Fridges.

Hi, and Welcome to the Great American Roadtrip Forum.

There is a number of 12v fridges available. From my experience and that of those whom I know, they are all reliable (and expensive). If you are going to get one, be sure it is a fridge with a compressor. That is what sets them aside from the 12v coolers (which burn out after continuous use).

You will need to have an extra battery installed by a qualified tradesman, if you are planning to run it continuously. A fridge could flatten the battery overnight. Most have a low battery feature, which turns the fridge off when it senses the battery low.

From memory, my fridge runs on a 200 AGM battery which was installed by an auto electrician. However, later, a lay man who knows a lot about this modified it for me, and since then it has run continuously when I travel, which is sometimes for months at a time.

I was looking to link you to a website of vandwellers where they discuss this installation, and the authors of which adjusted mine. But I can't find it. Basically it says that in North America auto electricians are notorious for installing these with wire which is just over 1/8th" in diametre. Since they replaced that thin wire with some which is almost quarter of an inch in diametre, I have not had a problem.

You don't say why you are looking at installing a fridge, but if you go with the popular makes (Engels, Dometic, etc.) and have an auxiliary battery installed correctly, you will probably have an excellent fridge for a very long time. Just be aware they quickly become too small.

Lifey