Fridge sizes/brands

[DomHogan]

In the market for a fridge to go camping with now.

Just wondering on peoples thoughts on how big it should be and the brands i should stick to.

I have heard good things about waeco and engel.

Would a 30L fridge be enough for a good weekends camping or can i go smaller or even a lot bigger?

any info would be great!

 

[Old.Tony]

Don't discount the ARB fridge range. If I had to replace my 60L Engel I'd be seriously looking at the ARB fridges. That said, I am extremely happy with the Engel. We've had it for about 11 years now, and it's never missed a beat, performed brilliantly in temps up to 47C ambient (and around 60C inside the tub). Rated at a 4A draw, it generally pulls about 1.5A so it's fantastically economical on the batteries too.

We have a Waeco 140L fridge in the caravan and it's a lot hungrier. Middle of the night it will still draw 5.5A when cycling, and can draw up to 7.5A. It's not a chest fridge like the Engel though - that will make a difference.

As for size, it depends on how much cool stuff you like to have with you. If you are taking other people you need more room. We started with a 32L Tropicool - it's a peltier device and is complete junk, btw - but we found the 60L so much better. We don't always use all of its capacity, but sometimes we do want to take a little extra, or store the bread in there where it lasts a lot longer when we're on the highway.

The bonus with a chest fridge in the tub is that you can use it to store cold stuff when you're out shopping and get it home in better condition on a hot day.

If I had to make the call again - I'd get the 60L again. Not sure I'd go up to an 80L.

 

[joe2006]

Like Tony said.

Another thing to consider is the bigger they are the heavier they are, particularly when full. So if you will be taking it out of the tub frequently it is something to remember.

I have a 40lt Engel & I am happy with that although I don't go camping (without a caravan in tow) so can't say what size would be suitable. It now lives permanently in the back of the ute but even at that size I found it a pain in the back (literally) to lift in & out.

 

[Eug]

any thoughts on the ironman ice cubes?

 

[Joshp82]

Double post

 

[Joshp82]

I have a 50L iron man fridge freezer I'm looking to offload. Pm me if your interested.
Has a transit cover too. I have only plugged. It into 240v for about 2 hours. Is brand new.

Sent from Josh's iPhone using Forum Runner

 

[Widge87]

Tony is right have a good look at the ARB range, they have some great features. I have the ARB 47lt model and it is fantastic, heaps of room, easy to use and a breeze clean. I would go at least a 40lt size, make sure you can stand up milk and coke bottles. just my thoughts. Glenn

 

[Jason]

50 or 60L minimum for camping I reckon. And running one in conjunction with an esky works well.

 

[navarian]

I have heard good things about engel.

Would a 30L fridge be enough for a good weekends camping or can i go smaller or even a lot bigger?

Engel are fantastic.30L is a bit small i rekon.
When i was looking at fridges,i thought to myself,this is going to be a one of purchase,if i end up getting a fridge not big enough i'm going to be very pissed off.
I bought a 60L,engel of course,i can get a weeks food in there and a dozen cans as well.As the cans come out,they get replaced from the stock pile.
My advice is buy bigger than you think you will need.
You don't want to regret this purchase.

 

[Al]

I've got an 80lt waeco, its big maybe too big for most things i do (ie mainly long weekends) I reckon the sweet spot is about 50lt. The 80lt takes up a load of the space in the tray! just work out how long your trips are going to be for.

 

[DomHogan]

Thanks a lot for all the info and adive everyone! greatly appreciated.

I think I may look at the 50L models. Waeco, Engel and ARB would probably all be off similar build quality. will look at the prices and compare soon then go from there.

Thanks again guys.

 

[Peter ST_R]

I have the waeco 80L. It is perfect for a few nights or longer camping but bigger then required for short trips. The waeco 80 & 110 have the larger CF50 compresor while the smaller waeco's use the smaller CF30 compressor which draws less power. Most people I know are happy with about 50-60L. The waeco's with fridge/freezer are handy especially for frozen veg's and pre coocked meals from home as well as freezing fish fillets. One thing I have found is that it is better to have your beers in an ice esky if you like to have a few as opening the door lots and cooling warm cans chews heaps of power. 12v fridges are great though, no more soggy food in the ice slurry ect.

cheers

 

[chilly]

i've got an 80 lt waeco, it's good if you do alot of fishing or hunting, it gives you some where to put your fish or game if you are away for a few days.

 

[joffo81]

Depends on the power source you intend to use. We use a Chescold fridge/freezer (not sure of size) and are very happy with it for our purpose. They are handy because they are 3-way. They have a 240 Volt cord on the back, a 12volt cord and run on gas. It is power hungry on 12 volt but I only use it this way in transit in the back of the ute. It is very efficient on gas - a four kg gas bottle lasts 10days.

 

[Old.Tony]

3-way fridges are a different kettle of fish altogether. On 12V they are unregulated, and the 12V heater is designed to just operate the fridge enough to maintain cool, not to lower the temperature inside. It should draw somewhere between 10 and 15A - about 120 to 170W.

That does present a problem when travelling and the day gets warmer.

I think a better option is to run an inverter and just run the fridge from that (don't run any other appliances from the inverter). 3-way fridges should draw no more than about 250-300W so a 400W inverter is more than enough. This will have the advantage of having the fridge regulate the temperature inside.

 

[d22dave]

We have a 40 Lt engel plus we take a 50 Lt esky and use it for drinks and keep the engel for the meat, milk and marg so nothing gets soggy as someone else pointed out

 

[4.0lt]

I have a 80lt waeco fulltime on slide in back of D40 which when is the beer fridge running on 240. For long trips put a 50lt Waeco also in back as freezer which then runs off the camper battery. Both run fine off the second battery when travelling.

 

[joffo81]

3-way fridges are a different kettle of fish altogether. On 12V they are unregulated, and the 12V heater is designed to just operate the fridge enough to maintain cool, not to lower the temperature inside. It should draw somewhere between 10 and 15A - about 120 to 170W.

That does present a problem when travelling and the day gets warmer.

I think a better option is to run an inverter and just run the fridge from that (don't run any other appliances from the inverter). 3-way fridges should draw no more than about 250-300W so a 400W inverter is more than enough. This will have the advantage of having the fridge regulate the temperature inside.

Thanks for the tips and advice Tony.

 

[shaggy]

Hi Fella's

I have an ARB 47ltr fridge.All good.It runs well on 12v or 240v

Shane

 

[terryc]

As said, your size depends on your style of trips/camping/etc and your "food".

For a weekend, I'm still no convinced that a fridge is a good investment. IME. a good icebox and frozen blocks of water from home can hold stuff from 4-7 days.

Hint, if you can prefreeze/cool it at home, then do it(contents and fridge/freezer

On top of that, there is the cost of providing for the power requirements; batteries,solar panels, generators or powered campsites.

If you want a freezer, then you must have a model with a compressor.

Anything else is just a cooler of varying cooling capacity. From 28-35 degree difference, which means on 40 degree days, your stuff is now going off. This is the major problem with the LPG capable ones, plus they must be kept level.

There is also Evakool that I've heard good opinions on.
Home - Evakool

I'm still looking for ours. I have found that there is a lot of figures to compare and everytime we discuss this stuff, someone drops another bit of information.