Forum Discussion

Tommytr99's avatar
Tommytr99
Explorer
Aug 24, 2014

Yeti cooler vs a second fridge

I thought when I had bought my TT that the fridge was going to be too small even though several people told me it would not be. We are a type of family that does not eat out very often nor eat mass produced foods( I suffer from migranes), so we carry lots of food and almost 4 gallons of milk for a long weekend. I am trying to decide on wether to buy a Yeti cooler vs buying a second fridge to keep all of our items cold. The 60 qt cooler I bought needs 2 bags of ice every 24 hours even though in the shade. Any thoughts out there?

39 Replies

  • I would get the mini fridge if you were going to parks with electric. The cooler if you were going to parks without.

    On the ice, don't use store bought cubes for a few reasons. First they keep the ice at a higher temperature to cut down on the cost of running the freezer it is stored in. Just bringing it home and putting it in your freezer for a day or two will make it last longer. The second is that cubed ice is great at getting drinks cold quick but with all of the surface area, it melts fast. We have a very old Coleman standing cooler that takes a 10# block and it will last 5 days at least while the food stays cool and dry. Any more we just rinse and fill gallon and half gallon milk jugs, fill them with water and put them in the deep freeze in between trips. I've seen those last over a week and still have ice in them and you have fresh, clean ice water any time you want.
  • I have this http://www.ambientstores.com/productdetail/home_appliances/chest_freezers/336

    and we love it. One of the best things that we got for our RV
  • Tommytr99 wrote:
    I thought when I had bought my TT that the fridge was going to be too small even though several people told me it would not be. We are a type of family that does not eat out very often nor eat mass produced foods( I suffer from migranes), so we carry lots of food and almost 4 gallons of milk for a long weekend. I am trying to decide on wether to buy a Yeti cooler vs buying a second fridge to keep all of our items cold. The 60 qt cooler I bought needs 2 bags of ice every 24 hours even though in the shade. Any thoughts out there?

    OK. Another " I eat as few as possible store bought premade foodstuff" person.
    The freezer in my anticipated purchase TT is non exsistent; fridge only unit. I have to have a good sized freezer as well. Spoke with the manufacturer and they can install a 2.5 cubic ft freezer w/o overloading the electric/propane/battery system which should solve my problem for a 2-5 week trip for 2 persons. I'm already scoping the internet for commercial/large kitchens to rent for longer time trips.
    Had they NOT been able to do this I would have opted for a Pelican or Engel cooler, of equal size. I'm not completely impressed w/ the Yeti's tests.
  • Why not buy a 2 way fridge/freezer that you can run on 12v or electricity, like a Engle or one of those? About the same price and you won't have to worry about ice.
  • A Yeti will be easier on ice than your present cooler, but a fridge needs none. We use a Yeti, but a dorm fridge would probably be cheaper than a Yeti. :) My 2 cents worth.
  • Welcome to the forum. :)

    Before you buy a fridge or a Yeti, you may want to consider building an Insulated Cooler.

    Or build one that will fit inside your 60 qt. cooler. You will lose space in the cooler but, the ice may last much longer.

    Isn't that what a Yeti Cooler is, a well insulated cooler?

    It may be worth trying, and will be cheaper than a fridge or Yeti. JMO

    Enjoy your travels.
  • wa8yxm's avatar
    wa8yxm
    Explorer III
    Well, let's look at the balance sheet

    Yeti Cooler: Can be transferred to tow vehicle for the run to the store for perishables (I keep a cheaper one in my car for that).

    Yeti cooler good for cans or bottles, but Not so good for meat products like lunch-meat or hot dogs.

    Yeti cooler eats ice (Fridge makes ice)

    True story: Some years ago I belonged to a membership campground. I have since dropped that one and joined two more (They are still bugging me for dues but I contend that since they lost all their campgrounds they owe me a refund (or nearly all of them).

    Well they got the bright idea to charge 4.00 a day for Electricity.. So I traded in my coolers on a nice little Dorm/office size fridge.. Cost me 100 bucks.. And I sold it years later for I think 25.

    Lunch meat came out looking like it died when it went in Same with Hot Dogs.

    I was making ice instead of buying it (Used to spend more than six to 12 a day on ice.

    Was rather happy with the result.
  • Buy a refer 4 dollars for ice every couple of days gets expensive in a hurry. Of course you will still need a cooler to transport all that milk to your camping spot.