12v upright fridge

Just be aware that they do use noticeably more power than the chest type.

I have a 70l Waeco upright fridge installed in my camper.
The only two issues I have experienced are:-
The freezer is really small. Not much good for anything other than ice cubes for our G&T's. But that suits us fine.
If too much food is packed immediately underneath the freezer, it affects the overall cooling ability as the freezer coil is what keeps the fridge cold.
Knowing about the above issues, we love our upright fridge. This one is used primarily for general foodstuffs such as milk, eggs. salads, cold cuts of meat, cheese and maybe a bottle or two. We supplement this fridge with a 40l Engel in the ute's canopy, where we store most of the meat we take with us on a camping trip. I also kryovac most of the meat to prolong it's life.

As far as battery requirements for the Waeco upright is concerned, It doesn't use any more power than the Engel. I have one 100Ah lithium battery in the camper to run the fridge and provide power for lights and phone charging etc., and one 120Ah AGM battery in the ute, for the Engel.
Both batteries are maintained when static camping by two 200w portable type solar panels and dc-dc chargers and I rarely experience problems with solar charging, except for rare days of absolute "crap" weather conditions. The dc chargers also enable battery charging via vehicle alternator while on the move.


Both ba

I was using 2 chest fridges, Kevin, but the Ironman 35L was a bit power hungry, and I didn’t want add the weight of a drop slide, so went for an Engel 80L upright.
The upright is only 5kg heavier than the 40L Engel I use as well on remote trips.

Best thing since the mini skirt! And met the approval of the Cook when she did a trip with me. The “non-believers” will always say “all the cold air falls out”, but if you have it fully packed for a trip, there’s very little air to fall out! Never had a problem with the freezer icing up, but do have a 12v fan installed that’s suppose to prevent the icing problem.

Don’t know whether they use more power than a chest fridge, but on a Simpson trip last year, the upright & a 40L Engel set as a freezer, were only using 14-16% of my 2 x 100Ah lithium batteries.

The only problem I initially had with the upright were the mounting feet. The 4 screws that hold the 2 base plates became loose, and wore out the thread on both the screws & mounting holes on base of the fridge. New screws, nutserts & 4 drops of Loctite 243, and the fridge has stood up to numerous trips over the Simpson, the CSR & a 10K km trip through SA, WA & NT, without fail.

If I had any regrets, it would be not purchasing the 90L model. It is the same height as the 80, so would fit comfortably in the canopy. Many are buying the Bushman uprights, and speak well of them, but believe the mounting system is a bit different. There is a couple of Evacool units too, that may do the job?

Bob

Small fridge/freezers whether upright or chest are not ideal as there is no separate control of the 2 sections.
We have a 130L commercially built all-fridge upright plus a seperate 25L DIY deep freeze. Both work well.
Power consumption is largely about the quality of the insulation.
Both of our units have remote compressors which made it easy to add lots of extra insulation around the cabinet. That reduces energy consumption dramatically.

The defrosting issue is about the quality of the door seals, what you put into the fridge or freezer and how often you open the door. Most of the frost comes from the moisture in the air and there is more moisture in the air up north.
Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome

I have 2 Engel 57L upright fridges (ute canopy and van), very happy with them, no issues. Haven't spent too much time up far north though.

A followup question.
I will be mounting the fridge in my 79 series canopy. We have previously done the Canning, Simpson, Munja & other rough 4wd tracks. All the upright fridges I have looked at basically mount the unit by screwing into the sheet metal sides of the fridge. I would be interested to hear from anyone that has one mounted & taken it over rough 4wd tracks & how it has handled it.

Kevin

"...I have often thought about replacing the three way fridge in the van which is only held in place with 2 screws on either side of the door opening..."

What is the make and model numbers of that fridge? Any of the Electrolux/Dometic fridges I have had dealings with have one or two lugs at the bottom of the back that should be bolted to the floor>

I bought an Engel 80 upright as a replacement in my van, it lasted 2 years and the gas got out i believe. It runs but the comp gets hot and thats about all. I put the 3 way back in after repairing it.