Refrigeration - solar panels and flash shit like that.

[mike77]

This summer, I've been able to get the misus out of the flash campsites and into the great wide wonder a few times.

But the one thing that is holding us back a little, is keeping the food cold. At the moment we have just been relying on chilly bins and ice. But a few spots are a good 40km to the shops for more ice / supplies so it is limiting our duration a bit.

Was thinking along the lines of an electric one and solar panel (looking at pwer usage etc), I see Waeco make a fridge or a more expensive compressor model (Freezer) powered by 12v.

So how does everyone else keep there stuff cold?

[mike77]

One thing will add, is we have 3 kids (5-10) and a challenger which usually has kayaks on the roof. So space is at a premium.

But will be adding a small runabout boat to the camping list shortly to provide extra space.

Any idea's welcome, even better types of chilly bins, or commonsense stuff to keep everything dry when the ice melts. Or the preferred wattages to run one of these new fandangled fridges.

[Ralfie]

Have used both Waeco and Engel fridges and they are very good but costly. Just depends on how much value you want to put on having a fridge to keep her indoors happy.

Current draw is not so bad as I can leave it running all day and night and not flatten a battery.

Also used to use the chilly bin and had good success with that. the trick is to cool it down a day or two before hand. I used large 1.5L drink bottles filled with water and frozen in freezer for a few weeks. Keep a stock on hand.
Then when I was packing the chilly bin was cold, and with some the frozen drink bottles replaced and with miminal opening I could keep things cool for two to three days.
As the water in the bottles thawed I also had extra drinking water.

[rangimotors]

if you want long term use it's hard to go past the 3 way small fridges that you can run off a gas bottle

[Bubba]

Have a look on 1-day dude, got some camping fridges on there

[zephyrheaven]

Had both 12V & Gas in the past - have an 80W solar panel which can run a compressor fridge for a while but we go for a few weeks

We grabbed one of these http://www.1-day.co.nz/products/AN7DLN1CF last time they were on special at Mitre 10 (rebranded obviously) but it wasnt as cheap as that! (This deal only runs for a day if you dont know how 1 day sale works)
I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them - gas is fantastic - hey you probably cook on a wee BBQ & with some of the fancy fittings you can buy these days you could tee into the fridge line? I have mine tee'd into a califont for showering

Our fridge runs non stop for 2 weeks on gas & uses less than 1/4 of a big bottle so a wee one 5Kg or so would be fine with the right fitting

Only problem ours doesnt make ice (no tray) so I still take a big chillybin with frozen waterbottles as stated above - for my Bourbon ha ha

Best thing with a 3 way (or any) fridge is to run it for a few days before you go away & then if possible put cold food in & run it all the way to your campsite on the car output

I like chest ones because as we all know the cold 'falls out' of your fridge at home - this way its trapped

[mike77]

Cheers everyone, thanks for the practical responses. And the heads up on the one on 1day. Fricken awesome.

Just ordered the 3way from 1day. Damn that was a good price.

The more I looked into the smaller electric/solar option, the more I realised how expensive a "good reliable" set up can be. Only currently have 1 battery in the wagon, plus the reg, panel, etc etc etc. I was begining to think this was one of those cases where you get what you pay for.
Will just need to rewire the outlet in the boot of the wagon (was blowing fuses) and will be away laughing.

Just got to get wifeys head around a 3 way and life would be perfect.

[Cass]

a mate of mine has a waeco in the back of his ute, not sure wat model but it works mint, has put in a seperate battery jus to run it and has it wired to the ute battery with a vsr so it wont flatten the ute battery

[Jerry]

the aussies seem to run them a lot, maybe have a quick look at the aussie 4wd action website

[Smurf]

We freeze a lot of our food when we head away for a week or longer, as well as having a 12 volt fridge/freezer. The frozen stuff helps keep everything cool and by day three onwards, things are starting to thaw enough to cook. But will also hold for another 3-4 days if needed.

[aroma]

we have a spare 3 way, we (3 familys)freeze all our meat and run it on 240v for a couple of days first fill up then run on 12 v out to camp and gas at camp get approx a month out of a 9 kg bottle
have another fridge in the caravan for the beers etc
enjoy your camping

[Sadam_Husain]

Also used to use the chilly bin and had good success with that. the trick is to cool it down a day or two before hand. I used large 1.5L drink bottles filled with water and frozen in freezer for a few weeks. Keep a stock on hand.

I've never bothered with fridges for camping other than having a few gas fridges out at my bach in the bush but I do pretty much as ralfie does if I want to keep chillybins (beer ) cold for more than a couple of days except I use 2L or 3L milk bottles there a a bit bigger and last a bit longer and being square shaped they pack in to the chilly bin better leaving more room for beer, if its just 1 or 2 nights I just grab a couple of bags of ice from the supermarket or gas station

[mike77]

Yeah, a decent chilly (ours is shit) would of probably done us for our needs I reckon. But for $309 including post ya can't go wrong. Looking $200 plus just for a proper insulated chilly.
This way I still justify a decent new chilly bin for the boat later on!

Being an internet genius, the 1 day fridge is rated at 75w, which I figure is 6.5amp hrs. So pretty much 1 day running on our truck battery turning it off at night. obviously long as ya like on gas.

Those gucci waeco's are a bit less 4.5amp hour, but may only get an extra day, without getting a deep cell battery and solar. Had a shop around at a caravan place earlier, and it seems the dollars add up pretty fast.

[Sadam_Husain]

Being an internet genius, the 1 day fridge is rated at 75w, which I figure is 6.5amp hrs. So pretty much 1 day running on our truck battery turning it off at night. obviously long as ya like on gas.

if its a 3 way fridge and I dont know if it is or not but without telling you how to suck eggs the idea is you use the gas when your stationary and camping, the 12v when your moving in the vehicle and 230v when your parked up at a powered campsite

[Mud Camper]

I've just been through this excersize myself, and learnt a bit from various folks. Apparently the 3 way fridges operating system is differernt and less effective than the 12/24 volt compressor systems.

3 ways (the fridges) are great for saving your batteries when used on gas or mains, but don't cool as well as a compressor system. In general they use more power on batteries than compressor systems.

BUT: Be careful on buying a cheap unit - especially the compressor types. The auto sparkie I used reckoned he tested a fridge claiming 5 amps max draw, and it actually used 18 amps. That's a dead battery and warm beer in a few hours.

I've just had an expensive compressor fridge bench tested - it claimed 4 amps max. It was actually 3.8, and dropped quickly to 3.2, and reached temp in 35 mins and dropped to 0 amps.

Depending on ambient temp and how thirsty I get (ie the amount I open the door) I expect to get several days out of a 110 amp hour battery without charge.

Auto sparkie guy was surprised the fridge was so efficient (best he's tested in 20 years he says) and reckons a 60 watt solar panel will be enough to keep the battery charged with that amount of draw.

Everything is a compromise. For me, cold beer faster and still being able to crank the engine the next day is the key. Had to spend $1000 on the fridge to do it though......

[mike77]

if its a 3 way fridge and I dont know if it is or not but without telling you how to suck eggs the idea is you use the gas when your stationary and camping, the 12v when your moving in the vehicle and 230v when your parked up at a powered campsite

Yeah mate, that's the plan - was just trying to compare the 12v side of things to those waeco's I was looking at.

But like muddy camper shown, all things aren't equated equal! I would of prefered one like his set up, as they seem a bit smaller unit.
But hey, I'm a cheap arse at heart!