Thinking about buying a portable 12v travel/car refrigerator, but have exactly zero experience with this type of thing. If anyone has some suggestions/pointers/tips/reviews on the smaller versions of this type of thing, I would love to read them. I am looking at something in the 20-25 liter size range, and that comes with both 12v and A/C cables.

Thanks in advance,
C

Dometic is the brand I see all of the time. I've heard good things about them and I'm sure you can't go wrong with that brand.

I got a 23Q BougeRV that was on sale at amazon for $150. Used it on a week long trip to Florida and then used it again on a trip to Louisiana. Worked great for drinks and to store the fish on the way back.

My National Luna is great.

I've got an ICECO that is the bomb, but they are expensive. Mine is a dual zone Freezer/Fridge with seperate temperature control for both zones, impressively built. But I think they offer all flavors from just a cooler to just a freezer, and everythin in between. Mine can plug into 12v or 120V

I have the ICECO VL45ProS which is a single zone 12v/120v. It came with my camper. Not sure I'd spend that kind of money (~$700) for one as my first if it hadn't been included. You can spend a lot more on a Dometic or ARB. I have products from both those companies, all top notch stuff, but I don't have their fridges.

I'd look at the SetPower brand which can be had on Amazon in your size class under $200 for a first venture into the space.

Remember you don't need as much space in a 12v fridge to store as much as you do in a cooler on account of the absence of ice taking up space.

lawless89 said:

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Dometic is the brand I see all of the time. I've heard good things about them and I'm sure you can't go wrong with that brand.

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I've had 4 Dometic fridges over the past couple of years.

Generally they perform very well and share several parts with Engel fridges as well.

Unfortunately, support from Dometic is essentially non-existent. As long as the fridge is under warranty Dometic will replace it if/when you have issues. They do not help beyond basic "turn it off/on again" troubleshooting and seem very reluctant to sell parts unless you know exactly/specifically what PN you need.

As others have said, the big players in the camping/overland world . .

Iceco
Dometic
SnoMaster

IMO opinion best overall build of the 3 is SnoMaster. Have one in my camper and it's been great. But the others are also great and depending on your size needs/use case, they could be the better value.

There are plenty of other options that aren't as rugged. Set Power would be my preferred "budget" brand.

I have the Eco Flow Glacier which has it's own on board battery and that's really something to consider. We use it all the time. Not cheap though.



Set Power now sells a little battery setup that will work in line with any of their stuff(or really anyone else's). One way or another a battery is a really nice thing to have.

Thanks everyone. I will check out the Set Power line. I haven't heard of them before. We had Dometic in our RV's, but unfortunately they don't make the size we are looking for.

C

I've had a couple of ARB units for about a decade that have been used continuously on 120AC or 12vdc when traveling. Also check out Engel.

Don't discount National Luna. They are used in Africa to store and transport vaccines across the continent. Not has popular in the US but more rugged.

Caladan said:

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Thanks everyone. I will check out the Set Power line. I haven't heard of them before. We had Dometic in our RV's, but unfortunately they don't make the size we are looking for.

C

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If you want to spend way too much time YouTubing this, check out Ozark Overland Adventures. He has an extensive gear review playlist that includes a lot of fridge/freezer reviews. He's used pretty much everything and is pretty bullish on SetPower.

He's paid to say that. Set power does affiliate marketing. He gets commission.

I have had multiple Dometic 12v for travel trailer. First year the unit went out. Compressor to my knowledge. There is not much for working or replacing components on the 12v units to my understanding. Whole unit had to be replaced. Was covered under warranty through dealership. Was still a hassle and pain. Hauling trailer to and from and leaving it for months at a time. No more than a year later and replaced unit goes out. Same thing. Dometic for me personally was not great with customer service or options for service/troubleshooting. Enough so that I said the hell with a 12v fridge in camper. The cost for replacement is ridiculous in my opinion.

We asked this question of a long haul trucking friend and this was the recommendation:

https://engelcoolers.com/products/45-platinum-portable-car-fridge

It will likely out live your children.

I have a Setpower J40 I bought Jan 2021, it's running right now as a freezer. I really like it.

We have used Engles as portable freezers, for transporting ice cream, for years.

Great video on expedition fridges.

Since you've helped me out with advice on optics I'll return the favor on this one!

I wanted something to keep food cold during trips that doesn't require ice. Had a buddy with an ARB refrigerator that was awesome… but I'm not spending $900….

Looked on Amazon and decided to try this for under $200 on sale

https://a.co/d/5bGqH7D

BODEGACOOLER 12 Volt Car Refrigerator, 27 Quart (25L) Car Fridge, Portable Freezer (-4-68), Electric Cooler for Vehicles Truck RV Camping Travel Home Use -12/24V DC & 100V-240V AC, WIFI APP Control

I've had it for over 2 years now and it works great. We use it 2 or more times a month for road trips/weekend trips to keep the food stuff out of the "beer cooler".

Sits on the floor of my F150 and I also have a 12VDC plug in the bed I can run it on.

Worth a try for under $200…. SW '86

The other option may be to look at the various temp packs which cryopak offers.

It might be cheaper/would be more reliable.

We bought a cheaper set power one (around $150-160) to use as a fridge in our minivan on longer car trips. It has worked perfectly