Recommendations for fridge for 2 seater Beach please

[Chris&Sal]

Hi, we are just about to take receipt of our T6 California Beach and are keen to kit it out with a fridge (and ideally air con unit). Please can you let me know what you would recommend as most threads we have seen on here are recommendations for fridges which fit beneath the (higher) bench of the 3 seater version of the beach. Many thanks.

 

[MattBW]

Hopefully you will get some good feedback, we don't see as many 2 seat beach and part of me wishes I had got one.

Do you still get the VW cooler with the T6 beach? It can be used quite happily whilst driving but will drain the leisure batteries pretty fast when parked. If you can find something iwth the same dimensions it should fit perfectly.

I think quite a few folk on here use the CDF26 I think even some other model that will fit between the front seats but that is a small capacity for some but I use a CF40 and I would say thats perhaps a little large. It may also be a little tall for the 2 seat beach (not sure without testing)

This article may be a good use to you it shows a CDF26 in place in a 2 seat beach.
http://campfiremag.co.uk/which-camping-fridge/

 

[Jonathan Duke]

We've a 3-seat bench seat Beach, and use a Waeco/Dometic CF11 between the two front seats.

Works well for us. I stand on it when climbing up-top also.

 

[MattBW]

I knew there was one that fitted, thanks for sharing that pic. What do you find you can practically get inside it out of interest?

 

[Jonathan Duke]

I knew there was one that fitted, thanks for sharing that pic. What do you find you can practically get inside it out of interest?

We are just a couple, and small dog, as we normally travel. It'll hold a bottle of wine, and the 2l milk bottles also. However we normally just have smaller 1pt of milk, as it sits nicely in the front raised tray. Then have beers, butter, cheese, any chopped onions/peppers left over from previous meal..... Lots of packaged meat, for a big BBQ means we may have to remove the beer for a bit, but the beer re-cools pretty quickly once the burger/sausages start cooking. Works well for us.

 

[Steve39]

We've a 3-seat bench seat Beach, and use a Waeco/Dometic CF11 between the two front seats.

Works well for us. I stand on it when climbing up-top also.

View attachment 33020

View attachment 33021

Sorry OP not related to fridges...

Jonathan, what's the little table youve got? Looks like it's using the rail for the big table that comes with the van.

 

[Jonathan Duke]

Yes, I made it up myself from bits purchased. It was following my reading of a thread on here, and copying the idea myself.

I'll have a search for the original thread..... It works great, and be left in-situ with the downstairs bed made-up..... Very very handy for us, as stays in-situ all the time.

The table base and leg were purchased together from a van-convertor online, the arms to attach to the rail from my local VW parts desk..... And the bits to attach the arms to the table top, is just a few screws and a brackets from B&Q.

https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/thread...nk-bar-for-the-beach.16460/page-3#post-261582

 

[Steve39]

Thanks, will have a read of that thread and might give it a go.

 

[Chris&Sal]

Thanks so much. We will investigate the fridge that you have in your photograph. It's great to see how you have set the space up. Very nice seats etc. Thanks to all for your swift and informative responses. I'm going to like it on here If anyone has any thoughts about the air con part of the question too that would be great. We are expecting to be sleeping in the van in high temperatures..

 

[Jonathan Duke]

Thanks so much. We will investigate the fridge that you have in your photograph. It's great to see how you have set the space up. Very nice seats etc. Thanks to all for your swift and informative responses. I'm going to like it on here If anyone has any thoughts about the air con part of the question too that would be great. We are expecting to be sleeping in the van in high temperatures..

Interested in the air-con solution also..... to-date, we’ve found parking under a tree for shade, and keeping plenty of airflow thru the side windows both upstairs and down have been sufficient for our comfort.

Would like to hear of any possible improvements to this tho.

 

[MattBW]

Only aircon unit I have seen that is genuinely an aircon (and not just an evaporator/humidifier with a fan) is the zero breeze. Not cheap though.

 

[MattBW]

Or something cheap like this https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07CJQD9NN/?tag=vwcalifornia-21
but Im dubious how much difference it will make but you never know. I had an evaporative cooler once and it did indeed work in taking a couple of degrees off the temperature. Not a massive difference but a difference all the same.

 

[Jonathan Duke]

Cooling appears to be a bit of a conundrum when camping, as air-con needs a fair whack of power to be worthwhile, perhaps old school (parking in the shade) is the best way, for now anyway..... there’s always the option to start the engine, and run the AC for a bit to get to a moderate starting temperature suppose.

There are also solution for dogs, cool beds or whatever they’re called.

A small 12v air fan can also be quite effective, although I haven’t bought one yet, but will do as we’re off to Croatia this July.

 

[Steve39]

The Domestic/Waeco CDF11 (aka the one that fits between the front seats) is 45% off at Amazon, £272. Seems like a bargain of it will work for you.

 

[Gary&Heather]

The Domestic/Waeco CDF11 (aka the one that fits between the front seats) is 45% off at Amazon, £272. Seems like a bargain of it will work for you.

That is a bargain just got one.

 

[Brad Lintern]

That is a bargain just got one.

Anyone know if any of the larger versions also fit between the seats? Hard to measure and be sure... From the details, the 10.5l is 23.5cm wide. The 15 and 21 litre versions are 26cm wide with the 21l being 6 cm taller. The 39l 34 cm wide so I'm assuming it won't fit in the gap.Anyone got any experience of the 15 or 21 litre versions? Thanks in advance

 

[Jonathan Duke]

Anyone know if any of the larger versions also fit between the seats? Hard to measure and be sure... From the details, the 10.5l is 23.5cm wide. The 15 and 21 litre versions are 26cm wide with the 21l being 6 cm taller. The 39l 34 cm wide so I'm assuming it won't fit in the gap.Anyone got any experience of the 15 or 21 litre versions? Thanks in advance

From a “width” PoV I don’t think you’d squeeze anything wider than the CF11 - Addittionl height and/or length may be an issue, due to the seat recliner wheels, but surmountable if the seats can be positioned forward/aft to avoid the recliner wheels.

 

[Bramco]

Hi, we are just about to take receipt of our T6 California Beach and are keen to kit it out with a fridge

Why pay 3 to 400 quid for a waeco or similar when one of the 12v/23v coolboxes is just as good. We are on our second now - can't remember how much the first cost but it was about £50 from Lidl. The second one we bought in Croatia when the first one died was a bit more expensive.

I noticed to day that Halfords have this type of cooler on offer at the moment with a variety of sizes. There has been speculation on some of the threads about fridges that the coolbox types more power hungry than the compressor fridges - I don't believe this - you only have to look at the ratings. They are about the same so the hit on the leisure battery will be very similar.

We've managed fine on many long trips with ours - including a couple of 6 week trips in Europe. Does mean you can't lug tons of chilled food round with you but then we like to work out what we need on a more day to day basis.

But the best thing about the coolboxes is that they fit perfectly in the gap between the storage box and the front seat in the 2 seat Beach. So everything accessible in the van, no having to open the back door and slide something out from under the multiflex and we wouldn't want anything between the front seats as you can't easily get move between front and back with a great lump of fridge in there.

 

[Amarillo]

I noticed to day that Halfords have this type of cooler on offer at the moment with a variety of sizes. There has been speculation on some of the threads about fridges that the coolbox types more power hungry than the compressor fridges - I don't believe this - you only have to look at the ratings. They are about the same so the hit on the leisure battery will be very similar.

CAUTION
Thermo-electric are a constant drain on the battery, compressors go on and off, so while their power ratings may be similar, their power consumption are unlikely to be similar.


Follow my blog: www.au-revoir.eu

 

[Brad Lintern]

From a “width” PoV I don’t think you’d squeeze anything wider than the CF11 - Addittionl height and/or length may be an issue, due to the seat recliner wheels, but surmountable if the seats can be positioned forward/aft to avoid the recliner wheels.

Thanks, helpful to know.

 

[2haw]

Why pay 3 to 400 quid for a waeco or similar when one of the 12v/23v coolboxes is just as good. We are on our second now - can't remember how much the first cost but it was about £50 from Lidl. The second one we bought in Croatia when the first one died was a bit more expensive.

I noticed to day that Halfords have this type of cooler on offer at the moment with a variety of sizes. There has been speculation on some of the threads about fridges that the coolbox types more power hungry than the compressor fridges - I don't believe this - you only have to look at the ratings. They are about the same so the hit on the leisure battery will be very similar.

We've managed fine on many long trips with ours - including a couple of 6 week trips in Europe. Does mean you can't lug tons of chilled food round with you but then we like to work out what we need on a more day to day basis.

But the best thing about the coolboxes is that they fit perfectly in the gap between the storage box and the front seat in the 2 seat Beach. So everything accessible in the van, no having to open the back door and slide something out from under the multiflex and we wouldn't want anything between the front seats as you can't easily get move between front and back with a great lump of fridge in there.

We bought a Halfords cooler for about £40 last year and it turned cans of drinks to just like they came out of the fridge! It was a great buy for our trip down to La Rochelle..

 

[RoB5urf]

We had one of those thermo-electric jobs. It used loads of power and was noisy.

Guess they're fine if you don't want to go off-grid for any length of time or use it overnight.

Got a Cd11 now and much happier.

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

 

[Jonathan Duke]

you pays your money and you takes your choice

 

[yanathem]

From a “width” PoV I don’t think you’d squeeze anything wider than the CF11 - Addittionl height and/or length may be an issue, due to the seat recliner wheels, but surmountable if the seats can be positioned forward/aft to avoid the recliner wheels.

This one fits between both front seats. It’s an Indel B TB18 compressor fridge. I think the company is or was owned by webasto. Well pleased with ours, keeps everything as cold as the main fridge and handy to have cold drinks and food at hand while driving, no noisier than the main fridge at night. Slightly more capacity + 18 litres than the dometic CF11

 

[Salty]

We sometimes take the side box and put our Waeco fridge there instead, in fact, when we put the cushion on it that normally sits on the side box, because it’s grey, you hardly see it’s a fridge. I haven’t got a photo of it like this, only with fabric draped over it. Otherwise, it goes on the board at the back...we use our van in so many different ways.