Coleman Fridge at a Great Price (not Thermoelectric cooler)

[97 FZJ80]

Coleman made a stirling cooler that has similar performance characteristics as the ARB/Norcold fridges. This is a real compressor fridge and not a thermoelectric unit. Costco has them for $390 for a 26 quart unit. Anyone has any experience with them?

http://www.coleman.com/coleman/colemancom/detail.asp?product_id=5726-750&categoryid=8570

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11092204&whse=BC&topnav=&browse=

 

[mobi-arc]

Says thermoelectric:


Coleman® Stirling Power Electric Cooler
Thermoelectric 26-Quart Portable Cooler W/ DC Power Cable & Household Power Supply

$389.99
Item # 955712
Plus Shipping & Handling

 

[e9999]

well, Stirling and Thermoelectric is like apples and oranges...

manual doesn't say anything about Thermoelec that I saw. That part must be a Costco typo. With freezing it must be a real Stirling device. Basically a Stirling engine running in reverse mode. No compressor or circulating refrigerant needed. Could be much more reliable than the usual refrigerant type device, if well built.

Does not look very space efficient, though, and interior is pretty small.

 

[Heffenoche]

I've been eyeing it for a while. It's just a lot of cash for me right now. I think it should be a good product.

 

[Cruiserdrew]

It would be hard to reccomend this. How much Coleman stuff have you used lately? High quality does not seem to be on their list any more. Even though the ARB is twice the price, and I've never used that Coleman, I will go out on a limb and say that an ARB is a better buy. THere are 100 guys on this forum who would say that the ARB fridge is the best piece of camping equiptment they own. Buy one, pay once, and be happy.

 

[Rich]

http://www.globalcooling.com/products.html

 

[jmaclaug]

I've had my eye on these. You can check out the manual at http://www.coleman.com/coleman/images/pdf/5726-750.pdf

The drawbacks versus the Engel/Arb/Norcold are that it does not appear to have a low voltage cutoff, and it appears to use slightly more amps than the Engel/etc. However the price sure is appealing.

If size is an issue, you could buy a second one and have two for the price of the same capacity Engel. One to freeze, one to cool. The Coleman brand doesn't bother me, I've been using their stoves and lanterns for 25 years - just avoid their low end stuff.