The Australian 4WD Action Magazine – Did a very good set of tests on the power consumption of 40 litre
portable fridges.
They didn’t compare apples with apples, with the comparison between the Engel 40 litre and the Waeco CF-40.
I have both fridges, brought for different reasons, and I can’t fault either as they each do an excellent job.
A more valid comparison, for power consumption purposes, would have been between the 40 litre Engel and the 50 litre Waeco.
The Engel has a full size evaporator and will hold a total of 60 cans of beer all contained within the evaporator zone.
The CF-40 will only hold a total of 46 cans and doesn’t have a full evaporator.
Therefore only 38 cans fit within the evaporator zone and the remaining 8 in the upper warmer zone and dairy section.
Solution - beer on the bottom and the wife’s drinks on top.
The Australian 4WD
test showed that the CF-40 used about three quarters of the power of the Engel, which is to be expected considering the size of their evaporator zones and useable capacities.
Others have commented that the Engel compressor runs twice as long as the CF-40; this is true but again it is to be expected as the Engel draws 2.5 to 3 amps whilst the CF-40 draws 5 to 6 amps. This also becomes a consideration when sizing your supply cable, because you will get twice the volt drop using the CF-40.
The reasons I brought each fridge (cost wasn’t a consideration), are as follows;
Engel 40 litre.
Robust steel construction (it gets knocked around), holds more beer, no dairy section (waste of valuable cold space) and not as prone to volt drop problems.
Waeco CF-40
Light and easy to carry, very quiet (we sleep alongside it in the caravan) and low power consumption (we run off
solar power).