I'll admit I was wrong. (1 Viewer)

[Semi Hex]

About never using a fridge while camping. I went from a 75 liter ice chest to a 37 liter Dometic and what a difference it has made. Crisper veggies, no draining out water, constant temps.

So to all those I laughed at, I hang my head. Ok time's up! Get out and camp!

 

[Cruiserdrew]

ya. no comparison.

It only takes one trip to learn this lesson.

 

[ElPolloBlanco]

It’s just so damn expensive. I can’t understand why these things cost almost a grand. My bad ass smart fridge in my house that makes ice didn’t cost that much.

 

[spressomon]

^ it is what it is. Relatively low volume specialty product, made elsewhere ... blah blah blah. You'll soon forget what you paid for it ... wonder WITF you waited so long to convince yourself to pull trigger ... and get on with life . The bonus: When its not being used in the rig use it for holiday/party overflow for anything that needs to be refrigerated/frozen or made handy on the patio full of cold refreshments

 

[Semi Hex]

You'll also like the constant temps. We don't freeze anything so our temperature can stay in the upper 30's while keeping our veggies nice and crisp. No frozen or soggy spots. It's also easier to clean since you don't have that melted ice water and food soup during the trip.

 

[ElPolloBlanco]

I just looked up the Dometic. It looks like I can be in the game under $600. I might have to look into that after a lift and RTT and rear swingout bumper.

 

[cme4lyt]

It is simply the best camping mod I have ever done, knowing what I know now, I would have paid double for it !

Just do it !!

 

[Hiace4wd]

We are very happy to have a fridge, with a separate freezer in it
But yeah, where should you stop? At some point you should've just stayed at home

Here in Europe you can get very small (like 15 liter) fridges from Waeco for roughly $400?
They are small, but you can keep the important stuff in there, and the power consumption is low so you don't require much from your power setup.

All these compressor fridges are doing nicely when combined with a solar panel when not driving around. You can easily run them on solar power alone if your camping for longer.

 

[Semi Hex]

That’s what is the best thing about these. I was worried about my solar, batteries and the like. So far, even in the winter my panel is keeping up. And yes, I have it running at my house and measure my outputs every day just to see.

 

[Hiace4wd]

That’s what is the best thing about these. I was worried about my solar, batteries and the like. So far, even in the winter my panel is keeping up. And yes, I have it running at my house and measure my outputs every day just to see.

I have done that as well. There is just one point in the depths of winter that my driveway isn't getting direct sun anymore, I think it struggles there. But November or something, no issue at all. (and I have a model with a freezer and a normal opening door).

However, to be honest, there is not much value in that measurement. If we were to live in our campervan during those months, you would regularly open and close it, and also heat the van. This means the fridge has to work harder.

But in practice it is no issue. I went on a trip in September to southern Europe, and the fridge was working only on the solar panel and battery, as I did not connect any charging from engine/starter battery to the second battery. I had no issues at all.
I am using a 175W panel though, because I thought the bigger 65 liter fridge model that we have might need it. In most cases it is overpowered. But it works nice when not standing in the sun completely.

In the past we had 100W panel and a fridge box model like you guys. You could stay somewhere for weeks on end and it would never deplete the battery.

 

[TXLX100]

Many benefits once you get over the price of the fridge and setting up the power properly. No need to buy ice, no need to lose storage to ice, not lifting very heavy coolers, no frozen hand from digging in ice.... And you can use it when you aren't out camping / exploring. Wife uses ours for grocery, kids snacks for the day, etc. I've bought a couple of edgestars and they work great. I have one for sale now. I switched to a Dometic CFX 65 Dual zone for the more robust option of voltage cutoff (low/medium/high), a power off/on button (don't have to unplug it from truck ever), and it has a little freezer compartment if you want to take frozen stuff or ice for drinks.

 

[Semi Hex]

We went from a Canyon cooler that was priced around $300 to the Dometic, which was on a sale for under $400 (I think) plus all the added benefits of not dealing with ice.
In the back of our teardrop it has been doing really well, especially since we only have solar to power it.

 

[george_tlc]

Camping out bush for a few weeks makes you appreciate the pleasure of a cold drink. I can deal with canned/packet food and the occasional rabbit/goat etc - but a cold drink is plain wonderful. No ice out there or ice cold rivers, so a decent fridge is the only option to cooling beverages.

I've used a smaller Engel there since around 1980, then a few years ago bought a larger ARB which has been brilliant. Modern solar panels (cheap and smallish 100W+) have completely revolutionized the charging/running of a camp fridge for extended stops.

cheers,
george.

 

[HomerOz]

G'Day Fella's,

Welcome to the 20th Century Semi Hex.
Portable fridges, are the only way to roll.

Further to this, I use an 80 watt portable solar panel, to keep the accessory Battery charged when away camping.

Hope that helps

D'oh!
Homer