Some thoughts as opposed to recommendations.Originally Posted by vapesob
- Most fridges when they fail, do so as a result of the electronics rather than the compressor. There are limited ways in which manufacturers can reduce build costs, & often the cheapies have lower quality electronics - more about how they are put together, than what they are. All are pretty similar. I recently had to replace the Thermistor in our ARB fridge. An easy 'plug & play swap'. I used a Dometic thermistor as they were easily available.
- Most fridge/freezers will be quite adequate for a one off trip, but long term is another matter. Depends what you need/can afford.
-More insulation = less power used.
If you have room & the budget required - a separate fridge & freezer will work better than trying to use the same unit for both - regardless of the advertising. But you will need a better power supply.
We've run separate fridge & freezer in our vehicle for the past 13 years, the last 6 almost fulltime, mainly in the tropics. Both are ARB units. (Now called ARB 'Classic'. We have Dc to Dc & Solar charging. When driving we have the freezer set to it's coldest. When we set up camp we change it to minus 14. ARB have 'average' insulation - comparable to most if you exclude Trailblaza & National Luna, but we like the design, particularly the lid closure. When they die we think we'll replace them with the same again.
Because we often go 'off grid for up to a couple of months at a time we usually get meat cryovaced & pre-frozen for added peace of mind before putting it in the freezer,& have eaten meat up to 4 months old this way & never had any gone off. This is probably overkill for shorter trips though.
Our preference is for units which use the Secop (Danfoss) compressors, not because they are any better than others (most commonly Engel's Sawafuji, or LG in some), but because diagnostic fault finding info is more easily found if required.
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