I’m never a fan of people asking for the best of anything without qualifying it. The results you are going to get will be very subjective. If you ask someone what was the best film, you will get a lot of answers. Very few of them will be the truth (anything with Bill Murray is the correct answer). I’ve seen people asking in various groups for the best Fridge/Freezer, and they were bombarded with a range of units. Such questions need to be asked with a qualifier. What’s the best fridge for a two-day camp? Is XYZ1 the best fridge/freezer for off-grid living? What’s the best freezer for storing the body of a dead lawyer? (asking for a friend).
In my case, I had some qualifying requirements for my fridge solution.
Size
What I was seeking was a fridge based on the Tardis where outside it was compact enough to fit in a small space and inside it was the size of a penthouse apartment. I considered the kind of trips that I would be taking. Two regular ones are Burningman and a camping trip with friends to Coloma. In the case of BM, I’d be looking for 5-6 days for one person, and for Coloma, 3-4 days for two people. I figured this put me in the 40qt plus range.
Power
I needed something that could keep my beers colder than your mother-in-law’s stare, but also not drain my batteries in less than 4 minutes. A compressor-based unit was the only way to go here. 12v is also more power efficient than 110v.
Features
In most cases, you only need to keep things cold, but if you’re going to have longer trips then the ability to freeze something has its benefits. Especially if you need ice for your G&Ts. So with that in mind I looked for something with dual compartments. I found several units with dual compartments although many were passively cooled. This means that you would have one compartment set to freeze and the other would be cooled simply by being in proximity to the frozen compartment. While this does provide a saving in power, it’s less controllable.
Price
Let’s not pretend that price doesn’t matter because it does. However, I’m never one to make price the most important thing. This is a principle I use in presentations that I give. If price was the only thing that mattered, there would only be one fridge… which one? the cheapest. There would only be one car…which one? the cheapest. There would only be one phone…which one? (say it with me)…the cheapest. The fact that there are so many options indicates that price, while important, doesn’t make the top of the list. However, it has to be considered against your usage model. You wouldn’t pay $1,000 for a fridge you use once a year, just as you wouldn’t pay $50 for something you rely on daily. In my case, the sweet spot was in the $300-$400 range.
The Solution
In summary, I was looking for the ChillMaster 9000 Turbo Deluxe… widely recognized as the creme-de-la-creme of fridge solutions. Sadly, the ACME catalog listed this model as out of stock so my backup choice was the BougeRV CR45 (amazon link at the bottom of the page) and I have to say that so far I’m extremely pleased with my decision.
The CR45 is a 48Qt unit which should be plenty big enough for my requirements (yes, I’m also wondering why the CR45 either isn’t a 45Qt unit or called the CR48…either would work). I chose the option without wheels since I had no intention of taking my fridge on romantic walks in the park (there’s also the consideration of the extra dimensions that wheels and handles would add).
It has dual compartments, one small and one large, which can be individually controlled allowing for a small fridge and large freezer, small freezer and large fridge, two freezer compartments, or two fridge compartments. A built-in display shows temperature (both current and set), power status, and battery level. There’s an LED light when you open the lid, and also a cutting board (not entirely sure why but it’s there nonetheless).
There’s a USB port for charging…..something…and it has numerous power options including 110v, 12v, Solar panel and battery (optional purchase), Solar Panel and Power station (optional purchase). Its power consumption is low at approx 55w when the compressor is running and sound levels have been measured at 45dB (again, when the compressor is running). It has a simple-to-use app that connects via Bluetooth and allows you to set and monitor the temperatures, view the power status, and turn the unit on and off.
Here’s the unit on Amazon (sponsored link)
https://www.amazon.com/BougeRV-Refrigerator-Portable-Freezer-110-240V/dp/B09L17WYR5
