MySwag.org The Off-road Camper Trailer Forum
General => General Discussion => Topic started by: AaronJ on April 28, 2015, 09:58:25 AM
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I assumed this would have come up already, but could not find the answer searching.
I'm about to buy my first fridge/freezer for my first camper (2010 Xtrail Xplorer).
I am going an Engel as (1) I know someone that knows someone and can get a great deal and (2) coincidentally the camper is set up for a 60L Engel with slide and power.
What I wanted to ask for feedback on is what would most recommend I go... just a fridge, or, a fridge/freezer?
Cheers,
AJ
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Hi Aaron.
I have the Waeco 80l fridge only. I have a few friends with the fridge freezer version and they seem to use a lot more power than me. I have never really wished that I had the freezer so I guess its what is important to you to take away.
Engel 60l fridge's are an amazing bit of gear. ;D
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Hi Aaron.
I have the Waeco 80l fridge only. I have a few friends with the fridge freezer version and they seem to use a lot more power than me. I have never really wished that I had the freezer so I guess its what is important to you to take away.
Engel 60l fridge's are an amazing bit of gear. ;D
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I have the engel 60 fridge freezer dual zone. Great bit of kit.
If you can afford the dual zone then its worth while.
On the flip side, we bought ours as our last fridge was stolen as was in desperate need at the time. With how we will be setting up next time I will be going to two 40L fridges as the 60 is a bit big for when its just myself.
(if you want a good deal let me know lol)
The plan is to go with two engels though, they are a dam good bit of kit.
Cheers
Evo
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Whilst I have an Evakool fridge/freezer, I only use it as a large fridge. Draws less power. I cryovac/vacuum pack all my meat so it will last for weeks in a fridge.
KB
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I agree with KingBilly.
We cryovac all our meat and that leaves plenty of room the beer. :cheers:
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Whilst you will have a fridge for years realistically how many trips will you do where you need a freezer. Mostly you will pass shops for fresh meat or vacuum seal it before you leave home.
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i like my dual zone (waeco 80dz)
more often use it as a full freezer
one thing i have learned recently is that most dual zone units only have cooling tubes at the freezer end. this can make the fridge temps a bit hot which i did notice on my last trip
:cheers:
Ads
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We run two 40L Engels only because we do a lot of day trips or short trips where one fridge is enough. But for our longer trips we throw the 2nd Engel in and we are set. Having 2 x 40L probably draws a little more power than a single 80L, but that’s something I can live with.
Only real time I wished I had a freezer is when up the beach camping for 7 to 10 days and the fish are on from day one and I want to freeze the fillets to bring home. We try and keep one fridge for drinks and the other for food which isn’t opened as much, then if all the meat is put in the food fridge frozen we find it’s still semi frozen 4 days later. But I have friends with a Fridge/Freezer and the kids do enjoy eating ice blocks on hot summer days.
While I love my Engels and over the past 10 years they been abused and knocked around in the back of the car and haven’t missed a beat, but they aren’t they quietest fridge on the market and it’s not something I would like under my bed at night.
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Hey mate,
We have a fridge in the tug and camper. We use the one in the car as a freezer and the one (larger of the two) in the camper as the daily fridge. The larger one in the camper is an Evakool fridge/ freeze but we have never needed to use that function. I think it would depend what your needs will be if you decide to go on long trips and want to be more self sufficient and have your food stores last the distance.
Cheers,
Matt
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We have a 60l engel fridge (3c) only in the camper, but we also have a 92l DZ primus fridge/freezer (3c/-16c) split door in the back of the tug.
The 92l is a bit big but has the same foot print as the 65l so no more floor space than the smaller one and it means we have heaps of space even if we don't take the camper.
We have never run out of fridge/freezer space lol ;D
The Primus and ones like it work differently to the Engel DZ'z in that it has the same amount of cooling lines in both sides, but uses a gas valve to divert the cold gas to the area when it's needed. Both sides are digitally temperature controlled A much better way of doing it , which I find works very well. You can also only run one side and turn the other side off if you want.
We use the F/F in the tug as the bar and freezer, drinks, mixers, ice and frozen foods. Ice cream is a bonus :cup:
In the camper fridge is milk, juices, veggies and other foods.
The freezer in the tug does cycle more but i find with 270Ah's of battery a 120w panel and bush bashing for a few hours most days the batteries stay topped up.
The fridge in the camper cycles a lot less, so the 210Ah's and a 160w panel the batteries last for ever.
We also carry a Honda Eu20i and 15amp/5amp(tug) 40amp(CT) chargers during winter or for shady spots long term.
(http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n521/gunsrunner/RedTrackS1/IMG_63161.jpg) (http://s1138.photobucket.com/user/gunsrunner/media/RedTrackS1/IMG_63161.jpg.html)
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Whilst you will have a fridge for years realistically how many trips will you do where you need a freezer. Mostly you will pass shops for fresh meat or vacuum seal it before you leave home.
Agree. Unless there are some special requirements, a freezer is not really necessary.
Just about any butcher will cryovac for you.
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As per Gunsrunner I have a 92L dual-zone Primus as well. Which I am finding a bit of a hassle to get stuff in and out of due to the height .. but that's a separate story.
We sometimes run it as a fridge and freezer, sometimes just fridge. With the freezer it helps keep things like fishing bait 100% frozen until you need it, and lets us take frozen vegies which is often the easiest thing to grab. Also frozen chips if we are setup for deep-frying while camping, and just frozen fish fingers or chicken 'tenders' or whatever.
But we do tend to find the freezer is under-used most of the time so I sometimes just go 100% fridge and deal with the lack of freezer.
Basically it is nice to be able to use it as fridge OR fridge+freezer.
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We have a 60l Trailblaza in the 80 and an ARB 47l in the Cub.
We have found it is all in how they are packed as to what stays frozen and what is kept cold.
By using thick corrugated cardboard to pick the bottom frozen and the top will stay cold.
Just can't justify spending the extra on a separate fridge/freezer when one will do.
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As I have an Engel 40L, and if I was looking to expand I would get the new 40L Engel fridge freezer. This has a multitude of options of two fridges, one fridge and an equally sized freezer or less freezer and more fridge.
Regards
Angus.
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I have the Engel 57L dual zone, and while it has been a great fridge/freezer, in hind sight I would go for two 40L units - one as a fridge, the other as a freezer. The 57L is big and bulky to move around, the two smaller ones would be much better.
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Trailblaza for me! However the 57 litre Engel fridge freezer was a good unit. Its now gone to a good home. :cheers:
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........The 57L is big and bulky to move around, the two smaller ones would be much better.
Perhaps you need to beef up a bit Symon.......oh, hang on...... ;D
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While my Engel is only 40l I've got it down pat so frozen stuff goes on the bottom & drinkies etc on top. I've found that on a setting of 2.5 things stay as they are and, as mentioned, vacuum packing does negate the need for a freezer most of the time. The number of times I may have needed a freezer doesn't warrant the expense for me.
Steve
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We thought about this recently as well and ended up buying a fridge (not a dual zone. but can be changed to freezer mode). The reason we did this was we really though about how much frozen stuff we would take on an average trip, and this can easily be fit into a small esky with dry ice, or as others mentioned vacuum sealed.
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A bit off topic but seeing people mentioned cryovac's I'm curious how long sealed fresh meats last when vaccuumm sealed?
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We have the bushman. it is a fridge freezer sort of.
You turn the temp down and the bottom half is a freezer and the top is a fridge.
It has a good basket set up which helps
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How many people?
What ages?
What sort of camping?
Come along to the swap meet and look :)
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We run 2 60lt evacools both are fridge /freezer , we can have all fridge or all freezer or both ,love the freezer got to have ice blocks for the scotch ,mind you we are on a working lap around OZ with no time limit ,so we can be weeks or months one spot either working or camping
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X2 on the bushman
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We have just bought a 2nd 40l engel to supplement our original 40, one in the camper is the fridge and in the tug as a freezer, looked at gettin a 60 but the twin 40 is more flexible, trade off being more power usage
Cheers
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I prefer a fridge and freezer, we are now spending around six months a year on the road and to have the freezer and fridge in the back of the D.Max is good for me, I now have a new EvaKool Glacier 75 Lt dual zone. That is my fridge cause it also has the beer in it and Annie has the 110 lt in the van for the rest of the food hahahahaha.
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Perhaps you need to beef up a bit Symon.......oh, hang on...... ;D
;D ;D
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We have used a 40l Engel for the last 20 years and it has been a great fridge. Last year we headed up north for 3 months and decided to change over to a National Luna (40l fridge/10l freezer) and couldn't have been happier. As stupid as it sounds, the 10l freezer held an amazing amount of stuff, and I even managed to fit in a box of magnum ice-creams at one stage. What a bit off luxury, sitting in the desert eating ice-cream. The National Luna has the same dimensions as the 40l Engel (within a few millimetres anyway), so we used the same setup but scored the small freezer as an extra, and the whole lot performed faultlessly.
As the others have said, if your trips involve going through towns at regular intervals then the freezer isn't that important. But if you head off into the wilds for extended periods then I would give it some thought.
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We have a 80 Waeco dual zone in the camper, but mostly run it as a fridge.
On longer trips we have an additional 40l Engel in the Disco, being run as a Freezer...
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I had the Waeco 80L duel zone but dumped it as the spill over design was a pain you were moving things around and it was not efficient
I went the Primus Mammoth double door and love it you can have it as a fridge/ freezer or all fridge or all freezer 2 doors and it is basically set and forget.
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I had the Waeco 80L duel zone but dumped it as the spill over design was a pain you were moving things around and it was not efficient
I went the Primus Mammoth double door and love it you can have it as a fridge/ freezer or all fridge or all freezer 2 doors and it is basically set and forget.
X 2
I have the 100L Companion, which Is Same fridge. Been awesome for 5 years.
Anaconda have a special on these at the moment. $1400.00 fir the 100 L I think
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We have just bought a 2nd 40l engel to supplement our original 40, one in the camper is the fridge and in the tug as a freezer, looked at gettin a 60 but the twin 40 is more flexible, trade off being more power usage
Cheers
Hi,
We are looking at doing the same when we do the "Big Lap".
We currently have a Weaco CFX40, good size, enough for the fridge basics; milk, juice, butter, cheese, salad etc. I use my TechniIce 40t esky for the drinks. But if are away from civilisation/ice for a while I don't think it'll last long. We plan on buying another CFX40 & run it as a freezer in the back of the vehicle. With two separate units you also have redundancy. If one dies, you still have another to save the remainder of your perishables.
My parents have a Engal 37t, & swear by it. I don't doubt they are tip top & probably the best quality. But they are heavy, expensive, bulky & as mentioned by others, noisy. My Dad's keeps his running full-time at home in the room next to where we sleep when we stay with them. I can hear & feel it cycling on & off during the night, & I'm not a light sleeper. Our Weaco is only used when we go away & if we look after it, I think it will serve us well.
Cheers, Dave.