Fridge suggestions

[Cael528]

Does anyone have any suggestions on fridges or coolers that plug into the car? Preferably something that has a failsafe to not drain the battery. Thanks

 

[Alanymarce]

We had an ARB which was good but not as good as the Dometic we now have. We also have an Alpicool in Canada which did a good job in 11 months of travel in Canada.

 

[HKLover]

I have an ARB50 qt. that I bought back in 2018 that works well. I have not tried any other brands out there but I am sure that there are better and much more efficient offerings now than there were when I purchased mine.

Mine does have a low voltage cut-off that will turn off the fridge automatically. I believe there are three user selectable voltage settings.

I have a Genesis dual battery system in my Jeep and have never had the low-voltage cut-off kick in shutting off the fridge. I believe any fridge made by a quality manufacturer should have that as a feature.

Good luck with your search.

 

[OTH Overland]

We also have the 50 qt ARB and love it. seems to be a really good size for the JK and is very good on power consumption. We originally wanted a dual zone, but the JK is limited on space and we truly have not missed the freezer. We keep the fridge on the cold side, and if you drop a ziplock back full of ice cubes down the very bottom it will stay frozen and usable for drinks even in close to 100 degree days. I like their app so we can keep tabs on it from the front seat on the tablet, but really we never use it as its more of a set and forget once you get your temperature dialed in. We do have a 100 ah lithium house battery that the fridge runs off, and that will keep it running for a week in the cooler months, and at least 4 days in the summer before having to top off the battery. Since we move way more often than that on trips we no longer bring our portable solar panels as they never get used. this fridge stays on 24/7 365

We do have a Engel 30 quart drawer fridge in our other Jeep and that works super good also, but a different beast and mentality of use. it is low and compact and lives in a cabinet with a drawer alongside. it does use a bit more power than the ARB as you lose more cold air when opening the drawer and it only has an analog thermostat dial like the old house fridges, so it needs to be adjusted if you travel through different climates. We use that Jeep as a daily driver and for short off road trips, so it works super good for carrying lunches, bringing home groceries on hot days etc, not the best for long term use in my opinion though unless you need super compact and like to be able to pull a drawer out for easy access. We turn this fridge on when needed (chills fast).

 

[grubworm]

we've had our dometic cfx3 55qt for right at 5 years now and it works very well. run it off solar and a 100ah battery and it doesnt drain the battery that much

 

[NMNomad]

Dometic has a fail safe option in the settings. You can set it to different voltages, to ensure you are able to start the vehicle.

 

[Cypress]

I have a Base Camp 42 L or an Alpicool 20 L, depending on how much food I need to carry. Both have low voltage cutoffs to save the battery. The Basecamp stays plugged in at home and has been running for about 5 years at home and on the trail. The Alpicool is right at 4 years old and has also worked very well.

 

[Kevin108]

A Dometic fridge fed from a Jackery 500 or better is the ideal setup for me.