Fridges

[Velgreeno]

Hey folks. What's the best fridge for a bus these days ? I'm looking around on Amazon, various online companies etc for one and all got pros and cons with the reviews. Im looking for a 43 litre that is good on energy etc If there is such a thing. What do you folks think is a good one ? Cheers.

 

[Velgreeno]

Well I cant believe how so indecisive I am about getting a fridge. Seems like most have pros and cons, some are noisy apparently. Just cannot decide grr ha.

 

[Mechanoid]

To be honest, It depends on how you want to use your fridge. In my case, my Danbury is classified as a 'Day Van'. In as much it is more like a Bus layout but with the option of setting up for sleeping. All the storage and cooker are housed in the seat boxes. When camping, we usually have an awning so we use an old Electrolux chest fridge and run it on gas. While travelling it can be plugged into the 12 Volts or if at a serviced site it can be plugged into the mains.
If you want to have a built-in unit, then there are options of a compressor fridge or gas. Clearly, as the name implies a compressor fridge will have a motor running. This will be a bit noisy compared to a gas fridge which is pretty much silent. Also, I think I'm right in saying that you can only run this with electrical power so would need to be powered from the camper or mains hook-up.

 

[Velgreeno]

Hey @Mechanoid cheers for the reply. Its just to keep general food and drinks etc etc cool for good periods of time. I got a cool box too but want a fridge also. Im actually looking at this one . Seems good to me and its quiet too apparently
https://www.google.com/shopping/pro...16318719674469592,pid:926643772812316708,cs:1 what do we think ? Cheers.

 

[fallingoffalot]

I've been through this process and ended up not buying one, LOL. I still use my large coolbox, the campsites I've been to allow you to put your ice packs in their freezer. So, although a bit more effort, not really a problem. I don't have a kitchen in my bus either, so it would just be a stand alone fridge anyway.

 

[mike202]

We used our Westy cool box for a long time using ice packs at campsites. When I decided to get a fridge, a Dometic CRX 50, it was quite a lot of work to fit it neatly into the old cool box space. Then I decided to put a solar panel on the roof rack so the LB didn’t get drained by the fridge so that was even more work!
I am pleased with the result however. The fridge is very quiet and would probably be ok with just the LB for two or three days anyway as it uses very little electricity.
As said above it all depends on how you camp really.

 

[milfredo]

We used our Westy cool box for a long time using ice packs at campsites. When I decided to get a fridge, a Dometic CRX 50, it was quite a lot of work to fit it neatly into the old cool box space. Then I decided to put a solar panel on the roof rack so the LB didn’t get drained by the fridge so that was even more work!
I am pleased with the result however. The fridge is very quiet and would probably be ok with just the LB for two or three days anyway as it uses very little electricity.
As said above it all depends on how you camp really.

Do you still have the water tank fitted with this fridge?

 

[Mechanoid]

Hey @Mechanoid cheers for the reply. Its just to keep general food and drinks etc etc cool for good periods of time. I got a cool box too but want a fridge also. Im actually looking at this one . Seems good to me and its quiet too apparently
https://www.google.com/shopping/pro...16318719674469592,pid:926643772812316708,cs:1 what do we think ? Cheers.

Hey. Had a quick look at the spec for this and it is 240 Volt only. This would mean that you would have to run it through an inverter. It is rated at 50 Watts. If running off of the mains, that is only 0.2 amps, however, running it through the inverter would put a drain on the battery of about 4.2 amps plus whatever losses occur in the inverter. Could be looking at possibly around 5 amp draw. If you have solar panels to keep up with this it would be fine otherwise you would only get about 8 hours of operational time. And that is using the battery only for the fridge. Ideally it wants to be a 3-way fridge for Camping. Mains, 12V and gas.

 

[Velgreeno]

Hey. Had a quick look at the spec for this and it is 240 Volt only. This would mean that you would have to run it through an inverter. It is rated at 50 Watts. If running off of the mains, that is only 0.2 amps, however, running it through the inverter would put a drain on the battery of about 4.2 amps plus whatever losses occur in the inverter. Could be looking at possibly around 5 amp draw. If you have solar panels to keep up with this it would be fine otherwise you would only get about 8 hours of operational time. And that is using the battery only for the fridge. Ideally it wants to be a 3-way fridge for Camping. Mains, 12V and gas.

You know. Im good at a few things in life but when it comes to things like this i have absolutely no clue ha. Feel free to face palm ha. I really really do have a block when it comes to "big" electrics etc etc and i have no idea why. Like looking at a picture but seeing a blank. So so strange.Thanks so much for this dude. This is very worth knowing. I try and find a way . Cheers.

 

[mike202]

Do you still have the water tank fitted with this fridge?

No longer have it. There’s no room for the original water tank with a fridge. I have my own arrangement with a 5 litre tank which is behind the passenger seat and a whale pump to the sink tap.

 

[Mehal]

We went with a Yeti - 45 tucked behind the passenger seat. It gets the job done and cold packs are good for up to 3 days.
Strength of the Yeti makes it a great step stool getting up and down to bed.
Having all the foodstuffs out on the table at campsites is another plus and facilities cooking and mealtime.

 

[milfredo]

No longer have it. There’s no room for the original water tank with a fridge. I have my own arrangement with a 5 litre tank which is behind the passenger seat and a whale pump to the sink tap.

I like the idea of the relocated water tank.

 

[fallingoffalot]

Just bought a Quest 3-way fridge on FB Market Place for £100. Going to Cornwall in May/June and have an electric pitch. Can you sit on it?

@Velgreeno this is a 39L - it's bigger than I expected!

 

[T2t25]

I just run a plug in Halfords cool box in my bay it’s light and easily removed / moved etc. in my T25 I have the factory fitted Electrolux fridge which is 3 way and I have to say brilliant on gas or hook up and maintains the chill on 12v when driving. They can be picked up cheap enough secondhand added bonus they have a little freezer section

 

[J4yman]

Thanks for the info, just pondering to buy a Coolbox or go for a 3 way fridge for my bay window Dormobile. The only problem with a fridge is I have limited depth. But if I planned a cooler bob I could accomodate it on the rebuild of the original units but adapt to make an area if that makes sense. I am guessing the max I would go away for would only need 3 days food before I could get to a shop. Any ideas or thoughts.

 

[mike202]

It all depends on what you prefer, cool box or fridge. If you have a built in unit already for a fridge then it makes sense to use that. If you don’t want a fixed unit in the van and prefer something that’s removable for more space then a cool box is better.
I bought a cool box to start with and used that for longer trips away, I then realised that what I really wanted was a proper fridge as it was so good having food and drinks kept properly cold. As I have the Westy sink/cool box set up it made sense to replace the cool box with a fridge. It works really well in combination with the LB and solar panel.
However it was a lot simpler just using ice packs and the Westy cool box