I am in the market to get a fridge for the cruiser for camping. I have a family of 5. My question is to the people with the bigger 65/75 qt fridges do you need all that room or would a 55 be good?
55qt vs 65/75qt fridge/freezer (1 Viewer)
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As big as you can fit is my view.
The bigger the better, however I like food and ice cream in the woods.
The bigger the better, however I like food and ice cream in the woods.
Bang Bang
Age is a state of mind.
I bought the Setpower TC65 (69qt) for a 2 week trip I just took out to CO to replace the 55qt Amazon knock off brand fridge I already had. Long story short, the Setpower unit was defective and by the time they made that determination and shipped a new one, it was too late for my trip. So we used the 55qt. I wished a few times during the trip that I had the larger one. Get the biggest one you can fit in the space would be my suggestion.
FrazzledHunter
SILVER Star
Our Dometic 75L Dual Zone is at the top end for my wife and I so I'd guess it would be perfect for a family. I say this because we almost always return from a trip with some frozen food. Also consider that the bigger the fridge the less room you have for other junk and the more power it takes. I would guess that the 75L size is right for you. If you get a true dual zone you can have the zones all fridge, all freezer or half and half. We run the smaller zone as a freezer and the larger one as the fridge. Our LC is a 200 series with a cool box and we use it all. Just my $.02.
One semi-related question - how do you plan to power it?
One semi-related question - how do you plan to power it?
If you have the room for a big fridge do it, I have an ARB 63qt and my wife packs it like Tetris it doesn't matter if we are gone a weekend or more it's good to have that extra food.
- Thread starter
- #7
dual battery set up.
I have a 63L one, and I could have used even more space when going for a couple of weeks just by myself. So with 5 for more than a couple of days, I'd say the bigger the better.
But as important as space IMO, I'd think about whether I'd want a dual zone or not, that does make a big difference in usability too, although conceivably you could instead also have an insulated cooler on the side for unfrozen stuff that could be kept cool with an ice pack that you would refreeze in the electric freezer periodically if power is no object.
But as important as space IMO, I'd think about whether I'd want a dual zone or not, that does make a big difference in usability too, although conceivably you could instead also have an insulated cooler on the side for unfrozen stuff that could be kept cool with an ice pack that you would refreeze in the electric freezer periodically if power is no object.
For 2 people for a week I have the engel mt45 and it is plenty for that.. I also bring a yeti for ice for drinks. If it were more than a week or more people I would need more capacity. Over the years I have seen many downsize from the 60's to the 40's for weight and they found they always had plenty but that is for dedicated trail rigs where weight is a concern. If it was not a trail rig I would agree with others that a GOOD unit as large as will reasonably fit your space. I too like to have alot of good food & drink so I use baskets that sit in the top of fridge for lunch stuff cause typically thats what you need to grab easy on the trail.
REKCUT
SILVER Star
What's the point of downsizing if your adding a cooler?? Unless the cooler is on a outside tire rack you actually taking up more space. I have a 49qt arb that I use on solo trips and a 63qt on trips with 2 people.
My 55 L Nat. Luna at times, is barely big enough for myself, being single. But, a larger fridge will also give you better options for stacking larger containers and arranging your fridge, which with a family, you'll undoubtably need.
My fridge is a 45 and does not make ice so I bring the cooler for ICE mainly for drinks unless its a cold weather trip. I did not downsize, I like the 45. You guys bring way more food than I do cause the 45 is plenty for a week for 2 people eating very well.
Part of the discussion here IMO should be what kind of food we are talking about, for instance is it all frozen or do you also have a bunch of veggies, cold cuts etc that should not be frozen. It's the latter that complicates things for me since my fridge is not dual zone, and setting it just at the freezing point to try to compromise is tricky.
Of course, one could instead take only liquid and yeasty food supplements from Germany, Ireland, or Czechia to survive on, which is tempting...
Of course, one could instead take only liquid and yeasty food supplements from Germany, Ireland, or Czechia to survive on, which is tempting...
FrazzledHunter
SILVER Star
We thought we wouldn't use the freezer capability but it's super convenient and we wouldn't be without one now. Just as it's great to have a refrigerator to keep things cold it's equally great (we think) to be able to leave food frozen and not worry about spoilage. Also having ice and ice-cream whenever you want it is also great! One of our favorite hacks is freezing eggs into Ziploc bags either scrambled or "sunny side up. Flattened out they take little room and can be stacked up like pancakes. They thaw in 1/2 hour and you just pour into a skillet. Also no egg shells to get rid of or to attract Yogi.
Remember, you don't HAVE to run one compartment of a dual zone as a freezer - you can make it all refrigerator if you want.
Remember, you don't HAVE to run one compartment of a dual zone as a freezer - you can make it all refrigerator if you want.
I had a 65 quart and downsized to a 43 quart primarily because of space constraints. I'm already tightly packed on a trip so every cubic inch counts. It's fine for a family of 4 up to 2-3 days then I wish for a larger one. If you've got the room for a larger one get it, there's almost no downside to going larger. Also, if you use the fridge for costco runs or during the week, the added inch or two in width makes it easier to store stuff that needs to lay flat (i.e. leftovers, cakes, etc.)
Im also in the market for a new dual zone fridge/freezer. Since I’ve only had single zones fridge/freezers and in general, they are power hungry in freezer mode. How well does the large dual zone fridge (over 60L) do in term of power? Im planning for some trips over a week and prefer not fire up the car to charge the aux battery.
FrazzledHunter
SILVER Star
How long anything runs is a function of the size of your battery.
I have a Dometic CFX3 75L Dual Zone which we have found perfect for the two of us.
The power it draws with the freezer/fridge 3/4 full, set at 0F/37F is an average of:
- Idealized: 25 Watt-hr/hr at 75F no lid open closes.
- Common use gathered from my experience, summer: 50 Watt-hr/hr with a few lid open closes e.g. breakfast, lunch, dinner etc...
BTW, we power it with a Goal Zero Yeti 1500X 1500 Watt-hr (100Amp-hr) battery so we get a good day's worth if we allow the battery to go down to 10%. I've run it overnight on my Odyssey 35-PC1400 with no problem although I don't have before and after voltages.
Note that the Dometic units allow you to configure the compartment temperatures individually as refrigerator or freezer or turn a compartment off.
We configure the smaller compartment closest to the compressor as the freezer.
I'm sure other top brands are equally efficient.
EDIT: I forgot to add that I have Dometic's insulating blanket. I have no idea how much it helps.
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FrazzledHunter
SILVER Star
Found this...had it in my bookmarks:
Dometic CFX3 Power Consumption Test - Which Ran the Longest? - https://trail4runner.com/2021/12/02/trail-tested-cfx3-power-consumption/
Dometic CFX3 Power Consumption Test - Which Ran the Longest? - https://trail4runner.com/2021/12/02/trail-tested-cfx3-power-consumption/
- Thread starter
- #20
i ended up with a setpower 65 qt duel zone. and it is pretty quick to get to tempter. 0 and 34 takes like 25 min. first trip with t will be this weekend.
