Is there a buyers guide or FAQ for refrigerators?

[Honu]

Thanks for the link, that's the sort of thing I was looking for, except that I didn't see the cost mentioned - that's a factor that has to be considered.

I think I'll probably get the Dometic I linked above. It's smaller than most of the refrigerators the folks here use but my thought is that I would not replace my cooler, I would use it in conjunction with a cooler.

So my setup will be like this: Meat, Cheese, milk, butter, eggs, - things that will spoil if they get warm (and also things that will be ruined if they get soaked with water) will go in the fridge. If I make a sandwich or a burrito or something I want to save for later, that also goes in the fridge. If there's room for a water bottle or a beer or two, great. If not, no big deal. Beer, soda, water and anything else that won't spoil and won't be ruined by melting ice will go in the cooler with an ice block and some cube ice (I learned the value of block ice in Moab back in April. Lasts a LOOOONG time, even in hot weather.)

one thing you could do for your cooler is get some 2 liter bottles freeze them with water then as it melts you have cold water and no water sloshing around in your cooler ! and solid ice always seems to last longer

[Martinjmpr]

one thing you could do for your cooler is get some 2 liter bottles freeze them with water then as it melts you have cold water and no water sloshing around in your cooler ! and solid ice always seems to last longer

Yup, I already do that although I use smaller bottles as they're easier to move around the cooler.

We have a chest freezer at home so freezing bottles before a trip is pretty easy. I was dumb not to do it before Moab, don't know why I didn't do it but it resulted in me running out of ice on day 2 of White Rim and having to ask Michael to share some space in his Edgestar.

[Honu]

yeah I finally broke down bought a chest freezer a few years ago and kicking myself for not doing it sooner !!!!!

keep us posted on your fridge when ya get it I can say once you have them its hard to go back !! we still use a cooler for the kids drinks etc.. we freeze those juice boxes and other things so no water sloshing plus with the kids and such dont want them opening our fridge every 3 minutes hahaahahha

[spikemd]

Having a freezer/fridge, I feel is the single best upgrade for vehicle based camping/overlanding. No more soggy food! and you know your dairy/meat aren't spoiled. I have a 50qt ARB and although you might think it is big, I don't find it too big at all. In fact, it seems to fill up pretty quick especially if you are out on the trail for a week.

Would love to see pics of your new fridge.

[teotwaki]

Martin, in your earlier question about sizing.... a buyer should take the ice chest internal volume and then deduct the volume of all of the ice to arrive at a fridge internal capacity. For me I found that the external volume of my fridge was close to that of my ice chest but the advantages of the fridge were well worth it.

[HillbillyfromAL]

Yeah the 50qt ARB is just about the perfect size. I never thought I'd use one that much, I carried a cooler once every blue moon. Now it sits in the truck half filled with ICE cold drinks all the time. It's much nicer than having to mess with ice and cool drinks. I even keep a pack of hot dogs and string cheese for the little guys. They don't like sandwiches very much right now. It also means if we need something from the grocery store we can throw it in there and it doesn't mean we have to head straight home. Good luck with the one you bought. I didn't pay 1/2 of the price for my ARB so I definitely understand not wanting to drop 700$ on something your not sure is going to work out right for you. If/when your ready for a bigger one keep an eye on CL. I got mine dirt cheap from a friend at Carson because he was told they were broke, and had 7 of them. The fuse just needed replaced.

[4x4junkie]

I can carry the same amount of food in my 43 qt fridge as I did in a big 100 qt Coleman cooler. Not having all that ice in there means it's entire capacity is available for your food items (plus the fact you also don't need to carry your entire stash of beverages in it from the beginning). Between the weight of the fridge itself or the weight of the ice, it's almost a wash there too.

FWIW, between myself & friends, we've bought four Edgestar units (three in 2010, one in 2011) and so far each one of them has functioned flawlessly. To me the Edgestar's issues seem to be primarily centered around it's DC power cord (losing connection, plug breaking, etc.), it's carrying handles, and occasionally the hinges. Unless attaching some metal replacements from Lowe's or Home Depot & redoing the cigarette-lighter plug / changing of it's DC socket for something better is not something you're up for (things each one of us has had to do to some degree or another), I wouldn't necessarily discount the Edgestar. Aside from the items above, it seems to be a pretty sturdy unit.

[Xterabl]

Well, Truckfridge.com claims to use Danfoss compressors, which is the thing to look for. The Edgestar has a Chinese made knock-off (along with other Chinese made electronics & probably assembly too). Roughly speaking, a Danfoss compressor will generally give you 2-3 days of operation and still allow starting the rig whereas Edgestar is limited to 1-1.5 days before battery drains too low.

Here is a link to one of their portable units:
http://www.truckfridge.com/tf51.html

So, if truly they use Danfoss compressor, this is probably best price for large Danfoss compressor fridge.

[MarcFJ60]

Those boxes from Truckfridge appear to be the same as the IndelB boxes sold by Equipt (for quite a bit more money). Also reviewed here: http://www.expeditionportal.com/foru...and-Comparison

[CodyY]

Two of my buddies are truckers and have said nothing but good things about em. I've seen them mentioned on SMB