Ice boxes

A couple of people who use this forum swear by the above method..........Your ice box will do well if you are using pack ice or even if you are making any sort of ice. Just be aware that when your fidge is working as a freezer(esp when its hot outside) your power consumption will be much greater than if its just set to fridge temp.(mine is about 2-3 deg) The combo fridge/freezers would solve this dilemma. Hope this confuses u more lol....

Gday Farmer,
I dont think that would be a good idea in my opinion. You would use a lot of power trying to run the fridge as a freezer. What I would do is run the fridge as a fridge but freeze all your meat or anything else you can freeze before you go so it helps to keep the fridge nice and cold. Your meat will thaw out slowly but that wont matter. Get it cryovaced to.
I have an evakool esky and a Waeco 80 litre. I use the Waeco for all of my food (Only had it a few weeks and used it once) But what I do with the esky is put all of my drinks, beer, kids drinks and I even freeze some water bottles, 2 litre milk and the choc milk etc for the kids. This helps keep everything else in the esky cool and they slowly thaw out too. If I need the milk and its still frozen I pull it out for 15 minutes or so. The other advantage especially if you have kids is that they stay out of the fridge as they are forever wanting a drink. I also make some block ice to fill the gaps. Using this method last October long weekend I managed to keep my esky at around 4-6C for 4 days and I live in Broome where the ambient that time of year was around 35C. I just made sure the esky was in the shade and it worked great.

Troy.

engel & waeco ice boxes work a treat but to use both would be a pain & take up twice the room & i think cost more

I have both an Engel fridge (39 litre) and also an Ice Box,and will use one or the other depending on length of stay etc.

The ice box is great!! I use block ice whenever I can (or make it at home) and I got 6 days out of a large block when I was last on Fraser Island. There was still ice left at the end, but it had melted down to the point where, had I stayed on, I would have needed to get some more. Keeps things "cool", so it is fine for milk etc etc .....

On my most recent trip (to the Flinders/Arkaroola/Maree) my mate used his Engel as a freezer and had no trouble with it. As we were on the move every day it kept the battery pumping, but I believe had we had to stop for a day or two it would have drained his battery.

With these things it is horses for courses.

Jack

Hi there,what about a LIEMACK , now called Reefer, A 90 litre unit is 30 litres freezer and 60 litres fridge, they suck power like a jet but they are wonderful. Ive had one for 5 years and has never let me down, a lot of people put them down but have never owned one, i swear by mine. If you use it a lot you will have to change batteries every 18 months, thats the main downfall of this type of fridge and they are expensive, 90 litre $2200.... regards michael

PS, you also get a 300 watt inverter, part of the unit.

We use a Trailblaza 70 litre and lived out of it on Fraser for a week last year very comfortably.... 2 adults 2 kids.... a very good fridge, economical and efficient.

Thankyou you all for your valued coments. By the sound of it these ice boxes are very efficient.

farmer,
would a 60 Ltr fridge @ $899 or a 100 Ltr fridge @ $999 be cheaper than the combination you are looking at.

Remember you still have to find ice every few days and clean out the water as it melts, I used an Everkool esky for a Kunnanurra trip last year and will never do it again on a long term holiday, would be ok for a week if you have access to replacement ice.

I think 6 deg. is too warm for milk and some other food to remain safe!