Camp fridge - is it worthwhile?

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HomeEconHelp

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I am looking at buying a camping fridge/freezer but was wondering they were worthwhile. This is the one I am looking at buying:



I had a couple of questions:

1. How long would a freezer like this run off a car battery?
2. How does a fridge/freezer like this work - it looks like it only has on compartment which I assume is a freezer so i'm unsure where I would put milk for tea/coffee.
3. Could such a fridge run on a car battery and solar panel combined or is it likely that the solar panel would just delay the battery running out of power.
4. Does anyone know of a superior product (e.g. I want a fridge/freezer that could go an entire week off the grid)?
5. Are there any safety considerations I should be aware of?
 
The one I have is older, purchased 15yrs ago. It keeps contents about 20-25 degrees (f) below the ambient air temp. If it's a warm day, 90+ degrees, means the cooler contents are about 70 degrees. If it's 60 degrees... contents will stay at about 40degrees.

I bought it to take to a gold prospectors camp in early fall. Lot of hot days near 90. Wasn't happy with it, ended up buy a small refrigerator which met my needs. I was there over a month.

I kept the old cooler and used it last month at a 4day bluegrass event. I froze several small bottles of lemonade and put them in the bottom. They were still slushy the 4th day. It was april and nights were still cool here, warm days though, about 70degrees. The frozen bottles helped keep the cooler temp below 40degrees. So it was a success, worked well with a little help.

On this last experience, short term they work well. Glad I kept it all this time. It did exactly what I needed.

But for a longer stay, especially in warm weather I'd recommend a small refrigerator.

I'd check the details of the product you're interested in... see if there is a reference to 'ambient air temp'.

20230416_cooler12vdca.jpg
 
I'm confused, is the product I am looking at not a small fridge (and freezer)?

What I want is for something that can store frozen chicken and veges as well as milk for tea/coffee. Is there any product on the market that could do that for at least a week?
 
HomeEconHelp said:
I'm confused, is the product I am looking at not a small fridge (and freezer)?

What I want is for something that can store frozen chicken and veges as well as milk for tea/coffee. Is there any product on the market that could do that for at least a week?
Click to expand...

It's in the product details. I searched for your product but didn't find it, unavailable on the zon. So I can't say for sure exactly how it works.

Some products are like mine, not a true refrigerator. They don't cost that much. Just be aware they exist.
 
HomeEconHelp said:
I'm confused, is the product I am looking at not a small fridge (and freezer)?

What I want is for something that can store frozen chicken and veges as well as milk for tea/coffee. Is there any product on the market that could do that for at least a week?
Click to expand...
It can function as either a fridge or freezer, but not both at the same time.
A little more info:

As far as keeping it running for a week off of battery and solar, like @Peanut said, it greatly depends on your ambient temperature.
I'm sure it would be no problem in northern Alaska :rolleyes:.
 
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I live in New Zealand which is a temperate environment. Temperatures usually range between 15 degrees C (59 F) and 30 degrees C (82.4 F) throughout the year. Temperatures above 30 degrees C (82 F) are quite rare here.

Thanks for the clarification around it being a fridge or freezer.
 
In my 'trucking daze' I used a fairly large Igloo thermoelectric cooler, the kind you plug into the vehicle's electrical system using a lighter jack. Similar to the one used by Peanut, and roughly the same size. As long as I kept my A/C cranked, it worked well enough... I'd use it to store milk, soda, sandwich materials, etc. There is such a thing as a solar-powered cooler or field fridge, I've seen them but I've never tried one, as they are kinda pricey. A web search is probably your best bet... or if you're handy, look into making your own by powering a small fridge with solar panels. I reckon you'd need batteries, wiring, and an inverter if the fridge has a plug. Perhaps do some research on how those expensive solar-powered coolers work, and rig up something that way if possible. Just my $.02 on this subject... :cool:

P.S. Oh, yeah, whenever you use a thermoelectric cooler, you want to keep the lid or door on top, like a chest freezer, in order to keep cold air inside when you open the cooler. It's hard enough to keep those coolers chilly, no point in wasting cold air... same would apply to any field fridge I set up or used. 😒
 
The Kings range is about the bottom of the market.

The ARB and some others are about in the middle.

The Engel is the premium brand (and has been for decades).

If you just want a freezer, then run the unit set at below freezing.

If you just want a fridge, then run it set above freezing.

If you want both, run the fridge freezer set below freezing and use it to freeze those blue cooler blocks or just water jugs. Use those in a separate insulated cooler as your fridge. Keep rotating your freezer block supply through the freezer to refreeze them.

An Engel draws about 1-3 Amps at 12V DC.

So..... a car battery will run that for around 10-20 hours before it will need recharging. Most people will dedicate a good SLA AGM deep cycle battery (or even better a Li FePO4) battery to run their freezer. A Solar panel (of about 100-200W depending upon how much sun you get) and a good MPPT controller will allow you to keep the battery charged and run the freezer offgrid indefinitely.
 
I do not know about their availability, or your thoughts on using one, but…

I had an older slide in truck camper, 1960’s I believe. IT had a propane run, ammonia refrigerator/freezer combo unit. just like a small apartment sided refrigerator. At the lowest setting, which was just the pilot light, I had to open the door twice a day or everything in it would freeze.

As I remember from when I first tried to get it running, I was told they are bulletproof, as long as there are no holes. Once the ammonia leaks out, they are toast. To get it running I had to remove it from the camper and turn it upside down for 24 hours. Then, turn it back, rightside up for 24 hours. Then, upside down again for…You guess it, 24 hours. This was to redistribute the ammonia, as it had all settled from just being old and not used.

I used the camper once a year, for a week long trip. Never had a single issue with the fridge and always had to open the door twice a day, or everything would start to freeze. After 20+ years, the camper was no longer worth repairing. Old wood. I could not keep ahead of the dry rot on it. I gave the fridge to someone and never heard back, but saw no reason it would still not be running.

It was not all that heavy, just ‘bulky’ to move around. I think a cabinet could have been built to fit it in, if it had to be moved around regularly. One propane tank, like to run a gas grill, would last months and months for just the fridge. It ran on the pilot light.
 
Mountain trapper just beat me to it. I was going to suggest an RV refrigerator/freezer too. I have no idea how much one of these would cost. I just know that the one in my friends trailer that we take on a guys camping trip every year does a wonderful job. Hard to call what we do a "camping trip" when we have this giant trailer - refrigerator/freezer, running water, showers, toilet, king sized beds, A/C and heat, couches, large screen TV, four burner stove and oven, BBQ grill, kayaks, canoes, bicycles, etc. But whatever. The trailer's fridge is just like a home refrigerator/freezer in performance. Only smaller. And it runs off of electricity or propane. My friend always turns it to propane when we arrive at our destination (which usually does not have 120v plug-in connections) so I assume that must be more efficient or last longer than battery, or maybe there is some other reason for him to always switch to propane that I do not know about.
 
Mountain trapper said:
The first cabin I built in the mountains I put in a small RV fridge. It ran off 12v, 110v or propane. I had it plumbed to propane. It worked great. The small freezer would even keep ice-cream frozen. Sure beat living out of an ice box.
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I always thought it was pretty cool (pun) how you could burn propane and keep a freezer working without electricity. It fascinated me so I studied it in depth.
Ammonia.
I discovered later back in the old-days, when I had my breath taken away :oops:, that all of the warehouse freezers used ammonia and they had no problem venting lots of it when they were working on the systemgaah. Why not, it was dirt cheap:thumbs:.
 
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Propane fridges burned down a lot of RVs and blew up a lot of boats back in the day.

A common cause of fire was rodents being attracted to the warm parts of the fridge and then building a nest there in.........the pilot light would ignite the combustible nest material and then the sequence of events after that was predictable.

The OPs product weighs about 50 lbs, is easily portable, just plugs into an accessory socket on a vehicle (or a battery pack), doesn't need to be vented, can operate while the vehicle drives, will operate on an incline, doesn't use a fuel that needs to be supplied by others and is safe.

Three way fridges (mains, 12V DC and propane) are a technology on the way out. Most RV manufacturers are putting mains and 12V DC compressor fridges in their products now.
 
I looked up the line of camping fridge/freezers that was being discussed at.
https://outdoorexplorer.com.au/kings-fridge-freezer-review/
The current draw is between 35 watts and 85 watts, with all but the smallest units using 85 watts. A watt is a Volt*Amp, so for a 12 volt car battery it will draw about 7 amps, lets assume 8 amps as a safety factor.... most batteries have an Amp-hour (Ah) rating so look at your car battery and get that number and divide it by 8, that gives you a maximum, but lead acid batteries hate being completely drawn down so assume only 75% of that number.

For example, you are powering your fridge using a deep cycle 12V 100 Ah battery, you can expect the fridge to run about 100/8 * .75 = 9.375 hours.

Important Note: If you are using your CAR Battery to power your fridge/freezer for even a few hours, there is a STRONG possibility that there will not be enough energy left in the battery to start your car when it is time to go home. So I would advise using a separate battery to power the fridge....
 
It seems like it might be easier to either choose food that doesn't require refrigeration, or buy a standard ice cooler.

On our yearly guys "camping trip" (the one in that nice trailer) we also take ice chests. Those will last three or so days on a load of ice. Block ice lasts longer. One of our guys has a Yeti cooler. Cost several hundred dollars. On our trips, the Yeti does not last much (if any!) longer than one of the better Igloos. And the Igloo is much cheaper. Sorry Yeti - in our experience you are more hype than performance. You're good, but not really any better than the others. And your cost is outrageous.
 
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To be honest, I looked at the performance without looking at the prices. Once I saw the prices I had to really step back. At over $500, I would have to think about my options. I mean seriously, how would buying a small dorm room fridge/freezer with an inverter, and a battery cost comparatively speaking?
 
Even small fridges have gone up in price, due to Biden Economics... I'd look at those Aussie fridges, the Australians are usually pretty good about making gear that stands up in the field. I think the Aussies have a low tolerance for BS, lol. :oops:
 
UrbanHunter said:
To be honest, I looked at the performance without looking at the prices. Once I saw the prices I had to really step back. At over $500, I would have to think about my options. I mean seriously, how would buying a small dorm room fridge/freezer with an inverter, and a battery cost comparatively speaking?
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Quality costs and food storage isn't the best place to pinch pennies.
 
Haertig said:
It seems like it might be easier to either choose food that doesn't require refrigeration, or buy a standard ice cooler.

On our yearly guys "camping trip" (the one in that nice trailer) we also take ice chests. Those will last three or so days on a load of ice. Block ice lasts longer. One of our guys has a Yeti cooler. Cost several hundred dollars. On our trips, the Yeti does not last much (if any!) longer than one of the better Igloos. And the Igloo is much cheaper. Sorry Yeti - in our experience you are more hype than performance. You're good, but not really any better than the others. And your cost is outrageous.
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I bought one of the coolers ar Cabell similar to a Yeti. Its 20 liter size, sidewall thickness, top, and bottom are over an inch. It holds cubed ice from a store for about 3 days if kept in the shade in 75 to 85 degree temps. I'm sure a block would go a day or two past that.
RTIC makes very good coolers as well.
IMO Yeti is just selling a name.
 
HomeEconHelp said:
I am looking at buying a camping fridge/freezer but was wondering they were worthwhile. This is the one I am looking at buying:



I had a couple of questions:

1. How long would a freezer like this run off a car battery?
2. How does a fridge/freezer like this work - it looks like it only has on compartment which I assume is a freezer so i'm unsure where I would put milk for tea/coffee.
3. Could such a fridge run on a car battery and solar panel combined or is it likely that the solar panel would just delay the battery running out of power.
4. Does anyone know of a superior product (e.g. I want a fridge/freezer that could go an entire week off the grid)?
5. Are there any safety considerations I should be aware of?
Click to expand...

What is your intended purpose? (Whatta ya wanna use it for?)
I don't mean this as offensive so please hear me out. I found this almost funny. One of my eventual goals is life without a fridge. I will use a freezer for meat as long as it's reasonable, but if I had to go another route, so be it. Back in the day when I was single, my fridge was almost empty - cheese and maybe salad. Since I had it occasionally a jar of peaches in the summer or iced tea - both of those were purely luxury, not necessary. Anyhoo, this is why I ask as far as having one for camping. A good ice chest keeps things cool about a week if properly packed which is about as long as most real food lasts.
Curious.
 
Bacpacker said:
I bought one of the coolers ar Cabell similar to a Yeti. Its 20 liter size, sidewall thickness, top, and bottom are over an inch. It holds cubed ice from a store for about 3 days if kept in the shade in 75 to 85 degree temps. I'm sure a block would go a day or two past that.
RTIC makes very good coolers as well.
IMO Yeti is just selling a name.
Click to expand...
We have RTICs. They are heavy but work well.
 
Supervisor42 said:
They always have, and they still get big bux for them.
Those are for the 'upper-class' that care more about the name on it impressing their friends, than how good it works.
If you are ok paying $40+ for a holder for your beer can, they are the place for you :):thumbs: ...
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1415387848/yeti-12oz-can-colster-custom-laser
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They also do it to lure large organizations giving them "significant" discounts 😂 You know to make them feel special. . . so they sell them at a normal price. Shouldn't ever pay more than half price for yeti - too many ways to get them for less.
 
Fwiw, we have been testing this puppy on / off for road trips since last June in our Diesel Sprinter... BougeRV 12 Volt Refrigerator Portable Car Freezer 53 Quart Fridge 12V/24V DC 110~240 Volt AC 🤔 The 'plan' is it Will be our post-SHTF Fridge, but in 'test-driving it, Now' - So far, So good.. 👍

71Sq1pbC0pL._AC_SX679_.jpg


..Solid-little compressor, and I like the 'multi-tap power options' (12/24V DC or AC, when avail..) and we also got the 'jacket' / anti-condensation cover.. :cool:

Fwiw...
jd
 
Aerindel said:
.. I've figured out shelf stable versions of all my camping food and love not having to deal with ice, etc. anymore.
Click to expand...

Yeah, we mostly just figure that puppy for 'low-level refrigeration-needs' (small, 'transient' loads, like reconned almond-milk (from powder, etc) other small-batch refrig-needs, ie: Open-can of Bega or something that would benefit from being fridged until gone, etc .. Maybe the occasional 'Morale-booster DIY Ice Cream nite' ;) or other-such.. Don't plan on it being a "Have it or Die" item, but for Now, it's helpful / works-well, when desired / needed..

One of those 'better to Have, not need / want', than visa-versa items.. :cool:

jd
 
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