Costway Fridge (1 Viewer)

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So, I am not an overlander. With a 3 year old and another on the way, I'm probably a way off from any real camping experience. But, I do have a cabin and typically take an Igloo Playmate cooler. My wife mentioned that she wanted a bigger/better cooler so we could take more food up there. So, naturally, I decided to look at cheap fridges instead. My thought is that I'd like to see if a fridge is right for our use without investing a lot of money. On Amazon, I did a bunch of searching and ran across this Costway fridge. In the comments, one reviewer mentioned taking it on the Rubicon. Farther down, a reviewer mentioned taking it on Dusy Ershim. It has 4.5 out of 5 star review and mentions "normal using in 30* incline and bumpy environment". Plus, on the Costway website, it's $389... about what a nice cooler would cost. Has anyone used one of these? Any opinions?

https://www.amazon.com/Costway-Port...07CG4Q1YJ/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

54 Quarts Portable Electric Car Cooler Refrigerator
 
Price looks attractive on your 2nd link and reviews look impressive on the 1st link. The only drawback I can see is it's shown as a fridge/freezer, which can be mis-leading. With only 1 compartment, it's either a fridge OR a freezer - not both at the same time regardless of what some say. 2 compartment portables are better for most folks expectations. Although for just cooler duties it will be convenient.
 
Awesome. @ExpoMax Mind giving me your impressions?

Been working great for me. It probably has 2 or 3 months worth of run time. It’s ran for 2 weeks strait on multiple occasions no problem. No way I’d spend $800 for a fridge that is marginally better. Also when it’s set at 32 I can keep stuff frozen in the very bottom and everything above that just cold. Size is great also.
 
Hey @ExpoMax - how does the electricity draw compare to like Dometic or some of the other more expensive brands?
 
....... Also when it’s set at 32 I can keep stuff frozen in the very bottom and everything above that just cold. Size is great also.
I think you'll find, over time, that this will become annoying. I did. Stacking your drinks and other "just cold" items on barely frozen items is not real handy, along with occasionally finding your "just cold" items frozen. Taking maybe a day or 2 to make ice cubes is not a desired feature either. YMMV, but a freezer is normally set 10 - 20 F degrees below freezing at least and the fridge temp is about 5 F degrees above 32. You can set this fridge at any temp you want, but IMHO, there isn't a compromise setting.
 
I think you'll find, over time, that this will become annoying. I did. Stacking your drinks and other "just cold" items on barely frozen items is not real handy, along with occasionally finding your "just cold" items frozen. Taking maybe a day or 2 to make ice cubes is not a desired feature either. YMMV, but a freezer is normally set 10 - 20 F degrees below freezing at least and the fridge temp is about 5 F degrees above 32. You can set this fridge at any temp you want, but IMHO, there isn't a compromise setting.

Well if I don’t want anything frozen I just set it to 36 and everything stays cold and nothing freezes. Simple as that. Like I said I have spent months with this fridge on and it has worked just fine for me to keep frozen items such as tamales and pot stickers frozen while my other stuff is just cold.
 
I have a different brand cooler. However - as I was looking at this I had a though that using a thin sheet of rigid foam insulation might be just the answer for keeping the frozen and non-frozen items separated and different in temperature. I basically never freeze or take frozen items with me. So it hasn't been something I've really needed to do. But that would seem like a viable solution for this problem. The down side would be that you'd have to figure out a different setup for the wire baskets that they come with. I really like the functionality of being able to pull the entire basket out to organize and find stuff in there.
 
Like I said I have spent months with this fridge on and it has worked just fine for me .

Mind snapping a quick picture of your fridge in the back of your rig? I'm wondering if I can/should mount a fridge, using the 3rd row seat bracket but can't really picture the size/scale in my head.
 
Mind snapping a quick picture of your fridge in the back of your rig? I'm wondering if I can/should mount a fridge, using the 3rd row seat bracket but can't really picture the size/scale in my head.
Sure. My interior is definitely not the best reference though.

B8F17C71-33F6-408D-A58D-5C6A983D16EB.jpeg
 
I wasn't sure if a fridge would be a worthwhile cooler replacement or that it would be something I really like, so I opted to buy one of the cheap Costway fridges earlier this year. I have it strapped down to a Black Forest slide. This is one of the cheapest slides on the market but fits the 54qt Costway fridge like a glove.

After one long trip and never having to deal with cooler water, water logged packages of meat or needing to find ice...I am sold. My wife is even a huge fan of the fridge since we can store cold groceries in there during our day-to-day routine. It works pretty good, but I do not have experience with any of the name brand units. I've found adjusting the temperature to 34° will yield a little freezing on anything touching the bottom of sides within a few days. I'd rather error on the side of frost than spoiled food. Granted, I've never seen more than a 3° swing in temperature with the fridge loaded. I have not altered any other settings since the factory setting seem to be working for me.
 
I am using the Alpicool unit from Amazon, appears to be same/similar to the Costway/Smitty. So far it has worked very well. I purchased the TuffStuff 4x4 slide unit to use with it, and an ARB wiring kit. It doesn't seem to be insulated as well as the pricier units. I'd like to add a transit bag/cover to it to help with that issue, I've read that the Smitty bag fits it perfectly, and likely fits the Costway as well.
 
Been working great for me. It probably has 2 or 3 months worth of run time. It’s ran for 2 weeks strait on multiple occasions no problem. No way I’d spend $800 for a fridge that is marginally better. Also when it’s set at 32 I can keep stuff frozen in the very bottom and everything above that just cold. Size is great also.

Hey Max,

Are you still using this fridge? Just curious what your even longer term thoughts are.
 
Has anyone found an insulated sleeve/cover for the costway or alpicool unit to help with the temp in summer?
 
Has anyone found an insulated sleeve/cover for the costway or alpicool unit to help with the temp in summer?
I thought the Smittybuilt sleeve was a perfect fit for the Costway.
 
I got a surprise for my birthday... a Stakol fridge. I believe that this is just the 44 quart version of the Costway fridge. (All the product labeling on the paperwork still says Costway. I plugged it in and it reached 33 degrees in about 5 minutes (empty). So far, I'm happy. I'll update this thread as I get it mounted and use it more.

GC5148Mh.jpg
 

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