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When I was a kid—back to the Stone Age—we relied on esky filled with ice to keep food and drinks cold during camping trips. Far from ideal, especially when you stay away from civilization for more than a day or two in the hot Queensland heat, because the ice will melt, regardless of whether esky is protected from direct sunlight and the worst effects of the high temperature.

Fortunately, the times have changed dramatically. Although eskies* certainly still has its uses, portable camping refrigerators provide a more general solution to the problem of keeping fresh and refrigerated food and beverages, so it has become the device of choice. Suitable for road and off-road tourists. (*Fun fact: New Zealanders call esky a cooler; South Africans call it a cooler. Go ahead-don't say I never taught you anything.) 

The portable refrigerator market is huge, full of all kinds of portable refrigerators and portable refrigerator freezers you can think of, with different prices and different quality.

The most popular portable refrigerator compressors are powered by a 12V power supply (from your car battery or the caravan setting of the caravan refrigerator, or solar panels) or a 230V mains power supply. You can also choose to buy a three-way refrigerator or a gas camping refrigerator, but we will focus on car 12V refrigerators in this yarn. 

The best camping refrigerator or camping refrigerator freezer for you comes down to several factors (including how big a portable refrigerator or refrigerator freezer you need, what power supply you will mainly use, etc.), so in order to eliminate the mystery may be a confusion of choice, this Is our portable camping refrigerator guide.

If you are looking for a 12V camping refrigerator / 12V car refrigerator, you have a variety of options, but it is important to spend some time at this critical stage of the buying process to focus on the size of the car refrigerator freezer you need.

The small size is suitable for some people, the large size is suitable for others, and the medium size is suitable for others.

Gary Kottmann, director of the Melbourne-based Australian-owned family business Bushman Fridges, told CarsGuide: "We always recommend that you buy the smallest refrigerator, not the largest refrigerator you can fit in your car. 

"Choosing compact camping equipment is a good way to make loading and unloading easier, especially when you are tired from long-distance driving. Small and medium-sized camping refrigerators will help. 

"For most campers, a refrigerator between 40 liters and 60 liters is a good start. This makes the refrigerator large enough to hold a lot of goods without being too heavy or taking up too much space in the car. No amount of precious space will consume a lot of electricity."

According to Gary, any small chest refrigerator with a size of 15 to 25 liters "is considered small and most suitable for daily use or for one person on weekends."

40-60L (medium cabinet refrigerator) is the most suitable size for young families or couples camping. 

"You can live in such a large refrigerator for two or three days, so it is perfect for a long weekend," he said.

80L (large chest refrigerator) "designed for long-term camping or large families".

"Anything over 80 liters is great for mass storage, but remember the extra weight when deciding where to place the refrigerator," he said.

A refrigerator freezer, such as this 35-52L 12V Bushman Fridge, can take your camping game to the next level (Photo: Bushman Fridges).

The next thing to consider is what internal configuration suits your lifestyle needs: single zone (one part can only be used as a refrigerator or freezer) or dual zone (two parts can be used as a refrigerator or freezer).

The single-zone refrigerator-with a main compartment that can be used as a refrigerator or freezer-is the most popular type, usually set at 4˚C as a large refrigerator. 

"If you freeze your meat-remove oxygen from the packaging to extend its shelf life-you can put it in the refrigerator," Gary said.

"However, if you decide to use a refrigerator and a freezer at the same time-instead of one or the other-a dual-zone refrigerator is for you. A dual-zone refrigerator is usually divided into two separate parts. Each part can be used as a refrigerator or freezer. "

When camping, solar panels are a convenient additional power source (photograph: Bushman Fridges).

You can use the vehicle’s starting battery to run the refrigerator, but even if the car is turned off, the refrigerator will continue to draw power from it, so you may drain the main battery. The lesson here? Running the refrigerator on a car battery will put you into conflict.

In order to avoid this situation-for a better 12V refrigerator layout-you need at least one auxiliary battery, which can run your refrigerator and any other 12v accessories, and keep everything charged and running, it is best to have a battery charger as Or battery packs, so please read our battery-related yarns in Adventure for guidance on these topics. 

Gary Kottmann of Bushman Fridges said that the second type of battery that campers need are deep-cycle batteries. 

"This type of battery is specifically designed to run appliances such as refrigerators. 

"The rated ampere-hour (Ah) of the battery. You must know that the power of a deep-cycle battery can only reach up to 60% of its rated output. 

"For this reason, we usually recommend using 120Ah batteries for medium-sized camping refrigerators rated at 1Ah per hour. This will provide you with three days of running time without completely draining the battery (1Ah per hour x Three days = 72Ah)."

When you’re out, your camping refrigerator relies on a 12-volt power source, usually from the dual-battery setup in the vehicle (again, to avoid draining the vehicle’s starter battery), as well as power from the solar panel, if you are traveling longer distances and The duration of the trip, so you will effectively have a solar refrigerator or a solar refrigerator. You will take care of this planet, you goddamn champion!

If you want to camp on a solar refrigerator, the solar panel you choose is important.

"For a 120Ah battery, we recommend using solar panels of approximately 200 to 250 watts (W)," Gary said. "Even on partly cloudy days, this can easily charge the battery. Another option for charging the second battery is to use a small gasoline generator with a battery charger, although this is more expensive than solar. 

"This is why many savvy campers who want to reduce costs now choose to take the solar route."

For ideas on how to find the right solar panel for a camping refrigerator, check out this guide.

He also said that people should look for a refrigerator with an efficient design, "so that you don't have to work hard to keep your food and drinks in good cold storage. 

"How do you distinguish between a high-efficiency refrigerator and a low-efficiency refrigerator? Look for a lot of vents! The key to an efficient refrigerator is heat dissipation, so the more ventilation around the compressor area, the better. 

“It’s also a good idea to check the manufacturer’s average power consumption specifications. This is measured in ampere-hours (Ah), which is usually an average over a 24-hour period. 

"Ideally, a good 40L to 60L camping refrigerator uses less than 1.5 Ah per hour, and averages more than 24 hours at an ambient temperature of 25˚."

Remember: the 12V refrigerator does not need to run all day, so turn it off at night when it is cool to save electricity. If you are camping in a campground with electricity, plug the refrigerator into a power outlet.

The price of portable camping refrigerators ranges from a basic, compact 20-liter refrigerator freezer at around $200 to a 15-liter Bushman Roadie portable refrigerator freezer for less than $900, to a 60-liter stainless steel weatherproof ARB Elements refrigerator/freezer, according to ARB , "Ultimate 4WDer Refrigerator", its price is more than 1600 US dollars, and the price of 85 liters of fiberglass Evakool Infinity refrigerator/freezer is as high as 2500 US dollars.

Brands of portable refrigerators and freezers include ARB, Bushman Fridges, Dometic/Waeco, Engel, Kings, Luna, XTM, etc.

The camping refrigerator on the slide is easy to access (Photo: Brendan Batty).

In addition to the usual suspects-Aldi, BCF, Bunnings and Anaconda-it is also worth checking out thugs such as Bushman Fridges, top products from aftermarket stores such as ARB and Ironman 4x4, and even Kings.

Portable camping refrigerators may suffer a real blow during their "life" period, but the specific warranty and maintenance terms and conditions will depend on your refrigerator manufacturer and supplier.

Camping refrigerator repairs should be carried out by professional and authorized personnel.

Gary said that the long-term warranty is a clear sign of the manufacturer's confidence in the product. 

"It also means that if there is a problem with your trip, you will sit back and relax. Although no one wants that, it is worthwhile to be prepared for any possible situation while camping. We recommend at least a three-year warranty. Less than this Anything worthwhile can be at risk."

It can be said that reputable companies and brands have complete processes and sales and service networks, so you can more easily decide which brand to buy.

You will find a large number of portable, camping or car refrigerators for sale online, but like any product, cheap does not usually mean happiness, so make sure you do a thorough research, read a lot of reviews from reputable sources, and ask around... And you should be right.

Note: Special thanks to the staff of Bushman Fridges for their help with this yarn.