as for the word fridge its the same as cooler the meanings are the same
No, that`s not correct, sorry...not when it comes to camping fridges and coolers anyway. Coolers will cool the contents to a certain point below ambient...usually about fifteen or twenty degrees below, depending on the quality of the cooler. Fridges will cool to a point determined by the thermostat irrespective of ambient temperature, though in the case of some camping fridges run on gas, the thermostat can`t be tuned very finely. (And you can end up freezing the milk.)
Basically that means that if you had both a cooler and a fridge out in last weekends heat of 30 degrees, your drinks would feel reasonably cool at a storage temperature of ten degrees but it wouldn`t have been safe to keep the burgers for the barbecue in there for very long. But the fridge would have been able to maintain the recommended food storage temperature of 0-6 degrees. And according to the UK Kitchens Advisory Board ...
"Salmonella grows at 7ºc and listeria organisms double every eight hours at 10ºc."
So a cooler is fine for milk, some cheese, butter and these things that don`t necessarily require being kept really cold for safety. And of course you can boost it up a bit by using ice packs and freezing food, just like you would a standard coolbox. But if you want something that performs like a fridge, buy a fridge.
I do a lot of travel in very hot climates and I can assure you a cool box is not suitable. They are great for northern Europe and only for very short periods of time suitable for food storage. You try and keep food in them for over a week in 30 degree plus temps, you better make sure you have medical insurance.
I use two fridges depending on my trips, if we go to Europe I use my Waeco CF-18 as we can stock it up regularly. But if we go over to North Africa for 3 weeks we use the bigger CF-50. Have to admit I mainly freeze the food and keep it at -18 degrees and use a cool bag as my fridge with some freezer blocks.
Ok this might be OTT for the average camper but you can get a CF-18 for about £350, but it will last a lifetime and you can use it in the house to store food etc. But there are cheaper options out there, the main thing you want for very hot climates is a fridge with a compressor. Yes I know the 3-way type coolers are good but you try putting one in 35-40 degree temps and see how well it copes. I guess it comes down to three things, how high will the ambient temperatures be, how long do you want to store the food for and of course how much you can spend.
This is made by LG and has a very high energy efficiency rating. It is silent apart from when the thermostat kicks in periodically. There is very slight num, but no louder than a mouse's fart. It certainly won't keep you awake at night. The fridge is our best gadget but it is a bit bulky in the car. This really allows you to eat and drink very nicely, plus you can keep food fresh and stock up on meat for the BBQ. And it holds 440ml beer cans upright in the bottom and the door still closes! so you have fruit juice, milk, white wine etc in the door, beer in bottom, more beer in the freezer drawer for a quick chill down! and beer in the main section along with your cheese, butter, bacon etc!
This is made by LG and has a very high energy efficiency rating. It is silent apart from when the thermostat kicks in periodically. There is very slight num, but no louder than a mouse's fart. It certainly won't keep you awake at night. The fridge is our best gadget but it is a bit bulky in the car. This really allows you to eat and drink very nicely, plus you can keep food fresh and stock up on meat for the BBQ. And it holds 440ml beer cans upright in the bottom and the door still closes! so you have fruit juice, milk, white wine etc in the door, beer in bottom, more beer in the freezer drawer for a quick chill down! and beer in the main section along with your cheese, butter, bacon etc!
To be honest, I have found all the specifications they give out about coolboxes to be complete and utter rubbish. If they cooled x degrees below ambient then why do things still melt in them. Since it is rarely 25 degrees in Britain their statements should mean that almost 90% of the time frozen food should stay frozen in them. I have tried a couple of coolboxes and I have never managed to leave milk in it for more than a day or two without it starting to go off. In the end we bit the bullet and bought a Combocool. Since we got it, no matter what the weather, we cannot tell the difference between that and our fridge at home. It keeps things just as cold and we can usually keep milk in it for almost a whole week long trip. From our experience we have found a lot of difference between a fan chilled coolbox and a fridge even though the specifications say very similar things. Even in the hottest of weather we have still had ice cold beer and soft drinks in it. We were never able to achieve this with a coolbox. We still have a coolbox that we use when just the 2 of us go away for short trips ( Outwell ) and although this is fine in normal weather, as soon as it gets extra hot it can no where near cope for any length of time, drinks are not ice cold and sometimes I wouldn't even say chilled.
One other thing that people forget about cool boxes is that the minimum temp will only be reached if you never open the door. You start opening the door and putting in hot items forget it, try 3 degrees below ambient if you are lucky. Do not get me wrong cool boxes have their place for keeping beer and juice in. If you are lucky they will feel cool but if not it’s not the end of the world, nobody ever died drinking hot beer. But food is an altogether different matter, a bad case of food poisoning in the wrong enviroment can be very serious. If you plan on keeping food fresh then please forget a cool box go with the LG or Waeco fridges already mentioned. And by all accounts the 3 way fridges do a better job, I have very little experience with them but they get good reports. I will stick with my waeco fridges as they can cope with 45 degrees and I know the food will be safe but for europe a cheaper FRIDGE will do.
I have the combicool and have to agree it is the just the job but of couse you will need a trailer as is is a bit of a whopper in size. Personally I would only ever put drinks in a cool box and even then they are only mildly cool in hot weather. I like my beer cold !
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Topic: Best fridge for a tent
