Posted: 5/4/2025 10:44:14 AM EDT
| I am considering buying a 12v cooler/fridge for camping trips with my family. I have always used regular coolers with ice, but recently I have been checking out the 12v options. For those of you who have them, what do you think overall? What brands should I be looking at, or avoiding? I have adequate batteries to power them while camping, so that isn't an issue. Thanks in advance. |
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I picked a Camco 450 (45 quart iirc) on clearance cheap a couple years ago. It's a 2 compartment fridge freezer. It has worked great. When I have it in the vehicle for an extended trip I will plug my jackery into an ignition controlled power port and plug the fridge into the 12 volt plug on the jackery. The jackery works as a pass through while the vehicle is running and powers the fridge when the vehicle is off. Attached File |
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Quoted: I am considering buying a 12v cooler/fridge for camping trips with my family. I have always used regular coolers with ice, but recently I have been checking out the 12v options. For those of you who have them, what do you think overall? What brands should I be looking at, or avoiding? I have adequate batteries to power them while camping, so that isn't an issue. Thanks in advance. Probably one of the best purchases of my broverlanding trips. With proper planning, my 52L carried enough food for 8 guys for almost ten days. No more having to worry about ice and if the food will be water logged. It just rough planned our meals and loaded them in with some sort of order. I also vacuum sealed most things to save space. We get to eat better because of it. Now other guys in the group have one too and it’s awesome. If you want to ball out, Dometic and ARB are top tier as well an Engel and National Luna. Iceco is a good not quite to tier but not quite mid tier option too. The others are basically clones that use the same compressors just rebranded. I actually bought a cheap 25L for everyday use as I don’t need the bigger one always. I keep bottles of water and sports drinks in them. Way cheaper to buy at grocery store than to stop at a gas station. They make dual zones now, one side fridge and other freezer, with battery packs and Bluetooth controls. |
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Like the poster above, I have a 12v unit - mine is a combo fridge/freezer (2 separate compartments) that we use on off road trips and other times (including in the house when we need another fridge outside). I also use a Jackery power unit to run it when the vehicle is off. No more ice. No more soggy food. No more super heaver thick-walled coolers. Whynter brand portable freezer car fridge 12v |
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I bought the 12v Coleman cooler from Coleman for 60 bucks. Worked great for camping and road trips a dozen years. It died, Walmart had the same one for 70 bucks. I'm 6 years in. Works great for camping and travels. We used it last on the cross country move. Milk, pop, jelly, all nice and cold. |
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We bought the igloo brand from costco a year or 2 ago. Dometic compressor in it, which I hear is good. We love it. Take it on all our boat trips, long car trips. It has paid for itself when you take 2 teenagers on an 8 hour trip and dont have to stop at mcdonalds every 12 miles or so. I want another one, smaller for when I go on the boat alone or long trips alone. |
| No more ice and coolers when I camp. I have two. One is inside and that is my fridge/freezer depending. One outside for just drinks. I keep one bag of ice for said drinks and never run out or melt. Can run either or both with my solar generator and they both run efficiently. Iceco for the win |
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I own several. The one we use the most and pretty much keep in the van all of the time is this one.. It looks like it's currently unavailable on Amazon but there's likely a similar one out there. Features we like: Large compartment with removable divider. The ones with a permanent divider between cool and frozen have less internal space and flexibility. Reversible lid. Wheels-they are essentially a dorm refrigerator and are heavy. Bulit in cutting board. Comes in handy when eating at campsites. Internal light for visibility at night. Ability to run on 12 volt or 110. |
I have this Bouge RV 30 quart cooler and it has been great. 
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| I’ve been eyeing one of these lately. My main justification for it would be that I can take it on the road when I’m working and pack healthier alternatives than eating on the run all the time. Anker Solis recently came out with one that can run off of 110, 12 V or internal batteries. It’s a single zone unit, but can go all the way down to freeze the contents if desired.Looks like they come with one battery, but the cooler has room for two. They claim that it will run for almost 3 days on one battery. I figured if you left it plugged into a switched 12 V outlet in your vehicle while you are traveling it could be a pretty good set up. Kind of pricey at $899 though, so I’m still kicking it around. |
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Quoted: Have had a dometic for years. Works great. Just have some sort of separate battery so you don't run your starting battery down. |
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Quoted: I’ve been eyeing one of these lately. My main justification for it would be that I can take it on the road when I’m working and pack healthier alternatives than eating on the run all the time. Anker Solis recently came out with one that can run off of 110, 12 V or internal batteries. It’s a single zone unit, but can go all the way down to freeze the contents if desired.Looks like they come with one battery, but the cooler has room for two. They claim that it will run for almost 3 days on one battery. I figured if you left it plugged into a switched 12 V outlet in your vehicle while you are traveling it could be a pretty good set up. Kind of pricey at $899 though, so I’m still kicking it around. I think its EcoFlow that makes an internally battery powered portable fridge freezer with an icemaker. Looks interesting. |
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Quoted: Like the poster above, I have a 12v unit - mine is a combo fridge/freezer (2 separate compartments) that we use on off road trips and other times (including in the house when we need another fridge outside). I also use a Jackery power unit to run it when the vehicle is off. No more ice. No more soggy food. No more super heaver thick-walled coolers. type Status report message description Access to the specified resource has been forbidden. Apache Tomcat/7.0.68 (Ubuntu) |