Vehicle Fridge/Freezer That Stays Cold for 24-48 hours w/o Power?

[WRONG_WAY_DAVE]

Hello--

I prefer to bring my own food on the road.
So, looking for a fridge/freezer combo that can keep items cold via car cig lighter plugged in while engine running, and cold enough overnight while left in vehicle (disconnected from vehicle power) so I don't have to drag it into the hotel/motel every night.

Don't know if this even exists, but figured if there was one place that knew, and had recommendations, it was here...

Thank you--

WWD



Fridge/Freezer That Stays Cold for 24-48 hours w/o Power?

 

[68camaro]

I don't know of one that will keep food cold close to 24 or 48 hours, but I installed second battery in back of JGC that only runs my frig 24/7. It has separator to engine battery that charges rear battery when car is running, but rear battery cannot pull from engine battery on its own. I have had this set up for years with great luck.

 

[Clymber]

The amount of power a small fridge freezer draws once at temp is minimal. I have ledt mine rune 48+ hours on single battery and no issuses starting. If fridge isnt full throw some bottle water in it to hold temp

 

[WRONG_WAY_DAVE]

Thank you for the advice, but can't risk a dead battery, nor the time to dedicate to wiring and wondering if done correctly. What about 12 hours?

 

[Peter_n_Margaret]

The rate that a cold fridge warms up is simply determined by the quality of the insulation.
Improve the insulation dramatically and increase the time it stays cold.
It is not rocket science.
A vacuum flask is pretty good. Vacuum panels can be built into the walls and door of a fridge. There are a few commercially made household fridges that use vacuum panels.
Alternatively, significant improvements can be made with traditional insulating materials like closed cell polyurethane foam.
I made my own freezer for our expedition vehicle. It uses thick, high quality insulation and uses significantly less power than our commercial fridge with extra insulation.

Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome

 

[86scotty]

Thank you for the advice, but can't risk a dead battery, nor the time to dedicate to wiring and wondering if done correctly. What about 12 hours?

You get out of life what you put in to it. What's hard about wiring a fridge? It's a fused positive and a negative from a battery.

 

[DRAX]

Keyed/switched 12v -> Jackery or similar -> fridge. Done.

Sent from my SM-S918U using Tapatalk

 

[mbuckner]

You probably wont find a fridge that will stay cold that long.
If you want simple. Consider using a lithium battery box like Bluetti, Jackery, Dometic etc.
run you fridge overnight using that.
Recharge it when driving.

The Jackery route is what I took and it works great, even in the Arizona summer.

Mike

 

[NatersXJ6]

I think most of the fridges currently on the market have done a good job balancing insulation volume versus power draw, and with a few simple additions can be made to run reliably off of a single car battery with regular driving or charging.

some considerations:

Give up some interior space to store a large block of ice or dry ice… but now you basically made a cooler and there are better coolers on the market.

what types of foods are you bringing? An amazing amount of stuff that Americans refrigerate doesn’t really need refrigeration. however, stuff stored in a hot car will quickly spoil in the over-hot environment, so buying small quantities is key to success

Fridges have low voltage cutoffs, so the battery doesn’t die completely, and a small jump pack can mitigate the risk of consequence when dealing waits a battery.

Is the plan to use this in rental cars?

 

[workerdrone]

They're also starting to make fridges with their own built-in batteries.

But the dry ice suggestion is also good.

 

[Peter_n_Margaret]

With the Secop/Danfoss compressors (BD35 et al), there is a 'double whammy' improvement available if you improve the insulation.
These compressors are variable speed. The speed is usually set by the fridge manufacturer to provide a reasonable performance at high ambient temperatures, but if you can improve the insulation you can then reduce the speed of the compressor (by the simple change of a resistor) which will reduce the amps it draws but make it run longer per cycle.
However at reduced speed, these compressors are more efficient (COP improves) and the total energy they use is reduced.
There is also an (expensive) accessory that automatically chooses the slowest, most efficient compressor speed for the current conditions.
Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome

 

[Lucky3]

Check out a Kickstarter by Anker for a fridge that might work you.

Sent from my SM-S908U using Tapatalk

 

[19mystic96]

Ecoflow just came out with something recently you might find useful.

EcoFlow GLACIER Portable Refrigerator | EcoFlow US | EcoFlow US

Keep your food & drinks cold wherever you go - GLACIER even makes ice! With up to 40 hours between charges, there's never been a better off-grid fridge.

www.ecoflow.com

 

[DRAX]

This is impressive but why is the freezer bigger than the fridge ??

It's not, with the dual zone setup you can have either side be the fridge or the freezer. Or you can remove the divider and have a larger single zone.

 

[86scotty]

Ecoflow just came out with something recently you might find useful.

EcoFlow GLACIER Portable Refrigerator | EcoFlow US | EcoFlow US

Keep your food & drinks cold wherever you go - GLACIER even makes ice! With up to 40 hours between charges, there's never been a better off-grid fridge.

www.ecoflow.com

This thing is going to be heavy even with lithium but man are we living in the golden age. If this had come out a year or two ago I bet it would go for $500 but I can easily see them asking a grand or more for this in today's inflated dollars.

Edit: HA! I was spot on. $999 on Amazon.