Fridge/Freezer - Convince Me

[Chilow]

Currently have an RTIC 45 qt. cooler. My usual camping trips are only 2-3 days so its been working fine so far in terms of cooling and capacity. However, now that I'm venturing out a little more frequently, it's starting to get annoying going out to purchase a sacrificial bag of ice to pre-chill the cooler, dump it out, go back to store and get more ice. Eventually, I'll be going out for longer than 2-3 days and the capacity of my current cooler wont cut it anymore. Rather than purchasing a bigger cooler, I'm considering a fridge/freezer, but not sure if it's worth the high upfront cost.

While nice to have a fridge/freezer combo with dual zone temperature settings, how likely are you guys needing a side dedicated to keep items frozen versus chilled? Ice cream while grocery hauling sounds nice, but how often does this happen?

 

[Mudhorn]

I have had good luck with fridge only on long trips. Just keep it around 30.
Then throw in some freeze packs and put stuff I need frozen around them (not very often I need frozen items camping). Plus my Dometic has a small space tucked under the motor that seems to stay colder.
But those times when you need it then it’s nice to have it events might pop up. Buy once cry once gets me every time.

 

[Harlock]

Well, it's largely going to come down to how long you plan to stay out in the wildneress and how much you're willing to spend. Coolers are cheap and if you're not doing more than 4-5 days max, you should be fine with a good one. You can also extend the cooling capability with dry ice. Refrigerators while obviously better, are really only essential if you're spending extended time away from civilization (overlanding, zombie apocalypse) or have a unique need (such as medicine that must be maintained at a certain temperature).

If you're wanting something larger than your current cooler, you need to be prepared to spend over $1,000 for a refrigerator, plus you'll need to invest in additional power (second battery/solar panels/etc.) for you vehicle unless you're going to be moving every two or three days to keep your battery sufficiently charged to crank.

Under no circumstances do you want to purchase a cheap iceless/portable cooler powered by Peltier heat exchanger (such as Coleman, Igloo) instead of the much more expensive compressor ones (such as Dometic or ARB). While great for drinks, iceless coolers often cannot keep food at safely low temperatures (they'll usually be around 35 degrees F below ambient temps). In addition, unlike true refrigerators, they run continuously and have a high power draw (4-5 amps) that can drain your battery in a matter of hours.

 

[Dinosaur Overland]

We are looking at getting a fridge ourselves. We us a cooler now but I am tired of ice and soggy food. Looking at SnoMaster or Dometic dual zone if anyone knows someone that can cut us a deal.

 

[Glenn Goodlett]

My ARB fridge has been on for pretty much the past 5 years. If it dies I'll get another one.

 

[4runnin4mylife]

We are looking at getting a fridge ourselves. We us a cooler now but I am tired of ice and soggy food. Looking at SnoMaster or Dometic dual zone if anyone knows someone that can cut us a deal.

I am in the same boat as you. Probably gonna go with Dometic... just need to decide on CFX3-45 or CFX3-55!

Let me know what you decide to go with!

 

[REVBILLYG]

I love my fridge. Don't have a freezer side and don't really care to much about the ice cream. I use it all the time. If I am going to go grocery shopping i just plug it in when I get to the store. Best part is I don't feel rushed to get home immediately if I need another stop. Frozen foods other than Ice cream are fine. If i'm going out around town with the kids and might go to the park I plug it in and throw in some waters. I couldn't imagine going back to ice.

I just using the smittybuilt fridge and have been very happy with it. I will say though, I ran a 8 gauge wire to the back and put in a separate fuse panel for it as using the stock wiring was a risk. I also added a X2 agm 27f 92AH battery from batteries plus.

FYI, I DO NOT HAVE A DUAL BATTERY SETUP. I do have a solar charge controller and a 60 watt panel to get a little extra charge back though that I take with me on extended trips. But usually I don't camp in one place more than a night so drive it the next day. Even if i did stay in one spot if I needed I would just start the truck and let it run for a hour if I had too. Never been a problem for me. I also have the insulated cover for the fridge and I throw a wool blanket over the top when parked to help keep it cool.

So the initial investment is high, it's worth every penny and nobody says, well that's a waste of money.

 

[Jetboy]

Over the long term - I'm really happy i upgraded to a fridge. I camp about 30 days a year. The fridge is among my absolute favorite things I own for camping. Basically - no ice needed. I can pack the night before - or even a week before - and not think twice about whether my stuff will still be cold. On about day 5 or 6 of a long trip I poured chunky milk into my coffee and that was my tipping point. The next year on the same trip I was freezing ice bottles for my buddies fridge by the end of the week.

The other big benefit is that you don't have a cooler full of water. So your crap isn't always wet. Your cheese isn't slimy. That sort of thing.

Not everyone needs a fridge. They're expensive. And for short trips I still use a cooler at times too. But over the past 5 years or so, the convenience of the fridge has been worth it enough that I'd buy another one if it failed. Mine is an off-brand Dometic rebrand I think. Costco sells one very similar now for around $400ish when it's on sale. And yeah - they are overpriced. They should be more like $250 considering you can buy a similar sized AC fridge for $100.

FWIW - one convenient thing I learned recently is that McDonalds sells ice bags at the drive up. So if you're on the road and just need ice, I just googled it and they sell an 8lb bag of ice for $1. That's hard to beat for convenience.

One consideration though is they're big. I would not want mine in my 4Runner all the time. I have a small camp trailer that it lives in 99% of the time and a big garage that I could also put it in when not in use. But if you're living situation means it's a PITA to move in and out of your house - like living on the 3rd floor of an apartment with no elevator - I might just stick with the cooler for now. I've been there. I would not want to haul it in and out of my apartment every time I go camping.

And along the same lines - I can't just drop the cooler at the camp site and go out for the day. I can't easily bring the cooler over to my sailboat - it's a smaller boat and has room, but no 12v system, so things like that aren't really an easy option. What I normally do there is just use a different small cooler on the boat. And if I were doing an overnight or more boat trip I'd probably be drinking warm beer.

 

[trillion$]

Another option are ice packs like cooler shock. Reusable, don't have soggy food, and last much longer than ice.

 

[DallasTRDPro]

I’m in the market for a fridge. I need one to keep my dogs raw food frozen or as close to it as possible. I keep finding Dometic 100’s on CL. I wish I could find a 45 at a nice deal since my dog and I sleep in the back.

 

[Vinman]

I picked up an Engel MT35 Fridge/Freezer in 2003 or 04. It has been running about 90% of the time since new and it hasn’t missed a beat. It spends it’s life in one of three places, my work truck, my Jeep or the home office as a spare fridge. Definitely one of the best camping/road-trip purchase I made. As far as cost, if it died today it would have cost me about $3.00 per month to own but I don’t expect to replace it any time soon.

One of the biggest benefits I see with a fridge is the ability to not require all the drinks to be in the cooler at the same time, I typically have a half dozen in the fridge then replace them one at a time as I remove a cold drink.

Not sure of the current offerings but at the time I purchased mine the Engels were the most energy efficient to use and had a healthy reputation with 30 plus year old units still operating.

 

[Unit 91]

Any opinion on the Costway brand? Been eyeing a 44qt.

Amazon.com: COSTWAY Car Refrigerator, 44 Quart Compressor Cooler and Freezer, -4degF to 50degF, Portable and Compact Vehicle Car Fridge, for Car, Home, Camping, Traveling: Automotive

 

[borfoo3]

The thing I love most about my ARB freezer is that it runs on either 12v or 110v/220v which means you can use it in and out of your truck

Whenever I'm heading out for a multi-day trip, I run it as a freezer overnight filled with those blue ice packs. In the morning I fill it up with goods and run it as a fridge for the rest of the trip.. saves your battery energy by starting out cold and keeps everything cool and dry throughout the trip. Yes its expensive, but well worth the $$ and built like a tank.

 

[Cymon]

Once you go fridge you will never go back. Absolutely love our ARB 47L (50q). It can store enough for a family of 4 for almost a week (if you pack smart and cool your beer a couple cans at a time). We just did a 7,200 mile trip and especially during these times was invaluable. If you set it up properly with a dedicated plug it is no harder to throw in the truck than a regular cooler, except the extra 30 seconds to plug it in. Ours is literally the same dimensions as our old 65 quart Coleman "extreme", and since you don't need ice it holds the same amount of food/beverages.

Although we have a trailer we actually keep all of the food/fridge in the tow vehicle for two reasons.

1. It keeps food away from where you sleep (good in bear country).

2. We use the trailer as a basecamp to sleep, so when exploring during the day it's nice to also have the food and beverages traveling with you.

If you go fridge, two recommendations...wire a dedicated plug (although we originally ran ours connected to goal zero generators, which we still bring as back-up power) and get a fridge slide. We started without a fridge slide...its worth the $ IMO.

 

[Gxblade1]

I got into the outdoors/overlanding about 5 years ago. In that time, I've spent THOUSANDS of dollars on all kinds of fancy gadgets, suspension, roof racks, winches, bumpers and armor.

Of everything I've purchased, the one thing I would absolutely 100% buy again is my Dometic CFX 55. It was the first thing I bought. We talk about how useful it is every time we use it.

 

[sn_85]

I got into the outdoors/overlanding about 5 years ago. In that time, I've spent THOUSANDS of dollars on all kinds of fancy gadgets, suspension, roof racks, winches, bumpers and armor.

Of everything I've purchased, the one thing I would absolutely 100% buy again is my Dometic CFX 55. It was the first thing I bought. We talk about how useful it is every time we use it.

Agreed. Of all the mods I've done the fridge is the most useful one. Don't know how I'd even go back to a regular cooler at this point!!!

 

[Jetboy]

One more thought - do not even consider the thermoelectric coolers. I tried one about 5 years ago. I can't even give it away - I mean that literally, I've tried to give it away a few times and no one will take it. I think I'm going to end up just throwing it away or taking to a donation center. It takes lots of energy and also doesn't work to keep it cool. Your cooler you have now is already vastly better than that coleman thermoelectric.

If i were looking today - I'd probably go with something like this:
https://www.costco.com/massimo-cx50-12v-portable-e-kooler.product.100566509.html

Costco means basically unlimited warranty on this sort of stuff. And the price is right. They have a few sizes and configurations of different brands. It's not as nice as a Dometic or ARB - but it's also not $800+

 

[Chilow]

Is there a way to keep certain items frozen without a dual zone, while using refrigerator temperature (i.e. 35 degrees) Maybe like storing a few ice cream bars in Tupperware with an ice pack? Open to hearing some real world experiences. Wouldn't mind saving a few bucks to stay with a single vs dual zone, not to mention saving some cargo space.

 

[Bumbo]

I love having a DC fridge... if its not in the 4Runner, it's at home being used to keep beverages cold in the garage or storing frozen meats.

At home I got it powered off a small DIY solar/battery system so its basically 100% off-grid.

In terms of camping/road trip use... I did a multi-week 3000 mile trip after I got it and the level of convenience of not having to get ice was huge.

Depending on where you go, ice can be a huge hassle, or even impossible to get.

I love not having water logged food too. Once you have one, going back to a ice chest feels a bit dated.

The only thing I wish I had that I don't is a dual zone unit, but it usually isn't that big of a problem since I don't really live out of it. If you learn your fridge well, you can make it work. The ARB 50 has a warmer shelf... keeps stuff from freezing.

 

[salsanacho]

Like most awesome things, it all depends on how often you'll use it and then you amortize the cost over those uses. I usually do a weekend trip every month... so my use case is short but often. For me, despite it being pretty neat, it's probably not worth getting a fridge since I can get by easily with regular ice for that length of trip.