Onboard Refrigeration: Smarter Than Coolers

Exploring Onboard Refrigeration

It seems like it wasn’t long ago that the best way to keep your food fresh and drinks cold was to lug around an ice chest or two loaded up with space hogging ice. Dealing with melting ice, soggy food and leaking coolers only after only couple of days on the trail or at the campsite came with the territory of having fresh provisions aboard. Luckily for us, the advent of miniaturized, electric refrigerators has since revolutionized the way we transport food, beverages and even medicines to far off locales—as well as our favorite nearby retreats.

As we researched 12v fridges for this article, we realized that there are mobile refrigerators that originate from all corners of the planet and many of them find their roots as important tools supporting everything from medicine and organ transport services to use in space exploration. Now this technology has been adapted to serve outdoor adventurists and weekend campers alike.

One look around and you can say that we consumers are “suffering” from an embarrassment of riches when it comes to the availability of truly fantastic onboard fridges at our beckon call. With so many units to choose from, how does one begin to shop for a fridge that will fulfill ones’ needs?

Onboard fridges are no small investments; diligent comparison-shopping will help you zero in on the right one for you. Which factors should one look for when shopping for an onboard refrigeration unit? Let’s examine a few that you will want to keep in mind when making your choice.

Capacity

How big should you go? Let’s keep in mind that unlike ice-powered coolers, onboard fridges do not need ice, which means that their internal storage capacities can be used in their entirety for cold storage. Traditional coolers typically require half of it to be filled with ice to keep your items frigid, which needless to say, drastically eats up valuable space. Plus every time you open it you allow the ice to deplete itself that much quicker. You won’t have that problem with electric powered fridges.

Think about your typical trip length, how many meals you will need to prepare, how many hungry mouths you need to feed and what items really need to be refrigerated. Meats and dairy, for sure. Canned soup and crakers? Don’t waste the space. Some choose to get the largest unit they can fit in their cargo area that maximizes the available space, which is fine too, but keep in mind the larger your fridge, the less space you have for other equipment. It’s about finding balance.

Also, it’s worthy to note that some models act only as fridges and some models are combination fridges and freezers, with a special built-in “freezer shelf,” and some can be configured as either a fridge or freezer at the press of a button. The way a unit is configured will affect your capacity choice.

We find that the most popular capacity fridge floats in the 50-liter range, give or take a few liters, but of course, your mileage may vary. Stacking a typical load of food and drinks and measuring its dimensions is a way to estimate your needs too.

Overall Size

Another factor to think about the overall size of the fridge. Keep in mind the outside dimensions of the refrigerator and the space you have in your rig or trailer. Some of the taller or larger units require more space overhead for their hatches to be accessed and some are longer than the rear cargo areas of many Jeeps and SUVs. If you have a limited footprint, you’ll want to plan around it.

The good news about height restrictions is that many fridges have slider systems available for them that allow them to be slid out for unfettered access. This may help to ease interior height restrictions but also keep in mind the floor dimensions of the slider too. That said you’d also want to ask yourself if you don’t mind your rearward visibility to be blocked by a tall fridge. If you mind that, then you may want a shorter unit.

Power Consumption

Most onboard fridges don’t use as much electricity as one might think. Because their compressors only turn on to get it to your selected temperature then promptly turns off, (other than when they are first turned on to get to their initial operating temperature) the rest of the time they’re just in temperature managing mode, which is surprisingly miserly in how much amperage they draw. Here’s a quick tip, to get your fridge down to operating temperature, we suggest plugging it into a wall socket at home before loading it into your vehicle whenever possible.

Depending on the model of fridge and environmental conditions, typical power draws can be less than one amp, maxing out at three amps per hour. Many models feature a battery protection feature that will shut themselves down if it senses battery power becoming low.

If your vehicle is equipped with a large capacity deep-cycle battery, it isn’t unheard of if your fridge runs three or more days and still has enough juice to start the engine up. We do suggest running a dual battery set up, which will give you greater peace of mind if you want to run a fridge for even longer between battery charges. Solar panels are also another power source for augmenting your fridge’s runtime.

Functions

Study which fridge functions you need. As mentioned before, some onboard fridges can be freezers and some are combination refrigerators and freezers. Some models will have a main cooling compartment and a smaller secondary compartment that is even colder than the main compartment. Some fridges have digital displays that show not only interior temperature but also the vehicle’s battery condition as well. Some will self-shutdown to avoid battery drain.

As each successive generation fridge comes out, more technology is packed into them. Do you need a fridge that can be locked electronically or via a physical lock? Do you need to monitor details about how your fridge operates from your vehicle’s cockpit? Wireless fridge monitors are a thing now.

The Choice Is Yours

Of course, what you need in a fridge is completely up to you and your individual situation. The aforementioned list of factors cover only a few things that you should be aware of when making your decision. Also take a look at available accessories such as insulating covers, fridge slides, interior baskets and wireless controllers. The availability of a certain accessory may sway your decision. What we do know is that regardless of which brand and model you choose, the fridges featured in the following guide are solid performers that will undoubtedly provide you with plenty of ice-cold food and drinks—and even ice cream far from home, all without the need for ice.