Electric Coolers / Refrigerators

Way behind the curve on this one but I think I'm ready to take the plunge.

Couple of questions for those in the know:

1) The price differences between these are pretty substantial. Is it ok to spend around $300 for a 45L or am I risking getting a total piece of shit?

2) We typically camp for 4-5 days at a time. Do I need another battery to power one of these?

3) Any brand recommendations or ones to stay away from?

 

Eco flow and dometic is a killer combination. Add yourself to their email list to be notified of discounts. Once or twice per year dometic runs some very deep discounts.

Ime, severely off camber trails or washboard roads tend to kill the cheaper fridges.

 

I have heard good things about ICECO and BougeRV. I have friends that own both and they say that they love them. I have been thinking of getting a fridge myself. As far as the extra battery question goes, I would probably recommend a solar panel to help maintain your battery. I had a 100 watt panel on the roof of my FJ Cruiser and it was the greatest battery maintainer I ever had. More than enough power to run a fridge indefinitely.

 

I realized how valuable my power is so I went with a RTIC cooler which will last ~4 days and I bring my portable ice maker to recycle the water in the cooler to make ice to put back in the cooler.

When i test my solar panel and external power i may go with a domestic fridge some day.

 

That’s friggin genius!!

 

I went with the Anker EverFrost or whatever it is called. Having the battery is great to go more than a day at freezing temps in one of the two bays and it can charge off of anything.

 

There are ways to get a decent price. I bought my Dometic (CFX-35) at REI (on sale now 20% discount), used my annual dividend as partial payment and still got a dividend on the purchase price at the end of the year. The Dometic is a significant investment but I’ve found mine to be extremely efficient, quiet and has been nearly operational since July 2023 (stored during the winter months). I run mine off a 500 Whr battery overnight (easily recharged with two 50W solar panels during the day.)

Here I was running the fridge off two 50W panels (awning) while I used the battery to do some ‘field work’ while recharging it off a second pair of panels (ground).