Camping Fridges - Pros and Cons

[MarcFJ60]

I've had my camping fridge a little less than a year now. I'm still happy with the purchase, but I have learned some things through owning one that I didn't anticipate. I figured this might be a good thread for fridge owners to bring up things a prospective owner may want to consider. I'm not talking brands, but simply how it is different from a cooler, for better or worse.

There are couple things I didn't really anticipate that I dislike about fridges.

First - You're somewhat married to your power source. Most cases, this means keeping the fridge in the car. But when camping with smaller kids, it can be difficult for them to retrieve a drink and you need to keep the car unlocked. I have cargo drawers in the back of my LandCruiser, and it can be a pain to get stuff out of the fridge due to the height. I have started bringing a second battery so I can leave the fridge out as I would a cooler.

Second - You need adequate power. Your car's battery will run most fridges for a day, maybe two. But how far do you want to push it before you harm your battery or are left stranded? Or do you factor in the cost of a dual battery setup? Having a second battery, not even a dual battery system, has alleviated some of this anxiety, however.

Third - this one is really minor, but it does bug me a bit. I love grabbing a drink out of the ice cold slush in a cooler. I don't know why, but something is missing when I grab a drink out of the fridge. It's too sterile. I want the beer label to peel off from soaking in ice water for two days.

On the plus side, I no longer have to deal with the package of raw bacon floating in the cooler and tainting everything.

[TangoBlue]

I've had mine for 3 years. I think the travel fridge is revolutionary...

Pros - I keep mine in the truck Spring through Fall. I have a DBS but the power drain is minimal and can last for 4-5 days before the deep cycle is close to getting low and the fridge's protective circuitry automatically shuts off the fridge. If I'm at a location where I need a fridge for a room I can relocate it and plug it into the wall. No bags of ice to purchase, lug around, and drain after a day or 2. I'm not as enthusiastic about non-potable ice water and peeling labels from containers. My children are 26 and 23 so that's a moot point...

Cons -

Hope that helps.

[jdzl]

Two words. Solar panel. 85-100 watts and you're set.

I could leave our Westy parked for days with our ARB Fridge and never worried about the aux battery being dead (and it never was). Also had the stereo and the internal lights hooked up to the aux battery.

[Corey]

I have gotten up to close to five days on my fridge as a test without starting the rig up until it was time to.
A little sluggish, but it started.

And yes, solar is the way to go to keep your batteries charged up while in camp and using the fridge.

I have no cons about my old school ARB fridge, it has done all I have asked of it and more.

[Honu]

we usually have a cooler for the kids drinks that way the fridge is for our main stuff we dont want to get wet
we froze the kids drinks also so they tended to stay quite a while in a normal cooler and yes like you something about that wet chilly drink being more refreshing

can say though selling the trailer wont have the luxury of bringing a cooler a 60 liter fridge and a 45 liter freezer when we went on long trips our freezer kept making ice for our kid cooler hehehehe

but love the fridge would not want to get rid of it for anything as I hated wet food !!!!!

[toymaster]

The pro of an onboard fridge is not ever having to get ice no matter how far you go. (For me the nearest place to get ice is 35 miles away) I can see how on long overland journeys not having to stop for ice every 2 or 3 days is a good thing. The second is the option of keeping frozen goods. Some times a high-end cooler does the job, as in a Yeti, but at some point the ice melts. I like the idea of being able to head out of my place without an ice run and now I also have a back up fridge. Not to mention grocery runs in the heat of the summer. Its nice to not have to worry about the frozen foods on the way home.

I really can't think of a con. With 60mm of insulation my fridge should be able to keep foods just a cold unpluged as a normal ice chest. Perhaps we all need a 12v fridge AND a Yeti

[EdwardBernal]

Perhaps we all need a 12v fridge AND a Yeti

Thats usually my solution to these kinds of dilemmas: GET BOTH!

[BigSwede]

Hmmm, what does a good 12V fridge, slide, extra battery, dual battery management system, and a yeti cost? Isn't that a "downside"?

[cnynrat]

You can go forever without having to restock ice for your cooler. That's a pretty big advantage IMO. Yes, it may take a little attention to your battery, and having a secondary battery is ideal, but all that is well worthwhile.

While you may be "tied to your power source" with an electric fridge, you are similarly "tied to your source of ice" if you run a cooler. I'd rather be tied to my power source and have the freedom to stay away from civilization for as long as I can manage.

I do not like to deal with the mess that comes from having a cooler full of slushy water. I like not having to worry about double wrapping food that can't get wet.

As far as access to drinks goes, we carry a small soft cooler that we can load up with drinks. It offers a number of advantages: It gives us a little more space in the fridge, can be accessed while on the road, can be carried to wherever is most convenient in camp, and keeps the fridge marginally cooler since were not in there quite so often.

[jdzl]

It's all about the perceived value of having refrigeration with you. I personally was happy to give up soggy coolers...

Here's a rough idea of what a decent setup would cost:

ARB 47L/50Q Fridge - $785 from Amazon.com
Kirkland Deep Cycle Group 27DC battery (RC:160) - $80 from Costco
Yandina C160 Automatic Battery Combiner / Isolater (160a continuous, waterproof, lifetime warranty) - $140 from Yandina.com
85w RV Solar Kit w/ wiring, z-mounts and Morningstar controller - $256 from ul-solar.com
Blue Sea Systems Fuse Block - $40 from Amazon.com
Misc wiring - $50

Total cost: $1351

To me, that's pretty damn cheap when you figure a decent lift kit probably costs that much and doesn't necessarily get you the same benefit. With this setup you can basically not have to start the vehicle until you run out of beer to put in the fridge. Run your interior lights, run your radio, charge your laptop, whatever.

I personally used this setup everyday for about 4 months last summer, with 0 problems. Have sold the van since, but the system is still going strong.