Four Different Types of Camping Fridges

Camping is a fun-filled activity that you can enjoy with your family and friends. While going camping, you need to pack up a plethora of things from food to quilts to make your trip fun and adventurous. Fortunately, many camp sites these days provide you with the basic amenities such as, running water, a power outlet, and washroom facilities. However, you do need to pack a lot of stuff and food for enjoying the wilderness. 

However, storing food or water in simple ice boxes will not be sufficient on an extended camping trip. The ice boxes are only effective for a couple of hours, and your food begins to perish. 

So, it makes sense to invest in a high-quality camping fridge that you can take with you on your camping trips. Generally, people use three types of camping fridge – compression, absorption, and thermoelectric. Let’s get to know them better!

• Compressor fridges

Different brands sell compressor fridges especially for camping purposes. Such fridges are highly efficient and consume less power than any other fridges as they run on 12v or 240v while consuming only 1-2 amps per hour. 

The best part about compressor fridges is that they are highly portable, and since they use only 12v, you can easily plug them into a power outlet in your vehicle. If you have a high-quality car battery, you will be able to keep the fridge running for an extended time. 

Many compressor fridges can run on solar power. So even if you leave your vehicle behind, you can carry the fridge and keep it running on solar power. 

Compressor fridges are considered the best in the industry since you can set the temperature according to your preference. Consider buying a compressor fridge if you have a power source on your camping trip. 

• Absorption fridges

Unlike a compressor fridge, there are no moving parts in an absorption fridge. And it functions using gas and heat exchange, wherein the fridge boils liquid ammonia and cools it down.  

Not the most portable devices, the absorption fridges are best suited for those campers who will spend a lot of time in one location as the fridge will burn a minute amount of gas to run the small boiler inside the refrigerator. These fridges work on 12v as well as 230v, and some even function on gas. To make the heat exchange process more efficient, you must keep the fridge at a level. 

However, these fridges will not work effectively on regular 12v vehicle sockets because of the manner in which absorption fridges work. In addition, they are not power-efficient as they can consume 8 to 12 amps per hour. 

The absorption fridge can cool up to 30 degrees Celsius below the ambient temperature. Invest in an absorption fridge if you are going to camp at one location only since they function best at a power outlet that supplies 230v.

• Thermoelectric fridges or cool warmers

Thermoelectric fridges have a similar functioning like an absorption fridge. They also do not have any moving parts. As the name suggests, thermoelectric fridges work when electricity passes through a thermoelectric plate on the bottom, which causes it to heat on one side and cold on the other. The cool plate keeps the temperature low inside the fridge. 

Unlike other types of fridges, a thermoelectric fridge is not the most power-efficient fridge as they draw a lot of power. Moreover, when it comes to cooling, they are not the best either and can help cool down only a little below the ambient temperature. Such fridges are best to store normal food items that too for shorter periods. 

• Passive coolboxes

It is a type of camping fridge that does not come with any moving parts, and neither uses any kind of electricity to function. Such cool boxes are insulated, and you can keep things cold by using ice blocks or cooling gel bags. Such fridges come in a variety of sizes, from smaller versions that can hold only a couple of items to a coolbox as big as a storage chest. 

However, the cool box is not effective in cooling down the items. They are only meant for keeping the items inside cold for a prolonged time. The disadvantage is that you will need to refreeze or refill ice into the coolbox if you are camping for an extended time. 

Thus, when you are buying fridges it is best to take into consideration the exact measurements of the fridge as different manufacturers have different sizes. There are a lot of different models.