Me and my husband made a plan to go on a road trip around Australia and see all the beauty it has to offer, so we chose to travel in a camping van and embrace the beauty of nature. So we bought one. We wanted to equip the van according to our likes and needs, which is where my part in the story begins.
I took the responsibility of getting all the kitchen elements, among which was also a fridge. Like it or not, you need to have a refrigerator when you go camping. You need to eat, don’t you? And in order to prepare food without worrying if it’s going to cause you food poisoning after, you need to have a cool place to store it. Plus, we like our beer cold, so that was another, very important reason as well.
I looked for a camper refrigerator online, and I was stunned by how expensive these things are! I realised that this is going to be quite the investment, so paying extra attention was more than necessary. After doing a little research on the offers and characteristics of a camper fridge, I came up with a list of things it needs to have in order to meet all my criteria.
Battery
When it comes to the battery, how you will charge it and how it will run in case it’s empty, is a very important matter. To begin with, the source of running energy for the fridge is your main issue, because obviously, you’re not at home. A good starting point would be to determine how much current would your fridge draw if the battery isn’t charged. In the range between 1 and 5 amps is enough, but have in mind that 1 amp is too little and 5 amps is too much. It’s best that you choose a model that can prevent the battery from going flat. A cutting out and in model would be perfectly well for this purpose.
Compartments
Besides the battery, this was my next and most important issue: is it a fridge, a freezer, or a combo? I know the camper refrigerator is a rather small appliance, but manufacturers have found a way to fit the two things in one. So, if you’re planning to carry some kind of meat, bread of veggies with you for a longer time, you’d want to have a freezer as well. Maybe you’ll want to have ice on disposal, which is another reason to go for having a freezing compartment.
Size
It’s obvious that the camper fridge won’t be big – it would be something small and compact to fit in your car. However, this largely depends on how big your car is. The car needs to provide enough storage volume so the fridge can have enough space for free ventilation. And that is along with the rest of your baggage: all the luggage needs to also be placed properly in the car. Another thing to consider here is whether you’ll need to move the fridge. If you do, consider its weight, as it may be quite heavy with all the load inside.
