15l fridge or Esky as 2nd 'fridge'

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Hi Richard,

I found my 45l Waeco insufficient so added a Waeco 10.5l as a freezer leaving the old 45l as a fridge only. This has worked well.
Bear in mind that if you use an Esky as a second storage by making ice for it in a freezer, that you will not save on electric power. The energy you save with an Esky is still consumed making the ice and in fact is less efficient than running a freezer plus fridge. And a lot more trouble plus reducing the capacity in the freezer.

Richard,
In addition to what Alan mentioned, if you begin with the fridge using it as a freezer and the items are frozen beforehand, the little unit only has to keep the degree of freeze set. stopping the heat from getting to the freezer, or any fridge in fact, will result in less run time. Additional thick insulation around the little unit ensuring airflow to vitals, will mean less battery usage/runtime. Most fridges are not well insulated at all although they claim leading edge.
My Engel is coated in foam board to insulate and reflect heat. Makes it better. the bags supplied are scuff bags and don't do much insulating. The small Waeco I use has foam panel between bag and fridge sides and travels with an old sleeping bag draped over it as well.
All done to minimize battery use and run time.

Making Ice for an Esky uses heaps of energy.

My 40L Engel died and after lots of testing I ended up getting myself a 60L Brass Monkey from Jaycar for $499. These Brass Monkey fridges are also being sold by a few other retailers like RTM, and Snowy's Outdoors.

I can buy 2 of these for what I would have paid for another 40L Engel and just can't see why the Engels and Waeco fridges are so expensive.

I also have a 32L Waeco and would not hesitate replacing it with another Brass Monkey if and when the Waeco dies.

Hello Richard, I tried the one fridge and an esky and it was such a pain. Always having to find ice, tip out water, any food was in the water as ice melted and you could only use half the space as the ice takes up so much room and just doesn't work.
After much debating and looking at options, ended up with an Engel combi and the Waeco (which I already had) The Combi I can have a freeze section and just keep cold drinking water in any extra space or food if I want. I was thinking of a small second fridge but decided on the 40 litre combi second fridge as I'd use all the space in it on the big trips (not much bigger than the esky) and just take out one of the fridges on the smaller trips, depending if I wanted a frozen stuff or not. If I didn't need frozen stuff I take the Waeco as it doesn't get that hum the engels do. Hope that helps.

we use our 47ltr fridge as a freezer only. We cryovac everything we need for the trip. Inside the cabin we have a 15 ltr approx fridge which has never been hooked up, but can be if needed. We take our evening meal out of the freezer along with a small freezer brick (we have 2 which we rotate daily). This is enough to keep a couple of drinks cold along with a couple of pieces of fruit for Judy. At the end of the day we still need to place our evening meal on the Gamma oven ( the ute bonnet) to finish defrosting

It's strange but I have an old Opposite Lock 40ltr fridge, an old 75 ltr yellow Evakool fridge and a 40 ltr Evakool draw fridge, excellent unit, but I am using 2 x 15 ltr Brass money fridges, one with the extended lid making it 20 ltrs.

I got to a stage where the 2 x 40 ltrs were too big and underutilised in my recent travels etc. So, I brought my first Brass Monkey from RTM with a cover must be 3 years ago on special for under $200, what a bargain, ideal for my normal travels, small enough to live in the back of the wagon and efficient enough to run in the back of wifies car if travelling down the coast visiting people, I even brought a raised lid to give an extra 5 ltrs capacity, mainly for tall bottles milk and wine.
The 15ltr is small enough to sit in the middle of the back seat and reachable when travelling.
So, a few months ago we planned to travel to Maytown for the weekend (I live in Cairns) and brought another 15ltr brass monkey.

We can use one as a freezer, one as a fridge or just turn one off if not needed. We rotate 4 to 6 pre trip chilled cans through the fridge or freezer as needed from a small esky, which is also used to defrost anything frozen.

I can vouch for the small Brass Money fridges

Richard

As per your post, looks like your are looking to use both as a fridge only..Good

Work on about 24 - 36 hrs of use. Very much dependent on ambient temp, use , your dual battery setup, battery size, etc.

Either as a freezer , less.

Do you need a freezer?

Look at your type of travel, are you able to replenish your ice on a regular basis?

If the sun is out, you won’t have a problem, remember you can always run your vehicle if you get low on power, even if your not on the go.

Have & use a volt meter to monitor your battery voltage.

Lots of things to consider.

Regards

TrevorDavid

Just a point to note, I have read several times that those small 10-15 litre style fridges consume nearly as much power as the larger ones so a larger second fridge might be a better option if you have the room.
I run two 40 litre fridges with my setup

I just recently returned an 8ltr Brass Monkey console fridge it worked when sitting still but faulted soon after driving which happened to be the day after I bought it. RTM tested it found no fault when sitting on the factory floor I tried it in the car again from mackay to biloela but no good took it back they kept it overnight and tested it while driving and said it was ok which I know it wasn't as I had tried it in 5 different outlets in my car and even used another power cord so I got my money back they didn't have a replacement one. Even when it was off which was 99.9% of the time travelling it was rattling around the compressor area. So can't recommend them for reliability.