Campervan Fridge: How to Choose

Choosing the best Campervan Fridge for your Campervan Conversion.

You'll be glad to know that you have come to the right place to decide on your Campervan Fridge. To help you out on this little quest, we have decided to provide all the information that you will need to make things a lot easier when choosing your 12v Fridge.

Best Campervan Fridges

Here we have created a list of some campervan fridges that we think will be great for many of you!

First up is the compressor fridge. A compressor fridge is the type of fridge that most people tend to have inside their houses. Even though this may make it seem that you can simply purchase any sort of fridge for your campervan, you definitely shouldn’t do this as it will use too much power, meaning that your leisure batteries will not be able to cope with it. This is the reason why we have the 12V or two-way compressor fridges. They will also work with your solar panel set-up.

The second fridge that will be a great option for your campervan is a three-way fridge. They are ideal if you are travelling in a large group. A three-way fridge will be a good option if your van doesn’t have a solar panel, as your gas supply can keep it running. A fridge running off gas is also completely silent, so this would be an excellent option to reduce as much noise as possible in the van at night.

The third fridge is the thermoelectric coolbox, which will be great for those of you who will build your own campervan on a budget.

The fridge freezer we use in most of our Campervan Conversions is:

Dometic Waeco CRX50 Fridge 12volt 24v Compressor Marine Campervan Refrigerator

This great fridge is reliable, stands the test of time and is perfect for the VW Campervan Conversion.

12v fridge and how they work

12V fridges are the most common type of fridge you will see on the road, and this is for a good reason. These fridges are often designed for use in vehicles such as vans and are also built with durability and efficiency in mind.

How much will a campervan fridge cost?

A campervan fridge has no overall cost, as it depends on what you wish to do. Factors such as where you purchase the campervan accessory or even the colour can influence the price, but what you want will determine the overall price.

We suggest spending between £500 - £1,500 on your 12v fridge. This will depend on factors such as size.

Compressor fridges start at around £250 - £2000
Thermoelectric coolbox usually cost between £20 - £250
Three-way fridge starts around £350 - £2000

What is a compressor fridge?

Compressor fridge freezers, sometimes called “2 Way Fridges” or 12v fridges, are the ideal solution for your campervan. Capable of running efficiently on 12v and 24v DC systems, 12-volt fridges have many features that make them perfect, such as rapid cooling, and low power consumption.

From suppliers like Dometic, Vitrifrigo, Inlander, Thetford and Webasto, a variety of compressor fridges come in various sizes and capabilities and are available either as fridges, freezers or a combination of both.

Compressor fridges are the ideal solution for anyone looking to run off grid through a 12v & 24v system; with various sizes and capabilities, a compressor unit can draw as little as 1.2 Ah/ hour (amp hours per hour) over a 24hr period. This makes them an excellent campervan fridge or caravan fridge - ultra-low power consumption is great for preserving leisure batteries.

How do they work?

There are three parts of the refrigerator that you need to know. The first part is the compressor. The purpose of the compressor is to increase both the temperature and the pressure to very high levels so that the refrigerant can condense by declining the heat through the condenser.

The second part of the fridge you need to know about is the condenser. The purpose of the condenser is to condense the gas into a liquid through cooling literally. The third part of the fridge is the expansion valve. The expansion valve removes pressure from the refrigerant liquid to allow it to expand.

Benefits of your 12v fridge freezer

A good 12v fridge freezer can be really easy to install in your campervans. They can also have really low energy consumption. Compressor fridges can also be powered by either a solar panel or leisure battery.

Things to take into account when purchasing a Fridge Freezer

Dual action (does it have a fridge and freezer element)
Freezer compartment optional – Can you remove your freezer area?
Adaptable shelf height – Make sure you can move your shelf to where best suits you
Changeable door direction – You can alter the direction your fridge door opens to suit your campervan conversion
Quiet compressor – High efficiency, cools quickly and you won’t notice it’s running. Especially when you're sleeping so close to it!

What fridge freezer do we recommend?

We offer the Dometic CRX50 Compressor 12V Fridge. The Dometic CRX50 Compressor 12V Fridge is a built-in fridge, with very low energy consumption. It also has a removable freezer compartment meaning that, with this flexible use of space, you can either use it as just a fridge, a freezer, or a combination of a fridge and a freezer.

The Dometic CRX50 Compressor 12V Fridge has a soft touch control panel, 2-stage battery protection, and also 5 different temperature settings. It also has a 2-year warranty, and consumes approximately 40 watts of power.

Dometic line of 12V fridges are great for installing into your campervan. They will keep all your food and drinks cold, whilst consuming a very low amount of power. The Dometic 12V fridges also have some pretty cool features which other types of 12V fridges don’t have, that may interest you! These are the fridge freezers we recommend.