Which kind of fridge?

a 200A/H AGM battery would last you a long time running a fridge, bear in mind it would also take a while to re-charge being that big . If you can use a 200AH AGM I think your power requirements would be taken care of, choose whichever suits you , Evakool, Waeco , Engel etc.. Remember to cater for re-charging that big sucker of a battery via your rig.?

Hi emem, sometimes when we go camping we take our bar fridge. It's a kelvinator 140 litre with a small freezer compartment at the top that would hold a leg of lamb and that's all, but, it only _Affordable_Storage_Drawers.aspx .7 amp. It's easy to access milk, butter, salads etc cause it's not all stacked on top of each other. We stock it up once we've stopped if we're driving on rough stuff so that it's not all tossed salad. You can buy these size fridges for about $120 and a 300 watt inverter for $80. This could be a cheap alternative to the "waeco,evacool,engel, etc" brigade. Rus.

emem, don't stress over the brand of your fridge. It like stressing over which brand of car you will buy. All the main brands are very good. I have an Engel and a Reefer. Both good fridges. Know lots of people (through 4WD Club) with Waeco, Evakool and others. All happy with what they have.

So focus on what you will use it for, how big you need, do you want a freezer as well as fridge and the space you have available.

Uprights (my Reefer is 'upright - ie front opening) generally have a smaller footprint, but are generally only available in the larger sizes. Also, when you open the door, the cold air inside 'falls out', cold air being heavier than hot air. Between these two things, (size and loss of cold air), uprights generally consume more power, but I have not found it a big problem. But then I carry lots of battery power.

If you are talking about a 50 litre (approx) fridge, I suspect you will end up with a top opener. It might be worth considering an increase to 60 litres or so and getting one with a small freezer compartment. My 70 litre Reefer (no longer in production) has about 60 litres of fridge and 10 litres of freezer, which can be handy (but consumes a bit more power due to the freezer).

So, as I said, focus on the things in para 2 above, that will let you short list a couple of fridges that will meet your needs and eliminate others. Then decide based on personal preference, availability of service / warranty support and price. Don't let sales people convince you on brand. They will push what they sell.

The size and type of fridge, along with other power needs (lights, water pump, TV?, laptop, etc will determine your power needs.

In any case 200AH (either in one big battery or two at 100AH) should be plenty. Get an isolator and good cabling to permit charging from the vehicle when traveling. But if you plan on camping away from 240V for more than a couple of days, you will need another charging method. Solar is great, but you will probably need at least 2 x 80 W panels, plus regulator. Only downside of solar is if you get a couple of days without sun, you get no charge - otherwise great.

Alternatively get yourself a 1 KVA generator and a good multi stage charger. If you have 200AH of battery, I'd be getting a 20 or 25 Amp charger to get the charge in quick and take advantage of the AGMs fast charge capability. You will need a charger in any case for when you have access to 240 V.

Finally, in my experience, the biggest factor in determining power consumption from a fridge is ambient temperature. If a lot of your travel will be in the North of Australia, you will need more power and more frequent charging than elsewhere.

Hi Emmem

Don't feel here that the fridge is the key. While there are differences most small ones draw in region of 1amp per hour on average.

I'd pick up Norm's point about temperature and temperature
difference being main issue.

We chose a small 25lt unit for our family and it fits between
the cars front seats and basically stays a lot cooler than
those which get placed on a slide in back of a 4wd.

We also find basically there is no need to cool below 1 or 2c
either.

The small unit is easy to remove from car to and place
in cool air.

Together these things add up to fact that we need no 2nd
car battery to run it and it lasts for 24 hrs easily straight
off the car.

So what happens after 24hrs - well usually we have gone
for a drive by then and charged the battery anyway
but worst case we start the engine and run it for 1/2 hr.

The cost of doing this extra bit about once a week is so low
in real terms that for us its not even worth considering
other options.

Robin Miller

My tip is to invest in a compressor type fridge which will run on either 12 volt DC or 240 volt AC.

The three way fridges will prove to be more trouble than what they are worth. They need to be kept level when running on Gas and 12 volt is no good at all, unless you are driving, in which case all you can expect is to maintain the temperature if you are lucky.

The compressor style fridges, (Engel, Waeco, etc) are very good and while they are much more expensive to purchase, will give you the best flexibility and operation, whether it be fridge mode, freezer mode, or in case of dual compartments, both modes.

If you prefer an upright fridge, Engel certainly make them. I'm not sure about Waeco, or other brands.

As far as a 12 volt supply goes, I would consider a second battery for sure and enable charging from the vehicle alternator while driving at the same time. This will require the inclusion of a dual battery Isolator, or at least, the inclusion of a battery charging kit.

Mate, once upon a time, in a galaxy far far away, I owned a Hiace Campervan which had a 3 way fridge in it. (Put it in myself, so I can't blame anything other than my own ignorance at the time)
The performance of this fridge was "marginal" at all times except when I was able to park on level ground and run on gas.
I just wouldn't recommend them.

emem,

While you are are Evakool have a look at their Indel B 36 litre drawer fridge, very economical on space, easy to access the food and a good performer without chewing through the battery.

emem

I have converted a Hiace van here in NZ into a basic camper. As an experiment about 1 year ago I installed a 70 litre 240VAC mistral MCF070 chest freezer $199 with the thermostat adjusted and set to average 2.5°C run from a 500watt Jaycar $300 sine wave inverter in place of my Engel 80 litre 12V compressor fridge.
What I can tell you is to date I am impressed. Despite all the theorists here are my observations.
Engel - 3.6 amps - average duty cycle 32%
mistral - 11 amps - average duty cycle 11% note insulation is almost double the thickness of the Engel.
Almost identical daily consumption.
Freezer is quieter, cools food/liquids in a third of the time, much cheaper but now no freezer compartment -:)
Fridge compressor and plumbing may be more robust and the layout more convenient for some?
My battery is a 150AH gel charged via a 120W solar panel and or alternator, another cheap $120 600W inverter and 25A smart charger. I can never approach full charge via the alternator direct method.
Good luck
Neville