The refrigerant then circulates through the coils in the back of the fridge: its temperature lowers (heat is evacuated from inside the fridge’s cabinet) and the gas turns into a liquid.The refrigerant (a gas) is compressed by the compressor: its pressure and temperature increase.Have you ever noticed how a propane tank becomes very cold if it is emptied rapidly? A 12v refrigerator uses the same principle: There are two types of 12V refrigerator: Compressor and Thermoelectric. Because it operates at 12V DC, there is no efficiency loss associated with conversion to 120V AC. Only YOU know! 🙂īattery, solar, and refrigerator technologies have come a looooong way, so it’s now totally possible to power a fridge exclusively from the sun! In fact, 12 volt fridges have become the preferred type for people living off the grid. But many people out there are perfectly happy with their chest fridge. We’re glad we went with an upright 12 volt fridge. We enjoy our upright 12v refrigerator for our full-time Vanlife. Maybe a chest 12v refrigerator will fit much better in your camper van layout? Can’t argue with that! That’s a perfectly valid reason to get one! So our common sense tells us that for small needs, a chest refrigerator is the way to go for larger needs, an upright refrigerator is better.

What really matters here is your SANITY! Do you prefer to access/organize all your food in a “box” (from top, chest-style) or in a proper 12 volt fridge (front-loading, upright)? If you plan on living full-time in your van, ask yourself: Would you live in a house where your fridge is a big box? Yes, you can stuff more food in a chest fridge, but then it can get irritating to manage. Therefore, we don’t think that efficiency of chest VS upright is a decisive factor. in their van is a pretty good testimony that off-the-grid power is not as scarce as it used to be!

But let’s suppose an upright fridge “loses” more cold than a chest fridge… is that really significant? The fact that people are now going for induction cooktops, desktop gaming computers, Vitamix, etc.We’re OK with this logic, but it doesn’t take into account the thermal mass: all the stuff in the fridge “accumulates” cold, and opening the door of an almost-full fridge isn’t as bad as it seems.1.1- Efficiency of 12v refrigeratorĬommon sense (and most reviews) tell us that the chest-style 12v refrigerators are more efficient because less cold can “escape” when opening the door (since the door is on top and colder air is at the bottom).