arb was a bit easier to pack full of food and drink. But the snomaster allows me to take popsicles for my son and his friends when we take all of them out. I like the flexibility the dual zone offers. You can make one side a freezer and the other side a fridge. That opens up possibilities for lots of things.
Now you can make a single zone work kinda like a dual zone by keeping frozen stuff on the bottom and using a divider like thick foam to separate the 2 "zones". But I never really had any luck with that, admittedly I only tried it a few times. With a dual zone that's taken care of easily. Either way you will learn how to make the best use out of either one and you will be very happy with either. Let us know which you choose!

 

[dreadlocks]

what do yeh want the freezer for? For our use we mostly wanted to keep some ice for liquor drinks and mebe some ice cream for kiddos.. but then we discovered we can pack a Vacuum Insulated Growler and it'll keep full of ice for over a week in our fridge.. after 4-5 days you cant even get a drop of water out of it.

For Ice Cream we either hit-up any ice cream shop we can find in the nearest village, or bring a cooler with an icebag and make some home-made ice cream, of course yeh have the kids do all the manual labor thats involved.

After that the only reason I had to justify a freezer was to go out for weeks at end without restocking and keep meats frozen, and for us that would be planning for the exception and a poor use of resources/space/weight/electricity (colder temps will cycle more).. If I really did want to go off the grid for longer than meat lasts refrigerated I'd just crank the knob and turn the whole thing into a deep freezer.

 

[spressomon]

Ditto @dreadlocks opinion: For 3 nights (and longer actually) go with a single compartment unit assuming you don't have some specialty application for frozen goods. For ice just add an RTIC or similar...less overall $ and more versatility. My Waeco 50l has served me without issue for 13-years but when I went shopping for a little larger unit I am happy I went with SnoMaster last year (went with the LP61).

 

[wileybyrd]

So if I did want to keep ice cream or something frozen, could I reliably do that with a single compartment?

 

[dreadlocks]

I keep my fridge @ 1C, If I have pre-frozen items and put it inside an insulated container inside the fridge it should remain frozen for 3 nights.. beyond that would be depend on how well insulated it was.. I tried to fill a styrofoam cup with ice and it didnt last long enough, but the thermos worked great.. I dunno if you can fill a thermos up w/ice cream, mebe you could shove a few popcicles in a larger one.. or just deep freeze the ice cream and consume it in the first couple nights before it gets too soft.

Do you really want to sacrifice half your capacity just for ice cream? wouldent twice as much drink or food capacity be more important?

 

[wileybyrd]

No, I don't want to sacrifice half the capacity for ice cream. But if I had a frozen section or freezer compartment, I could keep other freezable items in there, such as meat for the following night or frozen water bottles or ice.

 

[dreadlocks]

then you have to let that stuff thaw out before you can use it, bacon? nope we eat it every day.. If your out hiking/biking and leaving food out to thaw you think wildlife wont come raid your camp? Alot of times things dont go as planned and mebe tonight I planned on steaks on the grill but only have time/energy to make hot dogs over propane (mebe its raining)... but crap the hot dogs are frozen solid.

My family of 4 had absolutely no problem filling our 96qt fridge up, our previous 64qt was packed to the brim.. pre-frozen water bottles will stay frozen a good while if you want those for hikes and day trips.. in 3 days nothing will go bad, so none of it needs to be frozen.

 

[spressomon]

My 13yo Waeco 51 doesn’t have top to bottom evaporator lines. By putting frozen goods (have done it with ice, meats but not tried ice cream) in the bottom right corner, where evap lines run, then I place a 1/2” thick piece of closed cell foam to close off approximately 80% of the horizontal space with all refrigerated type items placed on top of the foam panel I can effectively turn it into a pseudo dual zone unit.

OTOH, my SnoMaster has uniform evap lines that run top to bottom and around the circumference which makes for a better single zone fridge/freeze but doesn’t function as I described above per my Waeco.

 

[wileybyrd]

My 13yo Waeco 51 doesn’t have top to bottom evaporator lines. By putting frozen goods (have done it with ice, meats but not tried ice cream) in the bottom right corner, where evap lines run, then I place a 1/2” thick piece of closed cell foam to close off approximately 80% of the horizontal space with all refrigerated type items placed on top of the foam panel I can effectively turn it into a pseudo dual zone unit.

OTOH, my SnoMaster has uniform evap lines that run top to bottom and around the circumference which makes for a better single zone fridge/freeze but doesn’t function as I described above per my Waeco.

Good to know. I am looking at the LP61 and LP66 from SnoMaster. Although their product lines are confusing and their website doesn't help answer a lot of questions. Like what do you give up going low profile? Whats the difference between the classic, expedition, and traveler series?
I'm still leaning toward the dual-zone simply for the flexibility. In any of the models, I can still run each zone as a fridge if our needs dictate.

 

[dreadlocks]

In any of the models, I can still run each zone as a fridge if our needs dictate.

you sure about that? most dual zones still have one thermostat and cooling system.. its just one side is setup to be colder than the other.. I suppose if you set the freezer side to just above freezing the fridge side might still be considered refrigerated, but it wont be as ice cold as leaving a single zone just above freezing.

 

[workerdrone]

I've been testing out one of the SnoMaster Expedition 66 series for a few months 24/7 now - sitting in the back of my pickup with temps well over 100 deg F (90-105 outside but it gets HOTter inside the cap of the pickup). Running it on a 160w Renogy panel and a group 29 marine battery.

Very nice fridge. Included cover and remote control are nice touches. You can set any temperature for either side and it stays pretty accurate. The difference with the expedition models is they have more insulation so should be more efficient but have less total capacity for the same outside dimensions.

I've played around with having one zone as a freezer - not for ice cream but mostly to make block ice for the Yeti cooler I've also got on this trip. So for two people full timing we've got over 100L of fridge space, which is easy to fill up if you're cooking a nice variety of meals and have a selection of beverages too.

It works great but definitely having even part of it in freezer mode uses a LOT more electricity than just plain fridge mode. Something to keep in mind if you want to be able to run 100% solar powered, you may need to up your panel and battery specs vs. what's recommended. Especially if you set the freezer at 0 or something, like I did, since it makes nice hard ice that lasts a lot longer than if you have it set for 15 degrees or something.

 

[chet6.7]

I recently bought an ARB 50,thinking I would use it as a freezer or a cooler,if I had a do over, I would get a bigger dual zone.I think a dual zone would offer the most flexibility,you could freeze blue ice,or use frozen food/water bottles, that you want to thaw to cool another(non-powered) cooler and still have a cooler section in the powered cooler.You will always fill it up.... go big.

 

[spressomon]

@wileybyrd I went through the same decision making process before buying the LP61. I liked the lower reach over height for my application. As long as the lower height accommodates your tallest item there's no compromise (and exterior dimensions).

The only thing that would have swayed me from that decision was if they made a dual zone with 60-65L + 25-30L compartments; but they don't. So I added an L35 which I use primarily as freezer with the LP61 as the fridge. I've been 100% pleased with my SnoMaster decisions...would do it again. And Todd answered all my questions without delay; exemplary customer service.

 

[chet6.7]

you sure about that? most dual zones still have one thermostat and cooling system.. its just one side is setup to be colder than the other.. I suppose if you set the freezer side to just above freezing the fridge side might still be considered refrigerated, but it wont be as ice cold as leaving a single zone just above freezing.

Check out the 75 size @ about 8.40