Portable Refrigerator Suggestions

[connor77]

Would like to hear from owners that have purchased portable refrigerators that they use while camping.  We hope to go on some extended trips next year and I'd like to be able to have a little more food kept consistently cold than will fit in our trailer refrigerator.

I've done a little reading on them and the price range is pretty broad.  I'd like to spend $1k or less, if possible, and get something decent.  I already have a well made and very large cooler but I also feel like I've spent a fortune on ice keeping the contents cold while traveling.  And if we're far away from places that sell ice, I'm out of luck.

 

[AZ Wonderer]

I discovered the Truma portable refrigerators/freezers at the Quartzsite RV show in January this year.  I took advantage of the show special and bought one...the C44.  It works well and I recommend it.

Truma Cooler Portable Fridges and Freezers

 

[ScubaRx]

I bought a DOMETIC CFX3 75-Liter Dual Zone Portable Refrigerator and Freezer about three years ago. It has been used on every trip we’ve been on since then. When not traveling, it comes into the house and provides additional cooling and freezing space. 
 

As a result, it has essentially run constantly since we purchased it. At home it is plugged into the wall but in the truck it runs on solar augmented 12 volt DC off its own separate battery. We have also successfully run it on a 500 watt Jackery. 
 

It has been absolutely bulletproof and I can wholeheartedly recommend it. It easily and dependably maintains the temperature you set down to at least -10 degrees F. Ice cream will remain rock solid. 
 

This model is slightly above your stated price range but I shopped around and found it under $1K with free shipping. 

[Katjo]

4 minutes ago, ScubaRx said:

I bought a DOMETIC CFX3 75-Liter Dual Zone Portable Refrigerator and Freezer about three years ago. It has been used on every trip we’ve been on since then. When not traveling, it comes into the house and provides additional cooling and freezing space. 
 

As a result, it has essentially run constantly since we purchased it. At home it is plugged into the wall but in the truck it runs on solar augmented 12 volt DC off its own separate battery. We have also successfully run it on a 500 watt Jackery. 
 

It has been absolutely bulletproof and I can wholeheartedly recommend it. It easily and dependably maintains the temperature you set down to at least -10 degrees F. Ice cream will remain rock solid. 
 

This model is slightly above your stated price range but I shopped around and found it under $1K with free shipping. 

That’s the one I have my eye on. Good to hear a testimonial.👍🏼

[Katjo]

21 minutes ago, AZ Wonderer said:

I discovered the Truma portable refrigerators/freezers at the Quartzsite RV show in January this year.  I took advantage of the show special and bought one...the C44.  It works well and I recommend it.

Truma Cooler Portable Fridges and Freezers

 

@AZ Wonderer I’ve been looking at electric coolers/refrigerators, it’s on my want list! We have a Yeti and I love it but would like to do away with ice. 

[Jps190]

I've had the Iceco VL75Pro for about a year.  Works great, has the danfoss compressor and I paid about $870 bucks with a coupon.  I have a similar setup to Steve with solar to charge a battery in the truck bed that then powers the fridge.  With partial sun it will run indefinitely.

[Mountainman198]

Have been using two Dometic CFX35w,  one as fridge and one as freezer, for past three seasons. Work great and draw very little energy

[Corvus]

After a lot of deliberation about weight, size and cost we went with the F40C4TMP. We've used it in multiple settings for nearly a year now and it has performed better than expected. For us it has been a great compliment for the camper, truck, car and house.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08D3T3CJ2/

 

[Steve Morris]

When we bought our fridge/freezer in 2016, there were very few choices, and all of them expensive. The "in" fridge was the ARB50 at $850 plus $150 shipping. We were visiting the Conqueror trailer importer in our home town of Bellefontaine, Ohio, and he was swapping out the National Luna 90 Twin fridge that came in the trailer for another combination fridge/freezer.

At the time, the NL 90T retailed for $2700, and we got one from him for $1000. That's a lot today, but a steal six years ago. National Luna is what is in UN vehicles, and what the Red Cross uses to transport organs in Africa and other remote areas. They have since designed their own more efficient version of the previously used Danfoss compressor, and reduced the price by about $1000. If you want the best available, check them out at the sole US importer, Equipt1.com Their custom service is second to none, and owner Paul May goes out of his way to accommodate your needs, often at his own expense.

Mine has been running in the back of my black Toyota 4Runner and now black Toyota Land Cruiser for 24 hours a day, March through Christmas since early 2016. We've not had a single regret.

https://www.equipt1.com/collections/fridges

[Corvus]

1 hour ago, Mountainman198 said:

Have been using two Dometic CFX35w,  one as fridge and one as freezer

Good idea, divide the weight, separate fridge and freeze plus add redundancy. Something for me to seriously consider before going to a larger unit.

[Patriot]

4 hours ago, Steve and Deb said:

When we bought our fridge/freezer in 2016, there were very few choices, and all of them expensive. The "in" fridge was the ARB50 at $850 plus $150 shipping. We were visiting the Conqueror trailer importer in our home town of Bellefontaine, Ohio, and he was swapping out the National Luna 90 Twin fridge that came in the trailer for another combination fridge/freezer.

At the time, the NL 90T retailed for $2700, and we got one from him for $1000. That's a lot today, but a steal six years ago. National Luna is what is in UN vehicles, and what the Red Cross uses to transport organs in Africa and other remote areas. They have since designed their own more efficient version of the previously used Danfoss compressor, and reduced the price by about $1000. If you want the best available, check them out at the sole US importer, Equipt1.com Their custom service is second to none, and owner Paul May goes out of his way to accommodate your needs, often at his own expense.

Mine has been running in the back of my black Toyota 4Runner and now black Toyota Land Cruiser for 24 hours a day, March through Christmas since early 2016. We've not had a single regret.

https://www.equipt1.com/collections/fridges

I am going to look into one of these. Very impressive! 

[tallmandan]

Ok, I'll chime in here on my experience with a lower-end, less expensive electric cooler.  After reading through the reviews, I bought a Massimo CX40 cooler from Costco in April.  I paid only $270 for it with and $80 off promo.  I knew it wasn't the build quality of a Dometic or Iceco but it's like one-third of the cost and the reviews were good.  I've used it on 4 trips and it's been great.  It plugs in to the 120v outlet in the bed of my truck during travel.  It has bluetooth and I can monitor and control the temps with the app on my phone.  It cools down very quickly.  It's just the right size for fitting under my tonau cover in the truck bed and I can then move it to the dinette seat in my LEII and transfer food back and forth to the refrigerator.  I've also plugged it into the 12V in the trailer and found that it's pretty efficient (especially if it's already been running in my truck and fully cold inside). I've kept it running set to 36 degrees on 12V in the trailer while having good sun exposure for the solar and it's been no sweat at all over a 3 day trip. 

It's kinda cheap looking compared to the $800-$1000 units and may not have the same quality of insulation - but honestly it's worked really well so far.  I figure that if something goes wrong I can easily retrun it to Costco.  It appears Costco is out of stock on the CX40 and only has the larger CX50 right now at their regular price.  If you want to go electric but spend less, it's worth a look when it comes back in stock especially when Costco adds an $80 promo discount every few months.

https://massimoelectric.com/e-koolers/cx40/

https://www.costco.com/massimo-cx50-12v-portable-e-kooler.product.100566509.html

[NCeagle]

22 hours ago, connor77 said:

Would like to hear from owners that have purchased portable refrigerators that they use while camping.  We hope to go on some extended trips next year and I'd like to be able to have a little more food kept consistently cold than will fit in our trailer refrigerator.

I've done a little reading on them and the price range is pretty broad.  I'd like to spend $1k or less, if possible, and get something decent.  I already have a well made and very large cooler but I also feel like I've spent a fortune on ice keeping the contents cold while traveling.  And if we're far away from places that sell ice, I'm out of luck.

 

We bought a Dometic CC 40 Portable for $524.99 two years ago right before we picked up our Ollie.  It's no frills AC or DC and has worked great.  It seems to be a good size for us.  Coupled with the Ollie fridge, we've had plenty of room for everything without having to buy ice.  I can even manage to lift it on the back of the truck tailgate when it's full of drinks still...  barely.  🙂 I use it a lot even when I'm not camping.  Definitely love not buying ice, so whatever you end up with you will be happy with that!

[daveandalice]

I went with the Iceco VL45 for $699.00. We previously had a Dometic in our previous teardrop trailer that had the dual opening lid but I didn't want to spend the higher amount of the Dometic. The Iceco uses the same Danfoss compressor as the Dometic, the lid opens both ways and has a light inside.

We used to stress over the increase in refrigerator temps while traveling through the Texas panhandle in August, we now place the Iceco on the back seat of the truck and plug it into a small Jackery 240 power station for uninterrupted cooling, once we get to Colorado we have all of our meat, etc. at the proper temps and no more stress, plus we can access cold drinks while driving.

The small Jackery will run it for a few days by itself.

It's amazing not to have to worry about reloading ice, draining thawed water, etc. and you have increased storage capacity by eliminating ice.

Iceco VL45

Jackery 240

[connor77]

This is an older thread but if anyone is considering a portable refrigerator, Truma has a really good promotion on 3 of their models right now. 

[Ollie-Haus]

Anybody that has been considering a portable cooler to carry in your tow vehicle, Amazon has the Truma C73 marked down 35% currently. They are pretty expensive regular price but this discount makes that model about the same price as the Trumas half that size. 

It's a very high quality unit, made in Germany, not china, and has real nice features just like the Truma appliances Oliver is putting on the new campers. Bluetooth control, auto voltage monitoring and shutdown, low current draw, temps adjust down to -6f. If you like Truma and have been considering a cooler this price is as good as you will ever find.

Link

[John E Davies]

Any idea about the cost for the optional insulating cover? ARB offers one for around $200 for this size unit.

Are Trumas as ruggedly constructed as ARB?

Thanks,

John Davies

Spokane WA

[Ollie-Haus]

12 minutes ago, John E Davies said:

Any idea about the cost for the optional insulating cover? ARB offers one for around $200 for this size unit.

Are Trumas as ruggedly constructed as ARB?

Thanks,

John Davies

Spokane WA

Including sales tax the cover directly from Truma was $195 with free shipping.

[BBL]

4 hours ago, Ollie-Haus said:

If you like Truma and have been considering a cooler this price is as good as you will ever find.

That is one big cooler for the back of your truck.  I kept measuring and evaluating what we really need and the space I need/want in the truck.  After visiting Truma at the Overland Expo in VA I chose the C36.  Nowhere near as big as yours but it does the trick for us.

We also found the Isotherm in the Oliver to be very roomy so we won't need a larger fridge.  Our fridge in the Airstream was slightly larger that the one in the Oliver (5.0 cu ft versus 4.5 cu ft in the Oliver) and we never had an external fridge. Occasionally, I would take my 50 QT YETI along to keep the barley pops cold but that was the exception, not the rule.

Cheers,

Brian

[Ollie-Haus]

To be honest half that space is designated for our dogs' food. They are fed a raw meat diet that has to be frozen. I only got that size because at the time I was shopping the price for the C73 was about the same as the C30, which it is right now again. If we do extended boondocking as we are planning, it should come in very handy. 

[Ollie-Haus]

16 minutes ago, Brian and Brandelyne said:

That is one big cooler for the back of your truck.  I kept measuring and evaluating what we really need and the space I need/want in the truck.  After visiting Truma at the Overland Expo in VA I chose the C36.  Nowhere near as big as yours but it does the trick for us.

We also found the Isotherm in the Oliver to be very roomy so we won't need a larger fridge.  Our fridge in the Airstream was slightly larger that the one in the Oliver (5.0 cu ft versus 4.5 cu ft in the Oliver) and we never had an external fridge. Occasionally, I would take my 50 QT YETI along to keep the barley pops cold but that was the exception, not the rule.

Cheers,

Brian

That's interesting as I just checked on their web site and the footprint of the C73 is only 2" wider and 3" longer than the C36. The primary difference is in height of about 6 inches. The hourly amp draw is listed as .6 and .5 respectively. Obviously there's no need to buy more capacity than you will ever need, but for us this looks like it worked out pretty good for our needs and the price. I'm going to get a slide tray to mount it to so we can access it more easily from the back of the truck. 

[BBL]

13 minutes ago, Ollie-Haus said:

The primary difference is in height of about 6 inches.

You are correct and I went through all those dimensions and measured my truck carefully.  I have a full-size Bed Slide rated at 1500 pounds so I lost some height due to that. An additional 6" would make it nearly impossible to fully open without sliding it out every time.  I also have an ARE topper on my truck so that was part of the consideration.

I installed L-tracks onto the Bedslide to make tie down points and I also have the insulated cover that stays on the fridge at all times.

Not saying yours won't fit or be a good fit for your needs. I just got a smaller one and, so far, it fits our needs perfectly.

My wife won't go to the grocery store without it now. Sometimes we go over to Ft Campbell and shop at the commissary. That is about a 45 minute drive back home and this fridge keeps the frozen stuff frozen. For those trips, a C73 could be very useful.

Brian

[Ollie-Haus]

On 4/21/2023 at 6:00 PM, Brian and Brandelyne said:

You are correct and I went through all those dimensions and measured my truck carefully.  I have a full-size Bed Slide rated at 1500 pounds so I lost some height due to that. An additional 6" would make it nearly impossible to fully open without sliding it out every time.  I also have an ARE topper on my truck so that was part of the consideration.

I installed L-tracks onto the Bedslide to make tie down points and I also have the insulated cover that stays on the fridge at all times.

Not saying yours won't fit or be a good fit for your needs. I just got a smaller one and, so far, it fits our needs perfectly.

My wife won't go to the grocery store without it now. Sometimes we go over to Ft Campbell and shop at the commissary. That is about a 45 minute drive back home and this fridge keeps the frozen stuff frozen. For those trips, a C73 could be very useful.

Brian

I looked at the full bed slides when we got our truck and decided against. I know it would be really handy in a lot of situations but just felt I didn't want to lose any vertical space. Now having got the cooler it's obvious that we at least need a slide for it. They aren't cheap either but I will bight the bullet and get one. 

I hadn't thought of the grocery store application so that will be a bonus. I know we will make good use of it. I'm looking forward to getting my solar and lithium battery set up in the truck as the cooler will just stay on 24/7 mostly running off solar. 

[Patriot]

On 8/26/2022 at 4:01 PM, Steve Morris said:

When we bought our fridge/freezer in 2016, there were very few choices, and all of them expensive. The "in" fridge was the ARB50 at $850 plus $150 shipping. We were visiting the Conqueror trailer importer in our home town of Bellefontaine, Ohio, and he was swapping out the National Luna 90 Twin fridge that came in the trailer for another combination fridge/freezer.

At the time, the NL 90T retailed for $2700, and we got one from him for $1000. That's a lot today, but a steal six years ago. National Luna is what is in UN vehicles, and what the Red Cross uses to transport organs in Africa and other remote areas. They have since designed their own more efficient version of the previously used Danfoss compressor, and reduced the price by about $1000. If you want the best available, check them out at the sole US importer, Equipt1.com Their custom service is second to none, and owner Paul May goes out of his way to accommodate your needs, often at his own expense.

Mine has been running in the back of my black Toyota 4Runner and now black Toyota Land Cruiser for 24 hours a day, March through Christmas since early 2016. We've not had a single regret.

https://www.equipt1.com/collections/fridges

Steve,

We are really considering a National Luna twin and are hoping to see yours at the rally if you’re open to showing it to us. 
Our TV is 12v ready and would just like to get a visual on the size. Would you be willing to let us take a look at your NL90?

This NL is on our radar -https://www.equipt1.com/products/50l-legacy-fridge-freezer?ref=yotpo_93

Patriot🇺🇸

 

[Steve Morris]

2 hours ago, Patriot said:

Would you be willing to let us take a look at your NL90?

Absolutely! Site #G23. I do wish it had separate lids, and that the hinges could be swapped side to side.  It I’m extremely happy with ours, though! It’s got well over 40,000 hours on it so far. (Mid-March until Christmas every year since fall 2016.)