Hey everyone,
So I picked up a new Evakool 47L Fiberglass fridge/freezer from the
Sydney Caravan and camping expo over the weekend. This is my first fridge so I was quite apprehensive before buying and tried to do as much research as possible. In the end I settled for the Evakool due to its good reviews from most people of these forums, its simple design (i.e. no gadgets and novelties that could break), its good insulation (being a modified ice box essentially), and due to it being Australian made.
I had initially considered a Waeco but quickly dismissed this idea due to reports of sub-par insulation particularly around the lid, and issues with the electronics. Engel's were out of my price range for the sizes I was looking for. I was almost sold on the Primus 40l or 60l fridge. These were a great price and seemed to have good (albeit limited) reviews from users. However I dismissed these eventually after seeing multiple in person and feeling that the build quality wasn't quite up to scratch. Little things like the red recessed handle on the lid was often loose or off centre, and the latches did not often form a perfect seal making them fairly redundant. Also, the relatively unknown compressor made this fridge a wild card for longevity (would prefer the fridge to last more then a few years ideally).
In the end the Evakool's won me over. Having the compressor on the outside makes maintenance much easier as it is easily accessed. Also this keeps the heat of the motor away from the contents of the fridge thus helping with efficiency. I very much liked the idea of being able to fill the fridge with ice in the (hopefully unlikely) event that the fridge dies when I'm camping.
I have only used the fridge for a few days off mains power to get an idea of how it runs. Firstly as a fridge and freezer the motor has to run much harder. The thermostat needs to be on 6 or higher to maintain the freezer temperature. It will get down to temp quickly but it will need to cycle more often (approx 50% of the time I have found).
The brochure claims a temp of -25c in the freezer, +5c in the fridge @ +32 ambient (and drawing only 1.4ah). Personally I don't know how they achieved this figure. I had the fridge running on mains power on max setting (10) and was only JUST able to achieve a temp of -25c in the freezer and only at the very bottom of the freezer (the top was around -15c). To do this the motor had to cycle 100% so it would have been using much more then 1.4ah. Also at this setting the fridge was significantly colder then 5c (probably around 1-2c). I conducted this
test with the freezer about 75% full of pre-frozen ice bricks and the fridge about 65% full of pre chilled drinks and the ambient temperature was about 21-24c. So I really don't know how they could have achieved their claimed results (perhaps some creative temp probe placement like behind the condenser).
But even without achieving their claimed results I felt the performance was fairly impressive. At a more reasonable thermostat setting of 7-9 I was able to maintain the freezer at between -7 to -18 on the bottom and -3 to - 8 near the top, and cycling to drop to around 50%. The temperature difference within the freezer makes me think that a small temperature controlled fan positioned under neath the freezer basket blowing cold air up would significantly assist in achieving an even temperature (something I may look into later).
As a fridge only the Evakool is far more efficient and easier to manage. I found at an ambient temp of 24c I could have the thermostat on setting 1 (i.e. lowest) on economy mode and still maintain a fridge temp of between 0 and 2.5c (depending on where in the fridge you positioned the probe). On this setting the compressor was running for 4 mins on and 18 mins off which I am very happy with. Obviously at higher ambient temps it will work a bit harder but this is a good indication of its efficiency. Also when operating as a fridge the superior insulation was obvious as the temperature barely increased at all between cycles (as a freezer the temp would increase fairly quickly when the motor switched off).
I have not run off 12v yet so cannot give any figures as to power draw but I will post this when I have tested it.
I was very concerned about what size to get and almost went for the 60l to be safe, but with only 2 of us I am sure 47l will be sufficient (60l was just a bit bulky).
Overall I am so far pretty happy with the Evakool. I'll admit its a little ugly. The motor stuck on the side of the icebox is not the most aesthetically appealing design (and the yellow fridge mate fridges are just plain disgusting). But at the end of the day this is a portable outdoor fridge for camping so quality and robustness take precedence over looks. If money was no object I would have grabbed a 57l engel or one of the national luna's, but sadly money is a big consideration on any purchase and I just could not justify the expense of those fridges for the amount of use it will receive.
Would I recommend one? Definitely. The fridge does what it is supposed to, it cools things down. The good insulation means this fridge SHOULD be able to handle high temps and the danfoss motor has proved itself as one of the best. The simple design means that if there is a problem it should be easy to fix, and the lack of digital gauges and gadgets eliminates many items that could break. If you want all the fancy stuff definitely go for a waeco or other brand (I'll admit these features are very tempting). The ability to have fridge and freezer or just fridge gives me plenty of options when going away. The only real criticism I would have is that the compressor (like all dual zones) only extends around the freezer section, and not having any internal fans to assist means that you will get some temperature variations. This can be a little frustrating especially with the freezer, and you will have to ensure that things like ice-cream are placed at the bottom of the freezer cause they won't stay firm at -5c. However a small computer fan positioned properly within the fridge should easily overcome this.
Anyways hope this helps any potential buyers. Happy to answer any questions.
Simon