the best refrigerator

[lightspeed]

what is the best but cheapest 12 volt refrigerator anyone can buy for a van that won't use alot of battery juice but still work well , doesnt have to be real big big enough for 1 or 2 people .

thanks .

[markopolo]

I don't the answer to your question re: 12v fridges - hopefully some other forum members will know.

I'd suggest also considering 120v fridges and using it with an inverter. A guy on the Roadtrek Yahoo group can get up to 3 days cooling the fridge using a 120v fridge with an inverter. He uses 2 6v batteries connected in series and probably has 220ah battery capacity.

[lzcamper]

I have a friend that has an Engel top loading refrigerator/freezer. It was not cheap, but is one of the most efficient electric refrigerators made. He plugs it into a hot point that is hooked to 2 batteries that produce 220 aH and it will run for 4-5 days.

Rick

[renrut]

Originally Posted by markopolo

I don't the answer to your question re: 12v fridges - hopefully some other forum members will know.

I'd suggest also considering 120v fridges and using it with an inverter. A guy on the Roadtrek Yahoo group can get up to 3 days cooling the fridge using a 120v fridge with an inverter. He uses 2 6v batteries connected in series and probably has 220ah battery capacity.

My fridge draws 250 watts on 120 volts AC. I used a 400 watt inverted to run it but it really drew a lot out of the battery. 250 watts at 120 VAC will draw over 20 amps out of a 12 VDC battery when it gets converted. Really take a good look at the power requirements for any fridge you look at.

The newer fridges are a lot more efficient than mine but I would really look into a 3 way fridge. They're a lot more expensive but you have all the options available. You can run it on 120AC when plugged in, 12 volts when driving and Propane if you're camping where there is no electricity available and it saves the battery.

I would think a bar fridge would draw very little power but it would need to run on AC all the time. I don't know how one would hold up on a rough road but it would be interesting to see if one would work.