Fridge for Beach - £75 or £700?

[Eamonn]

Hi all,

I've just realised a long held ambition and bought my VW Beach

I'm looking to buy a fridge, as this is going to be an essential bit of kit for family days out. I see from other posts here that the Waeco CFX35 seems by far the most recommended. However, this is £600+

I've seen 12v coolboxes on amazon (like the Waeco/Mobicool U32) for less than £80, and wondering is it really worth spending nearly 10 times as much for the CFX??

Appreciate any advice on this!
Thanks!

 

[Hotel California]

Welcome , lots to find on the forum regarding fridges for in a Beach , check out the forum .
Better to invest in a decent fridge imo. it's a important piece of kit .

 

[WelshGas]

Hi all,

I've just realised a long held ambition and bought my VW Beach

I'm looking to buy a fridge, as this is going to be an essential bit of kit for family days out. I see from other posts here that the Waeco CFX35 seems by far the most recommended. However, this is £600+

I've seen 12v coolboxes on amazon (like the Waeco/Mobicool U32) for less than £80, and wondering is it really worth spending nearly 10 times as much for the CFX??

Appreciate any advice on this!
Thanks!

The cheap coolboxes are less efficient and power hungry. For days out they would be fine. You would be able to buy about 5 coolboxes and a leisure battery for the cost of 1 efficient, effective fridge.
If camping, especially off grid then the more expensive is the way to go.

 

[willwander]

Why not buy the £70 one first, see how much you actually use it. I’ve hardly used the fridge yet since getting our SE

 

[MaxRed]

I have an inexpensive cool box, it doesn't cool really well... The one I have uses peltier element to cool down the outside air, which also leads to high humidity in the fridge. The "real" waeco fridge we had in a beach was much more efficient

 

[Amarillo]

I love our Waeco fridge (CFX28). It is hardwired to the leisure battery and can go in three, or more, positions: behind the front passenger seat, in the boot under the shortened multiflex, or externally in the safari room. With an extension lead it could go in a driveaway awning. Together with solar panels on the roof, keeping the leisure battery fully topped up, it makes a formidable piece of kit which is almost always on.

And frozen peas stay frozen on the way home from the supermarket on a hot summer day. More recently it kept a half Aberdeen Angus sirloin chilled on the way back from a farm shop for roasting on Christmas Day.

The CFX28 is sufficiently large for four for four nights, excluding water or fizzy drinks, but including a bottle of wine and a few beers.


Follow my blog: www.au-revoir.eu

 

[motacyclist]

The cheap coolboxes are less efficient and power hungry

Noisy too!

I’ve hardly used the fridge yet since getting our SE

We find that for days out or short stays the fridge stays cold without turning it on if we put a couple of ice packs in it, so you could just try an ordinary cool box (which you may already have) and save up for a decent compressor type fridge.

 

[Jonathan Duke]

Dometic Waeco CF 11 Compressor Fridge (fits between the front seats.)

Cost about £350 (worth every penny.)

 

[soulstyledevon]

I’ve had both.
Ended up with a Webasto compressor fridge and the difference between that and the old 12v cool box was, subzero and luke warm.
Honestly, don’t both with anything other than a compressor fridge.
There’s a reason why they cost a lot more.

 

[flying banana]

A 70 quid cool box will just kill your leisure battery. Probably in less than 12 hours. If you do go down that route try to unplug it and use ice packs where you can

 

[Eamonn]

Sincere thanks to all who responded. Really appreciated!

 

[MattBW]

If you want to go off grid, then a thermoelectric will flatten your leisure battery within a day or so. They generally only cool a set amount below ambient which means they can be poor in summer. In Winter they keep cooling even when you don't need it. If you are on hookup then there are some good options (evaporative) which don't need to be so efficient. But on 12 v they may draw power beyond the point of damaging the battery.

A compressor will only draw power when its cooling, will stop when down to temperature and give you 3-5 days from a single battery with careful prep (frozen blocks or bottle of water can greatly extend range). They generally have a cut out to protect your battery too.

They cost more but they are vastly better.

 

[B J G]

Used to use this type years ago with a caravan which had no fridge. On site either mains or with a gas bottle saving leisure battery. Even used for Xmas fridge surplus.
Can be cooled at home on mains before setting off.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dometic-...h=item33fc6f9f87:g:-7QAAOSws2Rb9Xh9:rk:7:pf:0

 

[Gavinskii]

I had the same dilemma having just bought a beach. Check out the Waeco Mobicool FR40 on the Sotel (German website). Exactly the same as the CFX35 for under €350 delivered!

 

[Bramco]

A 70 quid cool box will just kill your leisure battery

Sorry but that is just wrong. Look at the specs and you'll see there isn't actually a great difference between the two types re consumption. It takes our cool box 2 to 3 days before the leisure battery is done for. Put a solar panel on and it's a lot longer.

The decision has to be based on the way you want to live with your van. All the folks that have replied so far are ardent waeco fans. There's plenty of ardent toolbox fans out there. We're the only sad ones not out enjoying our van - the rest are having a great time sipping a chilled wine or beer.

I'd read some of the other threads before you waste hundreds on something that might not suit your needs. You can buy 5 or 6 12v/240v toolboxes for the same money.

 

[calikev]

i bought the tropicool tcx 35 thermo electric cooler it does shut down when the temperature is reached and is ver quiet cost me about £250 im well happy with it

 

[kave]

After 2 years of light usage our cfx28 could no more keep cool. Because of our consumer rights law (thank you EU) I got a new replacement Dometic CFX28. If that fails I am going to get something else than Dometic waeco, maybe IndelB with Danfoss compressor instead.

 

[soulstyledevon]

After 2 years of light usage our cfx28 could no more keep cool. Because of our consumer rights law (thank you EU) I got a new replacement Dometic CFX28. If that fails I am going to get something else than Dometic waeco, maybe IndelB with Danfoss compressor instead.

I had the Webasto, which is basically an IndelB and had no issues with it over a similar period. Great little fridge which I wouldn’t hestitate buying again if needed.

 

[flying banana]

Suit yourself.

After 2 years of light usage our cfx28 could no more keep cool. Because of our consumer rights law (thank you EU) I got a new replacement Dometic CFX28. If that fails I am going to get something else than Dometic waeco, maybe IndelB with Danfoss compressor instead.

Boris bike

 

[MattBW]

Sorry but that is just wrong. Look at the specs and you'll see there isn't actually a great difference between the two types re consumption. It takes our cool box 2 to 3 days before the leisure battery is done for. Put a solar panel on and it's a lot longer.

The decision has to be based on the way you want to live with your van. All the folks that have replied so far are ardent waeco fans. There's plenty of ardent toolbox fans out there. We're the only sad ones not out enjoying our van - the rest are having a great time sipping a chilled wine or beer.

I'd read some of the other threads before you waste hundreds on something that might not suit your needs. You can buy 5 or 6 12v/240v toolboxes for the same money.

Always check the amp usage per hour. The power drain is probably the same but the average per hour may be vastly different.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[burnercan]

After going through this same dilemma we got the Mobicool FR40.

It was by far the cheapest of the compressor fridges available, roughly half the price of the equivalent sized CFX model. It only goes to -10C where the more expensive ones apparently go to -18 or 20. The specs show it has a lower amp draw than the more expensive units, maybe that's why it doesn't go quite as cold but still freezes. The longest I've had it running on batteries in a stretch was about 3 days, not sure how much longer it would run as I don't have a battery monitor. Seems to be quiet enough as it doesn't disturb our sleep even though it lives right beside my head when I'm sleeping in the bus.

We decided on the cheaper one figuring we wouldn't really use it that much. In practice though it has become my beer fridge in the garage when not camping so it's been plugged in 24/7 for the last 6 months and works great.

 

[patnolan]

We have a Waeco TropiCool TC 35 FL which is not being used anymore. We choose this model because it gave sufficient cooling (up to minus 30 deg below ambient temp) when on holiday in Italy . It fits snugly between the passenger seat and the fixed box.
Open to sensible offers if anybody interested. Please phone / txt 07977 437183 for more details.
Based in ME174GU

 

[JTMonza]

Dometic Waeco CF 11 Compressor Fridge (fits between the front seats.)

Cost about £350 (worth every penny.)

View attachment 40237

Hi, what’s the real world useable capacity of this fridge ?

 

[Jonathan Duke]

Hi, what’s the real world useable capacity of this fridge ?

Suits us, as a couple. I wouldn’t want any bigger TBH. We toured for a month last Summer, no issues. We just carry milk, butter, some meats & cheese..... and a couple of beers of course. We find removing as much “packaging” helps, so buying sausages/burgers from butchers counter in a bag works better than from a supermarket shelf in packaging. Yogurt pots can be a bit of a pain..... Cans of Beer work better than bottles etc etc..... You can be quite space efficient when you think about what you buying. I would buy the same again, if needing to do so.

 

[Tandt]

We have a 12v which we dont turn on but have insulated it with a metallic foam mat. We freeze salt water in 2 square volvic bottles which stay cold 4 days. The wine and beer can go under the van in cooler weather. Don't lose the point of just taking off and having fun. You can always call at a shop when out and about