Jeremy replied:

With a fridge unfortunatly if you want gas and get say a Chescold they run on gas put there power consumpsion on 12v is a shocker !!. With modern battery management systems and great sealed deep cycle batteries you can run a fridge heaps more than ever before !!, I fit and wire a great number of fridges in Vic for Op-Lock and for the money Waeco are great !!.... They are releasing there new 50lt Fridge/ Freezer that has 40lt fridge and 10 lt Freeze !!, plus heaps more bonus's ! The measurments of this fride is the same size as an 40lt Engle and use DAnfos Compressors with minimal current draw ! With a well set up system you will take out the need for gas !!! Email me back if you would like more info !

Grant replied:

Craig, we have just returned from a couple of weeks away, out in the bush. We hired a 40L Chescold and found it very good. It froze everything until we got used to the settings you needed. They are terribly inefficient on 12V but wired up as recommended, they work. As you are travelling for 18 months, I assume you will be stopping in some places for a while. This is where the 3-way fridges come into their own. I imagine having to run the vehicle every couple of days would be a pain in the a***, especially if you take it out of the wheels and put it in the camp. A 9kg gas bottle will last approx 3 weeks. I know that the Chescold puts out a lot of heat when in the wheels when on 12V, so you must pack around it carefully. Plenty of air circulation.This may apply to all car fridges anyway. Someone else could help you on that front. You can't hear them running, Chescolds that is. I have listened for some noise just to know, but, as yet??? The 50L is a fridge/freezer combo, seperate compartments, but you lose 4L having the divider in. It isn't much bigger in external dimensions to the 40L Chescold, but much more expensive. Roughly $890/40L, $1190/50L. We are falling in favour to the 40L 3-way Chescold over 12/240V Engels, Waecos etc because of the type of off-roading/camping we do. If you are almost constantly on the move go 12/240, otherwise seriously consider a 3-way. Enjoy. Grant "not all who wander are lost"

Nigel replied:

Heat exchanger fridges (the Gas/Electric ones or the electric only sub $400 ones) only cool sufficiently up to around 30 degrees, and even they they are still only getting down to 6-7 degrees. If you want something to keep the drinks cold in the middle of summer then a compressor fridge is the only option. Also the heat exchange fridges draw 5 amps or more continuously when on 12v compared to average of 1.6 - 2.0 amps for a Danfoss compressor frdige (with in the range of a decent solar panel).