Cooler vs Fridge: Which is right for you?

[Hafaday]

Both coolers and fridges have there place. I go between both depending on what I’m doing and for how long.

That said... She (fridge) is currently acting as my beer cooler.

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[NotGumby]

ARB 35 qt is one of the best kit investment I ever made. Use the heck out of it. 3 weeks camping in Norway and we always had cold drinks and fresh meats. And it’s not just when overlanding. Annual block party - combined with my goal zero for power and I’m storing everyone’s food for the grill. (as long as there’s room for my beer). Same at the company BBQs. Annual wine run to Italy (8 hour drive for me) I pick up some cheese and good salami and keep it cold overnight and for the drive home. Mother in-law fridge broke. ARB as an interim solution until the new one was delivered.

 

[Arizona Overland]

Peer pressure finally caught up to me at Expo East and now I’m the owner of a Dometic CFX 40 fridge. I joke about the peer pressure (*cough cough* @outwardbound) but it really just makes sense when you think about all the use you could potentially get out of the fridge and the amount of money you'd end up spending on ice. I'm so glad to be mostly done with ice and I think its almost funny how the new fridge and my Tundra 65 compare. Completely empty the fridge is only 10lbs heavier than my Yeti but that difference quickly disappears with ice. External dimensions are similar but internally the CFX 40 is a good bit larger than the Tundra 65 once you add ice. Using the 'cans' comparison the Yeti holds 39 while the Dometic's number is 60. One of the biggest things that I'll be glad to be done with is pulling things out of the ice and then having to dig the hole back out to put that item away. A real pain with a full cooler. My biggest sticking point was power. I have to give thanks to @outwardbound for alleviating that concern and showing me just how efficient and how easily it can be managed. The Outback isn't exactly 2 battery friendly so I'll be running a power pack and a Renogy 100w suitcase solar panel. Good riddance ice.

I bought my 65 at OXW. What a great price, right? I can't wait till next year, Im going to get another one, smaller. Im thinking the 50. Also thinking a small small one for inside the truck.
I haven't had a problem with power. I don't know about others, but the Dometic has a shutoff when the amps get to low it won't run anymore. That way you can still start your rig. And with the insulated cover they run a surprisingly small amount, even in the Arizona desert heat!!
Mine will run for at least 24 hours without running the battery down to where the fridge hits its safety switch. I haven't had the rig parked that long yet. Eventually I do want a house battery and solar though.

 

[somerset-andy]

I'm a cooler guy. I like to keep things simple, lightweight and inexpensive. We largely camp at campsites where we can usually freeze 2l bottles of water. Two of these keeps everything cool, fresh and dry for 3 or 4 days in our Coleman. As for beer cooling, a bucket of water and a wet towel over the top works well.

 

[Homeguy]

I just spent 2 weeks in Moab and my 50liter ARB fridge, I love it. The other guys there with us had to play with ice and soggy food.


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[Faneius]

When it comes to fridges do you find that like a home fridge they add heat to the cabin of your?
Right now I'm fine with my twin cooler system.
The only travel fridge I've been in close contact with was a gift from an in-law. We never could get it to cool anything down far enough to keep even soda cold. It was also noisy.

 

[000]

When it comes to fridges do you find that like a home fridge they add heat to the cabin of your?
Right now I'm fine with my twin cooler system.
The only travel fridge I've been in close contact with was a gift from an in-law. We never could get it to cool anything down far enough to keep even soda cold. It was also noisy.

I don’t seem to get a noticeable amount of heat from my fridge but it’s in the bed of the truck under the shell. What you are probably talking about is a 12v cooler, they work completely differently than an actual refrigerator and will usually barely keep already cold stuff cool. An actual 12v portable refrigerator has a high efficiency compressor and typically can be set low enough to use as a freezer, mine goes to -8. The fan is noticeable but not noisy, if I was sleeping right next to it I would maybe consider replacing the fan with one of those super quiet computer fans, but otherwise it’s not bad. Once you have a refrigerator on the trail you will have a hard time using ice for food. Dry and consistently cold food, less space, etc... I used mine yesterday for a Costco run and needed to do some other errands before heading home.


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[Overland Omnivore]

I took my Yeti 65L (I think that's the size) in the back of my 2016 'taco TRD Offroad in June with no topper,on a ten day trip from Southern Indiana to Telluride, CO. On that trip we never put ice in the cooler after leaving home...not once. It kept everything cool for ten days. I had questioned whether the investment was worth it. It proved to me it was. The only drawback was that it took up a lot of space.

 

[Faneius]

I don’t seem to get a noticeable amount of heat from my fridge but it’s in the bed of the truck under the shell. What you are probably talking about is a 12v cooler, they work completely differently than an actual refrigerator and will usually barely keep already cold stuff cool. An actual 12v portable refrigerator has a high efficiency compressor and typically can be set low enough to use as a freezer, mine goes to -8. The fan is noticeable but not noisy, if I was sleeping right next to it I would maybe consider replacing the fan with one of those super quiet computer fans, but otherwise it’s not bad. Once you have a refrigerator on the trail you will have a hard time using ice for food. Dry and consistently cold food, less space, etc... I used mine yesterday for a Costco run and needed to do some other errands before heading home.


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Ah that makes sense. That 12v cooler just didn't perform. Right now my trips are under 5 days so the dual Coleman coolers are fine. We freeze bottles of water so we end up with fresh cold water as they melt and our food stays dry. Since we don't drink beer, or much soda, we usually don't need to refresh the drink coolers ice during the trip.
The frig seems more like a nice to have for what I'm doing. I don't have to manage extra power requirements from it. But in return I do have to manage cleaning and drying the coolers after each trip.

What is the weight difference between a ARB and say a fully loaded Colman Extreme?


Member 8127
Oh, I wonder where this goes!

 

[HammerheadFistpunch]

Pros and cons for a fridge summed up
Cons - Fridges are expensive and you will need to consider a 2nd battery
The end.

Seriously if it wont break you to buy a fridge it will be worth your money, but you will have to think about adding more power capacity, other than that a rotomold cooler is a fine choice if you do your homework for food prep and ice retention.

 

[Jeepney]

One other thing i always remember being a hassle with cooler. We would normally have some food that we didn't end up cooking, typically those steak nights turning to a noodles night since that's all the time you got to prep food. By the end of the trip, my dry-ice is done, and the ice/cooler starts to become a slushy mess. By the time we get home, all that uncooked food goes to trash.

Fridge solved all that :)

 

[000]

One other thing i always remember being a hassle with cooler. We would normally have some food that we didn't end up cooking, typically those steak nights turning to a noodles night since that's all the time you got to prep food. By the end of the trip, my dry-ice is done, and the ice/cooler starts to become a slushy mess. By the time we get home, all that uncooked food goes to trash.

Fridge solved all that :)

I really like being able to put everything back in the house fridge after a trip and knowing that it’s all still safe to eat, not a wet mess, and if it’s late getting back I just leave it on and unload it when I get around to it, sometimes the evening after getting back.


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[000]

Ah that makes sense. That 12v cooler just didn't perform. Right now my trips are under 5 days so the dual Coleman coolers are fine. We freeze bottles of water so we end up with fresh cold water as they melt and our food stays dry. Since we don't drink beer, or much soda, we usually don't need to refresh the drink coolers ice during the trip.
The frig seems more like a nice to have for what I'm doing. I don't have to manage extra power requirements from it. But in return I do have to manage cleaning and drying the coolers after each trip.

What is the weight difference between a ARB and say a fully loaded Colman Extreme?


Member 8127
Oh, I wonder where this goes!

The weight would probably be about the same or less but I never weighed either. I do know that my 43qt fridge is a little smaller than the 75qt yeti I used to use to haul the same amount of food since you don’t need to have room for ice.


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[nismoz33]

Any issues running a fridge (Dometic CFX-65DZ) in the back of a truck bed that doesn't have a cap? Any concerns with rain or snow to the fridge electronics?

 

[Jeepney]

Any issues running a fridge (Dometic CFX-65DZ) in the back of a truck bed that doesn't have a cap? Any concerns with rain or snow to the fridge electronics?

Yes, i think most i've looked into, including Dometic, say to keep away from the elements.

 

[old_man]

The vast majority of my trips are less than 5 days. I use a cooler. I freeze a 24 bottle case of water instead of carrying ice. It keeps the cooler a lot less messy. I pull out several every morning to carry in the cab. I drink them as they thaw. I will still have frozen bottles after 4 days, even with a crappy cooler.

The key is that I cool everything before putting it in the cooler. I interleave the frozen water and pop, putting the food on top. No more messy draining the cooler and having soggy food.

 

[Dave Hughes]

I would take fridge over cooler any day. you have to account for the ICE that also takes up space . I have 6 Yeti cooler for our boat . they are for fish mainly and open and close quite frequently . I would love to have freezer so i can fit more fish and no ice.

also long live solar power that can extend your outing. yes expensive but way more pragmatic .

 

[John D.]

Cooler guy here, until I can afford a fridge.

 

[BC4runner]

I vote for the fridge, as well. Nothing like having cold food at the end of day 3, and it hasn't been soaking in ice water all day. It was hard to justify the cost until I owned it and took the first 2week trip with it. ARB 50 qt.

 

[upzmtn]

I have a Norcold fridge/freezer in our Sportsmobile. It is awesome. I have 200 watt solar panels that charge the house battery and run the fridge. Like others have said, ice takes up a lot of room in a cooler.