Fridge; three way or compressor, big or small

Fridge: Three way or compressor? Big or small?

Pros and cons of three way (12, 240 volt, gas)

Pros: Can run on gas if staying in the one place for days at a time (each a holiday by a lake) without the need for another power source such as solar or generator, so long as you have sufficient gas supplies.

Cons: Need to run on 12 v whilst travelling and it is power hungry compared to a compressor fridge, need van level, risk of fire, and it may not be fully effective in hot climates.

Probably the majority of campers have three way fridges, and most owners are happy with them. Generally they are powered on 12 volt from the tow vehicle when travelling and switched over to gas when stopped.

Pros and cons of a compressor fridge

Pros: Efficient on 12 volt. No switching fridge over when you stop and start. Don’t need to level the caravan or camper. Work well in all climates. No need to keep up gas supplies. They are very power efficient.

Cons: You need a power source for when camped such as extra batteries and/or solar panels or run a generator each day. These days many vans are equipped with solar panels and batteries, so for these the compressor fridge is ideal.

Most compressor caravan fridges these days are 12/24 volt, and can have a converter such as Mobitronic for mains power use to bring the voltage down to 24 volt. We tried one, but found the fridge more efficient when powered direct from 12 volt than when wired from 12 volt through the converter. It depends on your camping style. If you spend a lot of time in powered sites and do not have a lot of solar power and internal batteries, it would be a good option. If necessary, we could charge our batteries from mains power or a generator and continue using the fridge on 12 volt only.

Size

Depending on you dietary needs and the number of people in your family, choices can vary from a small car fridge or two to a large two door compressor fridge. Of course the larger fridge will use more power, as well as be heavier. While suitable for a large caravan, a family with children or a couple on the road full time, most can manage with a smaller fridge. A two door fridge gives you the convenience of a freezer, as the small internal freezer section in the one door fridges is not suitable for long term storage or holding heavy weights on rough roads. With one the latter types in our caravan, for long outback trips we have can run a small Engel car fridge as a freezer stored in the cargo area under the bed. This requires adequate power and our solar system and battery storage can easily cover this.