Which Fridge?

Barry

Barry

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Melbourne, Vic.
Interested in experience with fridges.

Am looking at '40' litre approx.

What do you use / how good do you find it / what would you get if starting over?

Brands I'm considering are Waeco, Engel, EvaKool and Autofridge :lol:.

Have a 150 Amp Hour Battery and a solar panel, so am looking for something that will let me stay parked under a tree for 5+ days, without access to 240 volts. (Not much else to power).
 
I did a fair bit of looking around and in the end it seems pretty much all the main stream brands are as good as each other. I ended up buying a Waeco 50l dual zone and am happy with it so far.

Unless you want to spend the extra and buy National Luma or similar you can't really go wrong.

My best advice is to buy at Anaconda when they have one of their 20% off sales. They're probably due for one shortly.

I haven't used mine much yet but going by what I've seen so far with the 50l running as fridge only at about 1degC or so on a 30degC day with inuslating cover I should be able to run for 2 days from my 60a/h battery so a 40l from 150a/h you should be able to reach the 5 days you want even without the solar though it won't hurt to have the extra up your sleeve.
 
What about a 3 way?
Our Waeco is very economical on gas. Cooooold to!
Some, like ours, won't run cold on 12volt, it's more like a cooler.
It only has adjustable temp control on gas or 240volt.

IanC
 
Useage patterns of sealed batteries

apsilon said:
I did a fair bit of looking around and in the end it seems pretty much all the main stream brands are as good as each other. I ended up buying a Waeco 50l dual zone and am happy with it so far.

Unless you want to spend the extra and buy National Luma or similar you can't really go wrong.

My best advice is to buy at Anaconda when they have one of their 20% off sales. They're probably due for one shortly.

I haven't used mine much yet but going by what I've seen so far with the 50l running as fridge only at about 1degC or so on a 30degC day with inuslating cover I should be able to run for 2 days from my 60a/h battery so a 40l from 150a/h you should be able to reach the 5 days you want even without the solar though it won't hurt to have the extra up your sleeve.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip about Anaconda.

The key to using battery systems is NOT draining them below half way. Therefore, I'll be using the solar panel continuously to keep the battery topped-up. That way it will last very much longer than it would if I was to drain it down and then re-charge it.
 
just a warning about 3-way fridges, i'm sure they work very well on gas, but on 12V compare the efficiency to a dedicated 12v fridge, usually not very good.

I found using an Engel + 50AH + 60W Solar panel + impedance matching solar "regulator" - pretty much run indefinitely with very sunny days (in NT),
with a few hours overnite as well. but never using the freeze setting.

The main key to this running well is the impedance matching regulator - allows power to still be delivered even if the solar panel is only collecting 10W.
A normal solar regular will pretty much drop out with a 60W panel at about 40W or maybe less. This is a little dependent on the exact type of solar panel and its I-V performance though.

150AH - gosh thats a heavy battery to locate in a subie. I currently just got a new 75AH, very manageable 24kg to place in car when needed.

I think all the top brands worth considering use the same Danfoss compressor, but I guess fridge insulation and materials will vary.

My Engel is years old, stood test of time, and still runs as good as when it was new. Insulation is good too I think. Have the bag cover too, without it running overnite it will stay cool, maybe lose 1deg at most - provided it isn't opened.
 
Barry,

something else to consider aside from cost, power ratings, efficiencies, and brand loyalty, is outside physical dimentions. Make sure it will fit in your car, where you want it.

I have a 40 lt Engel, and have no problems with it fitting in the L-Series lenghtways. A mate had a Landrover Discovery (1st body style), and the fridge would only fit crossways. The L-Series suby has a longer boot floor than the Disco. I am sure the a Forester may have a similar problem.

If you are not biased to one brand, it may pay to borrow, or 'trial fit' a fridge in your car before making a purchase.

Beigewagon.
 
fredsub said:
just a warning about 3-way fridges, i'm sure they work very well on gas, but on 12V compare the efficiency to a dedicated 12v fridge, usually not very good.
Click to expand...

True enough. But it's horses for courses.
We pre-cool out 3way on 240volt overnight before we go, fill it then put it in the car on 12volt for a couple of hours while we drive and setup camp, then we take it out and run it on gas for the days or weeks that we are camping. No drain on the battery on the camper trailer which we use for lighting. No solar panels, no other electrical gizmos at all. Except an inverter to run my laptop on occasion.
If we were travelling a lot without the camper, then your setup would be the bees knees.
It all comes down to the type of camping you're doing.

IanC
And our 55l waeco fits in the back of the Forrie ok.
 
Danfoss is the key - make sure anything you purchase uses danfoss.
I'm happy with both my Evakool ice box and fridge/freezer and they're Aussie made. The ice box is a 60L and the same box, with a thicker lid, is used to make the 49L fridge (where the compressor is internal - I think they offer just externally attached now).

As a fridge I use it on minimum setting (1 of 10), it runs as a freezer at around 7 of 10. The only thing I would change, especially if carried in the rear of a Subie, is to have the lids hinged from the narrow end like most - they can be ordered this way. I have fridge slides now so it doesn't matter so much.
 
ian059 said:
True enough. But it's horses for courses.
We pre-cool out 3way on 240volt overnight before we go, fill it then put it in the car on 12volt for a couple of hours while we drive and setup camp, then we take it out and run it on gas for the days or weeks that we are camping. No drain on the battery on the camper trailer which we use for lighting. No solar panels, no other electrical gizmos at all. Except an inverter to run my laptop on occasion.
If we were travelling a lot without the camper, then your setup would be the bees knees.
It all comes down to the type of camping you're doing.

IanC
And our 55l waeco fits in the back of the Forrie ok.
Click to expand...

I take it that it can't freeze either?

I understand the attraction to you but for me a 3-way doesn't suit my style of travelling - where I might stop for a few hours somewhere in the middle of the day and go exploring on foot then moving on and setting up camp. The 3-way would run the battery flat as you don't have an axillary battery, and even if you did have one, the 3-way won't cool beyond say 30 degrees below ambient, in which case my milk would be starting to approach 30 degrees (I've measured the interior of my car at more than 60c on many occasion).
 
Fredsub,
The 150AH is in the camper trailer, not the car.
Beigewagon, I know what you mean about making sure it fits. Thankfully I have an OB, which can cope with a bit over 700mm in length, allowing for the luggage barrier.
Ian and Hoadie are right about horses for courses.
At this stage I am leaning toward the Bushman - although I think it has gone away from Danfos recently.
 
^ Interesting read. Whatever you get just make sure you have enough clearance to open the lid!
 
Agreed! I bought my Waeco because dimension-wise it would fit into my boot but didn't take into account the way it hinged and that it wouldn't clear the rear parcel shelf :(
 
The Bushman is looking good at $1195 including collar, hi-lid and bag.
While it is made in China it has a good European compressor (ACC GLT80FDC) the designers & distributors are refrigeration experts & based in Melbourne (Eltham) which means easy to follow-up if any problems.
Also, at 380mm high in 35lt configuration, it will even fit in my camper trailer.:)
 
As of Wed pm a 2nd-hand Autofridge I thought I'd missed out on is again available at $850:):). The Autofridge was my first pref for its eutetic operation capability, for when camping.
Regarding the ARB, I understand it is a re-badged older model Engel.
apsilon said:
The previous model was but the current one is apparently an ARB design and made for them so it's not rebadged.
Click to expand...
OOPS, hadn't realised that ARB now had their own fridge! :redface:
One thing that attracted me to the Bushman was that for $1195 th package includes the 'bits' to increase capacity from 35l up to 52l, so it is at least as roomy as the ARB and has a very well thought out basket system.
New-for-new I think the Bushman is the best value for money out there.
However, at $850 the Autofridge will give me maximum free-camping capacity, my original objective, especially until I have more experience with and confidence in my solar electrical & storage battery system.
May ultimately end up with a Bushman as well in the long term! :ebiggrin::biggrin:
 
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apsilon said:
The previous model was but the current one is apparently an ARB design and made for them so it's not rebadged.
Click to expand...
Having had a look at the link in Hoadie's post at #15, it is evident that the ARB is a well designed fridge in its own right.
It seems to me that it is the constant competition of additional brands that has seen the price of fridges in the middle of the market more or less plateau for at least the last decade. :):)
This is in marked contrast to the lack of competition and what appears to be 'price emulation' in the retail fuel market. :(:mad::madred::yell: :furious:
Anyway, Happy New Year all, even if fuel prices reduce how far we can afford to travel, the main thing is that we can afford a fridge and a few beers to keep cool in it when we get there! :ebiggrin::bananatoast:
 
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