Why have a fridge?
A fridge is fairly essential if you eat a lot of fresh meat, want to store soft cheeses, fresh milk or require a cold beer at the end of the day. That, or if you spend a lot of time in very hot places!
If you are mostly vegetarian or vegan you might be OK without especially if your food is stored low in the van (assuming you have good insulation!).
There are three main options for refrigeration
- Thermoelectric Coolbox
- Compressor Fridge
- Gas Fridge
Which you choose will largely depend on your power system and what the van is for. If you are living off-grid full time you will have different requirements to use as a weekend van.
Thermoelectric Cool boxes
A standard non-powered cool box can be enough. Bearing in mind that I do not have a fridge at all often people can get away with a standard cool box. This would keep your food cooler during the warm-peak of the day but not much else!
Thermoelectric cool boxes that run on the 12V system can be good budget alternative to the more expensive options that follow. If you turn it on in the day while the van becomes warmer (and you have plenty of solar) it can just stay cool enough throughout the night.
My fridge; The Dometic Waeco CF26 is what put into my latest van; it works well, has good capacity and is fairly quiet. However, at £480 / $550 it is not cheap!
Best used for: Full-time vanlife (if not storing loads of food), Occasional Road Trips / Vegetarian travellers
Search for: Electric cool box, travel fridge, TropiCool Powered by 12v/24v DC and sometimes with 240v AC Cools to: Around 20°C to 30°C under ambient temperature. Power consumption: 30 – 80W
Price: Ranges from $100 to $700 depending on size and quality
Compressor fridges / 2 way
Compressor fridges use a compressor to circulate the refrigerant and can be powered by 12v or by mains power. They come as normal style fridge units, cool boxes or as drawers. Basically, these are like a normal domestic fridge but smaller.
Best used for: Long-term van living & self installation
Search for: 2 Way, Compressor Cooler
Powered by 12v/24v DC and sometimes or 230v AC Cools to: Below freezing – down to about -10°C Power consumption: 50 – 75W
Price: Ranges from $300 upwards
If you have a decent solar & battery system (around 200W, 200AmpHours or more) then you are probably good to run a fridge like this. A long spell of warm & cloudy weather could be difficult to keep it running though.
This is probably the happy medium for most people who need a fridge; it is easy to install – does not need external ventilation and has a reasonable price point.
Absorption refrigerators / 3 way
If you like to camp off-grid or away from campsite electricity, these fridges offer you an alternative to compressor fridges. On the downside this type of fridge requires ventilation through the external sidewall of your campervan and needs to be level to work correctly.
Gas powered fridges do run silently – this is a big pro for those who sleep lightly but they do have a more complicated installation process and should be installed (or at minimum checked) by a qualified gas fitter.
If you need a fridge and have the budget these do allow you to run off-grid long-term pretty effectively and if you are using refillable LPG then it is a good value way to keep your food cool.
Best used for: Long-term van living, those with refillable LPG systems
Search for: 3 Way, Absorption Fridge, LPG/Propane fridge Powered by Gas, 12v/24v DC and sometimes or 230v AC Cools to: Below freezing – down to about -18°C
Power consumption: 50 – 75W
Price: Ranges from $400 to $850
