Chest Fridge

[Danjo-SKO]

Hey, who’s got a chest fridge and what do they like about it? Who got one and hates it?

Thanks

 

[musigenesis]

I've got one although it's only in my garage right now. It's 3.9 cu ft, about 22" x 22" x 34" which is a very convenient size. It's an Avanti chest freezer I got on CL for $50 and the thermostat gadget for keeping it around 38F was another $50 or so. I've been monitoring its energy usage since last summer and it was averaging about 16 watts in hot weather.

I kind of actually want one of the smaller variety (which is 16" x 16" x 34") freezers since 3.9 is actually pretty damn spacious when you don't have all the shelves and trays and stuff.

 

[mc11237]

I got this Portable Refrigerator/Freezer/Fridge 16 Quart(15 Liter), Ansten Mini Car Truck RV Boat Fridge Electric Cooler for Driving, Travel, Fishing, Picnic, Camping Outdoor use 12/24V DC from Amsten on Amazon. Didn’t like the display was in Celsius and was cluttered with a lot of Chinese writing. I did actually say Alpicool on it which I find comical and irritating I returned and got the Alpicool C15 Portable Refrigerator 16 Quart(15 Liter) Vehicle, Car, Truck, RV, Boat, Mini Fridge Freezer for Driving, Travel, Fishing, Outdoor -12/24V DC Display is so much better cools extremely quickly and is very quiet. The display is very nice. Not to mention affordable

 

[musigenesis]

I've got one although it's only in my garage right now. It's 3.9 cu ft, about 22" x 22" x 34" which is a very convenient size. It's an Avanti chest freezer I got on CL for $50 and the thermostat gadget for keeping it around 38F was another $50 or so. I've been monitoring its energy usage since last summer and it was averaging about 16 watts in hot weather.

I kind of actually want one of the smaller variety (which is 16" x 16" x 34") freezers since 3.9 is actually pretty damn spacious when you don't have all the shelves and trays and stuff.

So, to go along with my freezer that I'm using as a fridge, I have a little 1 cu.ft. mini refrigerator and I'm trying to figure out a way to turn it into a freezer. It has a small freezer section like these do. I don't know how these work exactly, but I think the freezer is formed from a bent surface that absorbs more heat on one side than on the other, resulting in a freeze temp on the inside and fridge temp in the rest of the space. I think the only way to turn it into a freezer would be to re-bend this inside piece so it's against the sides of the box with the colder side exposed and then bypass the built-in thermostat.

I've never found anyone doing fridge-to-freezer, although the freezer-to-fridge conversion seems common. Might be because it's crazy, but it would allow me to place the fridge->freezer next to my freezer->fridge on the floor, above the wheel well.

 

[Danjo-SKO]

Hey, who’s got a chest fridge and what do they like about it? Who got one and hates it?

Thanks

I got one. I got a Unique UPG-120L. It’s not in the bus yet, but I’ve been using it as my fridge in the kitchen. I like it! I’ve noticed the freezer takes a long time to freeze. I guess I have to dial it down.

The compartments are programmable so either side can be fridge or freezer. If low on juice, compartments can also be turned off altogether. It has vinyl coated steel baskets that help with organization. So far so good. For my purposes it might be a little big.

 

[Native-SKO]

So, to go along with my freezer that I'm using as a fridge, I have a little 1 cu.ft. mini refrigerator and I'm trying to figure out a way to turn it into a freezer. It has a small freezer section like these do. I don't know how these work exactly, but I think the freezer is formed from a bent surface that absorbs more heat on one side than on the other, resulting in a freeze temp on the inside and fridge temp in the rest of the space. I think the only way to turn it into a freezer would be to re-bend this inside piece so it's against the sides of the box with the colder side exposed and then bypass the built-in thermostat.

I've never found anyone doing fridge-to-freezer, although the freezer-to-fridge conversion seems common. Might be because it's crazy, but it would allow me to place the fridge->freezer next to my freezer->fridge on the floor, above the wheel well.

Let us know how your frige-->freezer conversion works.

 

[Troutslayer-SKO]

I have a dual zone whynter in my bus. I have no real complaints, it’s full of frozen stuff and my drinks are always cold....

 

[JackE]

I've never found anyone doing fridge-to-freezer, although the freezer-to-fridge conversion seems common. Might be because it's crazy, but it would allow me to place the fridge->freezer next to my freezer->fridge on the floor, above the wheel well.

I'm definitely interested in this too. I have one of these mini fridges in my shared office space. It you put a bottle of water under the freezer part it will freeze. I have had it freeze soda cans on the bottom shelf when on it's high setting. This tells me it might be possible to make the whole thing into a freezer. I just chipped about an inch of ice off the roof part of the freezer and it is only set on 4 of 7, so there is a lot of cooling capability in there. I have one at home that I would love to make into extra freezer space for my camp trailer, the one in there is too small.

 

[Geeze-SKO]

When people dont want to buy the external controller to make freezer into frig/keeper. I've read of people adjusting thermostat so doesnt get so cool. Might be to modify thermostat to make cold enough to get blow freezing

 

[musigenesis]

When people dont want to buy the external controller to make freezer into frig/keeper. I've read of people adjusting thermostat so doesnt get so cool. Might be to modify thermostat to make cold enough to get blow freezing

I came across an upright chest freezer for $25 on Craigslist which sort of worked but couldn't freeze things, only kept stuff at fridge temps. This did not amuse me since my freezer was $50 and the thermostat was $60.

The thermostat is the big reason the freezer->fridge approach is not as cheap as it could be. I feel like it must be possible to make one of these gadgets cheaply but I've never seen it. On the plus side, even if the used chest freezer ever dies, you can always reuse the thermo with your next one.