40 replies to this topic

[Pax2525]

Well what say you and why? We have a fridge but contemplating going back to coolers.

[Wandering Sagebrush]

If you have reliable power, then I’d choose the fridge (hopefully in freezer mode) augmented by a small, quality ice chest. Use the freezer to refreeze bottles of water that you rotate through the cooler. Put the days meals in the cooler to thaw, add beverages. I use this method in my boat, but it should be the same in a shell.

The “why” is no dependency on a store for ice.

[nikonron]

I have an ARB 50 fridge, I simply wouldn't want to have to worry with ice. 150 watt solar panel and plenty of power.  Ron

[ETAV8R]

I have a fridge in the cab behind my seat. It is used for food. I also have a small RTIC cooler which is where beverages go. The cooler goes in the camper during transit and unless it is hot outside it stays outside when camping.

[longhorn1]

Have the energy hungry Dometic 80L in our 2014 Grandby and an Engle 65 cooler that is in the truck. I use ice blocks in 1/2 where our juice is and ice and frozen water bottles in the other half for beverages. I like our set-up, but not the Dometic. Newer models starting in 2015 have better energy saving fridges. Mr. Sage has a good system. jd

Edited by longhorn1, 14 January 2018 - 02:10 PM.

[Lobster]

I went with an ARB 50 in my grandby shell. 160 watt solar and a xantrex inverter/charger.
When the campers on the truck, solar does it all.
When in the garage, plug in the charger.
Fridge hasn’t been turned off yet. Happy with this set up.

[Old Crow]

It's a cooler for us.

 

We've always just camped in minimally-equipped station wagons, vans,  pickup campers, and a trailerable sailboat over the last 50 years and haven't (yet!) felt a fridge is important.

 

But our choice also has a lot to do with how we travel.   We normally move daily and tend to cover a lot of ground so it's likely we'll see a gas station or store somewhere along the way before the ice is gone.   That being said, we have had a few where-the-heck-are-we-gonna-find-ice situations.

 

We use an older Coleman Xtreme Marine 70 in the van.   When I bought the Hawk shell, I felt that was too big so I splurged on a Yeti Tundra 50 Compact there.  But I typically travel solo in the Hawk so lately I've been working on downsizing to an RTIC 20 (PopTarts, anyone?).

 

 

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Edited by Old Crow, 14 January 2018 - 05:23 PM.

[Beach]

I was enjoying a nice camp out years ago but had to leave a couple days early because we ran out of ice. I swore to not let that happen again. Although I have a 3way fridge now, using propane mostly and not the 12v, it still means I'm free from ice dependency. Camper came with a 3way but if I did it over(new) I would up my solar and get a 2way.

Edited by Beach, 14 January 2018 - 04:36 PM.

[takesiteasy]

We've got a shell with the Dometic CF50 and 160 watts of solar. We use it as a fridge mostly but have considered Wandering Sage's system- could have ice cubes and ice cream that way. We like being ice-free.

[rando]

I think it depends a lot on how you travel.  If you are mainly out for weekends or long weekends, then a good cooler seems like a lighter, cheaper more practical option.   You load it and add some frozen water bottles before you leave home, and don't have to think about it again. 

 

On the other hand, if most of your trips are 5 days or longer, a fridge makes sense - again you load it and add ice and it is good for the trip.   With a cooler on a trip longer that a couple of days you have to find ice every few days, drain the cooler, and make sure your food doesn't become water logged, none of which you have to worry about with a fridge.  Out west anyway it is pretty easy to spend  5 days or more trundling around our public lands without running into a store or gas station (which is a good thing!). 

 

For me anyway, there is a bit of a philosophical note to these discussions about fridges, heaters, water systems etc.    The reason we have this big, unwieldy and expensive camper is so to improve our creature comforts and camping efficiency, so we can comfortably spend more time exploring and less time on camp chores and setting up and breaking 'camp' and having to make pit stops.   As you start removing the convenience of a fridge, heat, running water, then I quickly see the benefit side of the cost-benefit equation be whittled away.