After two years of road trips into Europe and the prospect of more lengthy and exotic trips in the future, the struggle with not having enough cold beer got too much. We decided to look at our options for a portable travel car fridge.
In the land of 12 volt fridges all is not equal. The cheap ones you generally see in places like Halfords (local automotive accessory store in the UK) tend to work by making use of the Peltier Junction effect. Basically it is an electrical junction. You stick the fridge on one side of the junction and a heat sink and fan on the other. Electrically charge the junction blow the heat of the top and the other side gets cold. Simples. The issue with these fridges is that the performance is directly related to the ambient temperature.
The downfall of these fridges is that they are generally quite power intensive and have a limited cooling differential from ambient. This is not ideal in warmer European countries, but may well be sufficient in the United Kingdom.
The better option is to get a fridge such as the Waeco CF-18, it has a Danfoss compressor, similar to that which is used in a standard fridge or air conditioner. The whole unit is fairly efficient and works with a refrigerant circuit similar to your fridge at home. So the technology is well-proven.
We got this fridge for Summer 2009, on the advice of a friend, who tends to buy decent stuff. We have now used it for three years in countries from Portugal to Montenegro. It is superb and will run for up to three days on our split charging system, depending on the temperature in the Landy.
One word of advice. This fridge has worked well for us. It would be nice to have a larger one thou, so buy bigger if you can afford to and can store it between trips. This fridge is big enough for two two litre bottles some small items of meat, yoghurt and butter and milk. Oh and the odd chocolate bar.
Secondly watch out for the insulation level. If the manufacturer offers an insulating sleeve or blanket buy it! It will help in the hottest environments. Remember you car parked in the sun with windows closed could easily reach over 45 degrees Celsius.
The cover for the CF-18 seems to be of a reasonable quality, a decent fit , with lashing eyes and additional pockets. It will cost about an extra £35 delivered.
The bottom is removable, by using the zipper provided. The foil lining should make for easy cleaning. The only downside is the black top material, a light grey would have been better. Having said that thou the material is certainly tough.
Verdict: If you are after a smaller Fridge. We would definitely recommend this fridge Weaco CF-18.
Others brands to consider are Snomaster, National Luna and Engel. For an in depth review of bigger 12 volt fridges check out this post on Expedition Portal.
What fridge do you use on Overland journeys? Leave a comment and let us know.