do you need a special mobile fridge?

I am going to describe several fridges and let you decide.. I will list only "Big names" for brands, but there are others.

Traditioal dual power RV fridge (Gas (propane) / Electric) These burn about 350 watts of AC plus a few watts of DC (Control power) if you have shore power. OR, they can replace the AC with Propane if you do not have shore power but DO have propane.. most of these are an ammonia cycle absorption cooling type. this old and proven technology.. Does have it's dangers. They are well explained elsewhere on the forum.
Mine is a Dometic.. the major competition is Norcold. Again, read the forums.

High Efficiency Electric Dual Power (12/120 volt electric only) Both Dometic and Norcold have at least one "Full size RV unit" in this class, as well as a "Chest Cooler size refrigerator/freezer" Mine is an Engel and can be set to use as a refirerator or freezer (I have it set to freeze) these power suckers draw a great 30-40 watts,, Yes, that's right 30-40 watts. A single 1141 lamp, by comparison, is about 20 watts.. In short... NOT MUCH POWER. Work great.

Residential/dorm/office fridge.. These are AC only, power consumption starts at 100 watts running and goes up as the box gets bigger.


NOTE: Many refrigerators (All but the chest type) will have one or two switches, One is an "Enviormental" switch, he other (Optional) is a Low Ambient (LAT) Temp, switch. These, if on, suck more 12 volt power. LOTS more. the LAT for examples is 20-50 watts.

Don't overlook the obvious for keeping foodstuffs cold. In our car camping days we finally got it down to a science. Open ice chest little as possible. What we found best was to have 2 ice chests. One would be the "storage" ice chest and one would be "todays" needs ice chest. Open storage ice chest to get out todays food and keep closed. Can go for several days (depending on temps) And look at articles on "no frig or freezers". https://www.google.com/#q=no+frig+freezer+recipes

In most supermarkets a seven or eight pound bag of ice costs about $2. Since that would only last two days in most coolers, you would be taking about $60 for ice. It wouldn't take long to exceed the cost for a fridge and battery.

Check out the coolers and stuff that truckers use. My brothers/son have a 12 volt cooler the size of an ice chest that they use to keep their food in when they are out for a week or two. You may find other useful items for your trip also.

TXcampingfamily wrote:
John & Angela, nice set up!

Thank you. Lots of fun. :).

John & Angela, nice set up!

I built this power pack out of a 12 dollar Wallmart battery box and some connectors (all from Walmart).



It contains this AGM battery. An AGM battery doesn't off gas so it stays with us in our tent trailer.



It powers the Fridge/Freezer seen in this photo. It is on the left. It is NOT a cooler but a fridge/freezer that can be configured to all fridge, part fridge/freezer or all freezer. It will run this fridge for about 50 hours before needing a recharge.



If running only in fridge mode (meaning lower duty cycle for the compressor) I can run for almost indefinetly if there is good sunshine using this portable solar panel. (Longest trip was 5 days).



The battery can be recharged while I am driving by using a double ended 12 volt cigarette adapter type cord. Use a self resetting or resetable 15 amp breaker if you do this. Better yet. Make a direct heavier line to the battery with a resettable 20 to 30 amp breaker. It will fully charge in about 3 hours.

This fridge happens to be a Dometic but Engel also makes them. You are looking for a small compressor type portable fridge, usually with Dan Foss compressor.

By the way, all of this is part of this camping set up we use for shorter duration Kayak excursions. Here it is all folded up for travel. Set up time 10 to 15 minutes...shorter if its raining :)



Good luck.

http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/4/Auto/VehicleAccessories/TravelCoolersWarmers/PRD~0370100P/Mobicool+3-way+Absorption+Power+Cooler%2C+35-qt.jsp?locale=en

all you need. SIMPLE

NCWriter wrote:
Ice in the US runs about $1 to $5 a bag in my experience, though it's been a while since I've seen $1 bags. Not every campground has ice, so you may have to get from gas stations.

We used a cooler with ice one summer when staying in sites without electricity because the propane power function to the built-in three-way refrigerator needed repairing. Like another person said, buying ice gets old and expensive quick.

Especially when you have to brake suddenly and ice water flows through your vehicle.

good to know, thanks

look like i will need some kind of fridge

I recommend getting a second RV/Marine battery connected to a proper wattage inverter and a battery isolator . this will allow you to run a dorm fridge without running your vehicle battery down, and when the car is running it will charge the second battery. pretty easy to setup too!