best fridges for truck camper?
Hello all! My husband and I are reno-ing a late 1970s/ early 1980s heritage camper we found on craigslist. It originally just had a fridge cooler the owner just plugged in for use while he was hunt...
Forum Discussion
You've got a few options if talking about proper fridges (as opposed to those cooler boxes). However none of them are cheap - far more expensive than domestic fridges since they need to be able to be bounced around in a vehicle.
1) Absorption fridge, sometimes called "three way": Traditional RV fridge - can run on LPG and electricity. Good if you want to be off grid for a while as quite efficient at using LPG. Works slowly - often need to be turned on a day before you intend to use them. Tend to work on a temperature differential - i.e. will get to x degrees below ambient, so in really hot temperatures may not keep stuff frozen. Also sensitive to angle - need to be parked pretty flat to work. Pretty much silent in operation.
2) Compressor fridge: RV version of the sort of fridge you have at home. Gets cold fast, thermostatically controlled. Can work when parked at up to 30 degrees off the flat (used in yachts). May be able to hear the compressor as it cycles on and off. Can't run off LPG. If camping without electric hookup for more than a night you'll probably need a decent amount of solar to run one since the compressor requires a fair amount of amps to run (though typically less than an absorption fridge if you ran one of them on 12v instead of LPG for some reason).
The above two are traditionally upright fridges with a side door like you'll have at home and tend to be built into the camper.
3) Portable chest-fridge version of one of the above. Look like cold boxes. Built by companies such as Engel. Smaller capacity compared with the above traditional upright fridges, but very efficient and use little power. Often seen in expedition vehicles like Land Rovers and Land Cruisers with roof tents. Can be very expensive for their small capacity. Have the advantage that you can move them between vehicles.
Hope this helps,
Steve.
1) Absorption fridge, sometimes called "three way": Traditional RV fridge - can run on LPG and electricity. Good if you want to be off grid for a while as quite efficient at using LPG. Works slowly - often need to be turned on a day before you intend to use them. Tend to work on a temperature differential - i.e. will get to x degrees below ambient, so in really hot temperatures may not keep stuff frozen. Also sensitive to angle - need to be parked pretty flat to work. Pretty much silent in operation.
2) Compressor fridge: RV version of the sort of fridge you have at home. Gets cold fast, thermostatically controlled. Can work when parked at up to 30 degrees off the flat (used in yachts). May be able to hear the compressor as it cycles on and off. Can't run off LPG. If camping without electric hookup for more than a night you'll probably need a decent amount of solar to run one since the compressor requires a fair amount of amps to run (though typically less than an absorption fridge if you ran one of them on 12v instead of LPG for some reason).
The above two are traditionally upright fridges with a side door like you'll have at home and tend to be built into the camper.
3) Portable chest-fridge version of one of the above. Look like cold boxes. Built by companies such as Engel. Smaller capacity compared with the above traditional upright fridges, but very efficient and use little power. Often seen in expedition vehicles like Land Rovers and Land Cruisers with roof tents. Can be very expensive for their small capacity. Have the advantage that you can move them between vehicles.
Hope this helps,
Steve.
