if you use semi-skimmed (green top) milk you can freeze that too so taking a frozen one will keep your box cool as it defrosts for 24 hrs. Only take enough fresh produce for one day and buy fresh daily will help too.
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Hi Amanda, Welcome to Camping! As you are still finding your feet and trying it all out I wouldn't go and buy a fridge. We at first started out with borrowed coolbags & boxes with freezable sachets & blocks which are fine for the weekend etc & lots of sites now a days have freezers for you to refreeze if necessary. We went straight from coolbox to Waeco Cab 40 fridge and have never regretted the jump as we took our time to find out what we really needed. Best wishes for some great camping holidays!
I have a cool box, an electric cool box and a 3-way (gas, 12v and electric) fridge to choose from and I take what suits the kind of camping I'm doing that particular weekend. If it's not high summer and I'm going for less than 4 nights I find the cool box perfectly adequate and it saves having to pay for an EHU pitch. It helps if you freeze in advance some of the milk and food that you're not going to use immediately as this helps keep the cool box cool for two or three days. It's not unknown to take frozen milk on Friday and still find crystals in it on Monday morning. You can usually refreeze ice packs on site, for a small fee. Mark your packs clearly with a waterproof marker and take a big elastic band to bind pairs together when in the freezer....saves rummaging.
Tips though....chill any food before you put it in the box. Open box as little as possible and don't leave it sitting open, also return unused portions of food asap to prevent them warming up too much. In warmer weather I take a thin insullated carrier bag as well (the sort sold at the supermarket check outs for taking chilled food home), line the coolbox with that and as the food is used I fold the top over to eliminate dead air space round the food.
As to chilling the beer and wine...put it in a bucket or bowl part filled with water, drape a wet tea towel over it and keep it on the shady side of the tent, preferably in a breeze. Evaporation will cool the bottles down.
Yeah pete i was a very practical person who liked 2 save money 2, until i found this site that is ,cos i would never have thought about half the stuff that i have now,I'm now converted from being a real tightwad , 2 being a spendthrift but hey i've had great fun in the process.
Of course you don't need one. Our beer keeps cold outside the tent at night. We use the wee cartons of milk that you get in restaurants - doesn't need to be kept in a fridge. Kids having cereal is a faff - ours have cereal bars/muffins . . .We were camping in France for 3 weeks last summer and didn't have a fridge/EHU. So, in this country you deffo don't need one!!
If you get EHU, which I recommend you do, then get an electric coolbox, one that goes in the car but get an adapter so you can plug it in to your EHU on site. Halfords sell the adapter.
Also, for your first trip, think about borrowing one, even an ordinary non electric one and freeze curry, bottle of water or your milk before hand.
I think it's too much hassle to go away for only one night. It's the same amount of work to go for one night as two (or more) so you may as well have a chill out day where you're not unpacking or packing.
just to add my experience, if you get a cool box (non electric) get a good one i have an Igloo Maxcold coolbox and i must say it is really good, some places i have booked do not have EHU available so the electric fridge wont be any good to you then
a few tips
1. fill some thing like a cola bottle with water and use that aswell as ice blocks, the bottle stays frozen for about 3 day,
2. dont leave the lid off, last year we went with friend and their electric fridge broke so she stored her milk in our box, only prob evertime she made coffee she came over took the milk out walked back to her tent to put it in the cups and then brought it back and closed the lid, this did not help
3. if it does defrost too fast (for reasons mentioned above ) and your blocks have not re frozen again, pop to the supermarket and get a bag of ice, not only does it keep the box cold, its ideal to pop in your drinks.
Saying all that some sites do have fridges on site which you can use, but i would not recomend this all the time.
Have a great time, we are going on our first trip may day weekend,
We would never be without ours - campingaz power box, best thing we have ever brought, its elec or 12v, 6yrs old now, everything else has come and gone but not that!
Like Val we have a fridge and a good quality coolbox and we use which ever suits our needs for the trip. Usually fridge 4+ nights away, coolbox for 3 or less.
If we are using the coolbox I make mega large icecubes in plastic tupperware type boxes usually about 4x4x2 inches. I put one of these into the coolbox the night before we go to chill the box. Then tip out the melted water when I'm ready to pack. Put the food at the bottom and then the other icecubes (2 or 3) on the top allowing the melted water to accumulate at the bottom of the box. Do NOT remove the melted water as it will stay very cold for days. We have had 5 days of good cooling by this method.
This does require your food to in waterproof container but it does work very effectively. Milk, beer, orange juice etc just stand up in their containers. Butter/spread and yogurts are fine too. Cheese, meat etc go into tupperware containers. By careful balancing you can also keep non-waterproof items above water level.
Try to open the lid as little as possible.
Also if I have prepared any meals for about day 2-3, I freeze these and add frozen to the coolbox. By the time you want them they are thawed but still chilled.
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: New to camping, do I need fridge?
, 2 being a spendthrift 
but hey i've had great fun in the process.
