Fridges

[Anderzander]

 

I need to buy a fridge in a next couple of weeks - and just wondered if anyone had any more up to date experiences that build on those shared in this thread :

We seem to have some new Brands since then - and even companies like Bearmach selling one under their branding.

One of my challenges would seem to be finding them in stock somewhere too….

[Arjan]

I have an old "Minus 40" that has turned out to be perfect for our needs.

Heavy but solid and, if needed, very very cold.

Good fridges are not cheap - cheap fridges don't usually last very long..

[Anderzander]

That’s definitely what I’ve picked up.

At the moment the Dometic CF35 or variant looks about the right balance.

[hurbie]

i use a Engel MR040 , not overly expensive , more plastic as there very expensive steel brothers , but a very good unit , it can freeze to -18 .... runs on 12 volt and 220 volt as wel , so we use it as a 2nd fridge in the house .

[Anderzander]

48 minutes ago, hurbie said:

i use a Engel MR040 , not overly expensive , more plastic as there very expensive steel brothers , but a very good unit , it can freeze to -18 .... runs on 12 volt and 220 volt as wel , so we use it as a 2nd fridge in the house .

Thank you - looks like Compass24 have it in stock 😊

[miketomcat]

I've got the waeco/domestic CF 35 and a CF 25 both good fridges will do minus 18° However they don't like low batterys. I have a charging fault on my second battery (not fully chargin) this caused the fridge to only work part time after a day last time I used it, normally it'll do a couple of days.

Mike

 

[Anderzander]

4 hours ago, Anderzander said:

Thank you - looks like Compass24 have it in stock 😊

Alas - closer inspection and it’s too big for the space I have 63cm is too long for me. Shame - its a great price and brand.

[hurbie]

1 hour ago, Anderzander said:

Alas - closer inspection and it’s too big for the space I have 63cm is too long for me. Shame - its a great price and brand.

make more space 😁 (just leave the spare tire at home)

[Peaklander]

6 hours ago, Anderzander said:

At the moment the Dometic CF35 or variant looks about the right balance

We have that. In fact I’m sitting drinking a beer from it right now, on the Llyn peninsula.

its great. In it at the moment is:

2x 4 pints milk

2x 500ml cans beer

2x big yogurt pots

bbq meats for four more days

sweetcorn, cheese,

mayo, courgettes, butter …

You get the idea - it’s big and much smaller than some ppl will say is needed.

it sits behind the driver’s seat, sideways against the 2nd row door and across almost half of the cubby.

Fed from 2nd battery with solar panel etc.  
 

[FridgeFreezer]

You'll find most of the fridges are using the same innards and they're just putting a different box & front panel around it.

I would be looking hard at the power consumption figures - our Waeco CRX quotes ~1.2Ah at 25C ambient which is about half of a lot of others and lower than the older CR model by a fair chunk too, means we get cold beer for longer from the same size battery.

If the manufacturer doesn't quote power consumption figures, be suspicious.

 

Edit to add: I think the CRX just added a smarter control board that varies the compressor & fan speeds to make the unit run more efficiently, otherwise identical to the CR. I'm sure cheaper copies would just use an on/off thermostat and run both full power.

[elbekko]

I have a Waeco CF-24 (or something) that I bought second hand. Does the job well, nudge the slider a bit too far and it'll happily freeze your food.

Not too bad on power consumption either, I think it's 3A when running, but doesn't run all the time, so averages out to 1.5Ah or something.

[Peaklander]

Jacksons Leisure Supplies offered the best price when I bought our fridge. They have an online shop. 

[landroversforever]

Waeco CF40 (or is it a 50?! I'd have to check) it is I've got, equivalent is now Dometic branded I think. Happily runs for a hot weekend off a leisure battery in a tent, just had one of the little top up solar panels on it. It's a bit of a unit size wise, but its tall enough for 2L pop bottles along with plenty of beer and Bacon .

[pete3000]

Dometic cdf36 here, only 12/24v power option, but was cheaper and a bit lighter than the mains/dc version. Figured if you wanted to run it off the mains you can get an adapter brick from amazon for the job for around £20-25. Pulls around 3.5A when compressor is on, which isn't often if you can put it in a sensible shaded tent or under the landy if you are with it.

Aim is to run it and an ice maker off 4x 100w solar panels and 24v inverter. The desktop ice makers are £130 and pull around 230v@95w once the compressor is started.

Pete

Edited July 19, 2021 by pete3000

[FridgeFreezer]

@pete3000 what's the story with the ice maker? 24v-> 240V is always going to lose efficiency. Also bear in mind 100W panels will make maybe ~60W flat out on a super sunny day and more like ~25-30W the rest of the time.

[pete3000]

have a look on youtube "solar ice maker". For now i'm just enjoying breaking it in on the mains. I've clocked 2x 12v 100w panels doing 160w so 80w peak each. May need to tweak with more panels.

[Badger110]

I bought a dometic cf30 draw fridge which allows you to mount the compressor away from the unit to keep the hot part away from the cold part and if you’re short on space ( which in a landy we are ) you can mount it up to 1.5 metres away which allows some creative thinking!

 

Im very impressed with it and as a drawer you can store more in it over a standard upright as stuff ( I mean vodka bottles) won’t need securing without wasting space but it’s not cheap at just over £600.

 

i went through the usual ideas if hacking a table top fridge to fit where I wanted and running that from an inverter but they just pull too much power.

 

A good 12v fridge will save you in the long run for sure.

[reb78]

I have the National Luna Weekender 50 (I think its the 50). It is brilliant. We took it all round France a few years ago, kept the beers cool and the lollies frozen - saved a fortune on eating out as we were able to do really nice meals at each campsite. Current draw is low as well - I can easily run it on the main battery for three days with no worries. Most I have done is 5 days I think and even then the main battery was fine to start the car.

http://www.mps-trading.co.uk/national-luna-50ltr-weekender-fridge-freezer-twin-stainless-steel~118

[FridgeFreezer]

Interesting that National Luna quotes about twice the current draw for that 50 litre as the Waeco CRX50.

[reb78]

4 hours ago, FridgeFreezer said:

Interesting that National Luna quotes about twice the current draw for that 50 litre as the Waeco CRX50.

I wonder if its to do with the freezer? And the National Luna will run a lot colder than the Waeco I think? The national luna has a dedicated freezer unit - always runs at 10C lower than the fridge setting. Set the fridge to -12 and take the inside lid off the freezer and the whole lot runs at -22. 

[miketomcat]

8 hours ago, reb78 said:

I wonder if its to do with the freezer? And the National Luna will run a lot colder than the Waeco I think? The national luna has a dedicated freezer unit - always runs at 10C lower than the fridge setting. Set the fridge to -12 and take the inside lid off the freezer and the whole lot runs at -22. 

Where as a waeco runs at the temperature it's set (-18°c max from memory) and there's a section that is about 5°c warmer. Same thing but different ways of listing and therefore measuring it I think.

 

Mike

[FridgeFreezer]

9 hours ago, reb78 said:

I wonder if its to do with the freezer? And the National Luna will run a lot colder than the Waeco I think? The national luna has a dedicated freezer unit - always runs at 10C lower than the fridge setting. Set the fridge to -12 and take the inside lid off the freezer and the whole lot runs at -22. 

The Waeco has a freezer section but the fridge bit is so efficient we have to turn it down as it will freeze things at the back of the fridge section. You can pull the freezer shelf out and gain fridge room too.

[reb78]

Ah. Ok. When I read the blurb it sounded like the waeco only had settings between 4 and 12 degrees. Its me misunderstanding how they are set I think. 

[Mo Murphy]

I've had 2 Bearmach fridges now. I sold the initial 40l one to buy a bigger 55l one. Both have kept food and beer reliably cold. Both were substantially cheaper than big name brands. I don't know what the current draw is on them. I'd buy again.

Mo

[mickeyw]

Our camping fridge is an Outwell unit. 

We have been really impressed with it.  Just one drawback though - it only runs in the car with the engine running, that is to say when voltages are up at charging levels. It won't run of a 12v car battery. I have yet to experiment and see exactly what voltage it cuts out at.
This hasn't been such a problem when we've pre-cooled it at home, gone on a long trip in the car and run on campsite mains while we're there. More annoying for back woods camping though, but that's when the big Coleman ice chest comes into its own. That'll easily keep things cold for 2-3 days if you throw a big bag of ice in the bottom to begin with.

 

Editted brand after looking in the garage