The best fridge for van life? Affordable upright 12v refrigerator | Van Build Ep. 35

Van Build Ep. 35 - What is the best campervan fridge for van life? A cheap 110v dorm fridge or an expensive 12-volt refrigerator? For the last couple of years, we’ve been using an old dorm fridge that we picked up on the side of the road for free. If you know us, you know we try to keep costs low and we just weren’t ready to spend hundreds of dollars on a fridge. After much research we finally found a 12-volt fridge that is more affordable than the popular Dometic fridge and that is upright with plenty of storage space for food. We found it at recpro.com. In this video we install, test, and review the Everchill 3.3 RV fridge we purchased for our self-converted Ford Transit campervan.
12V RV FRIDGE DETAILS:
Everchill 3.3 Cubic Feet 12V Stainless Steel RV Refrigerator
DIMENTIONS: 32-3/4"H x 19"D x 19"W
SKU: RP-2019
SOURCE: www.recpro.com...
** Save 5% with coupon code: BMXJYUJ **
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👉 ABOUT US: We're Steve and Audra, DIYers from South Florida who share a passion for cheap travel, nature, wildlife, and adventure! We've been working on converting our 2019 Ford Transit high roof cargo van into a campervan and are sharing our build and adventures along the way - all while trying to do everything on the lowest budget possible! While building out our van, we've been traveling the country as much as possible with our adventure cat in training, Lady Gray Gray Gillespie Pinkerton. We invite you to follow along on our journey! If you have any questions, we’re happy to answer! Comment below or send us a message on Facebook or Instagram and we’ll respond as soon as possible. And please don’t forget to subscribe to our channel!
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MUSIC CREDITS:
"Dandelion.mp3" by TexasMusicForge (Ed Kliman) on freesound.org.
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creativecommon...
VIDEO SEGMENTS:
Unboxing the Everchill 12V Stainless Steel RV Refrigerator
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#vanlife #vanbuild #vanlifehacks

[@SteveAudra]

WHERE TO BUY THIS FRIDGE: www.recpro.com/rv-refrigerator-3-3-cubic-feet-12v-stainless-steel/?referral=BMXJYUJ *** Save 5% with coupon code: BMXJYUJ *** RELATED VIDEO LINKS: - Van Tour: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qJbPgnpsnd6Jj9E - Van Build Series: kzbin.info/aero/PL7bb1Ftno7hhoqzCZ7kZUx2jL3pUVd6UZ - Travel Vlog Series: kzbin.info/aero/PL7bb1Ftno7hhNuHOo8SYSTsaPmFd7o1zp BECOME A PATRON: www.patreon.com/steveandaudra

[@fbr65]

We usually fill our ice cube trays in the house and freeze them in the house fridge before taking them to the van. They will eventually freeze in the van, but we like freezing them inside first. Those flimsy ice cube trays are very hard to fill!! Such a nice fridge, I’m sure it will work great in your build.

[@SteveAudra]

The flimsy ice cube trays are nice in theory but a bit of a pain! We've actually found that we really don't miss ice as long as we have cold water in the fridge! I'm definitely glad we found this fridge!

[@2stewartadventures]

We got to see you guys twice this week ❤ You two did a wonderful job on the Tiny Home Tours and this week’s video. Enjoy your new fridge.

[@SteveAudra]

Thanks so much, you guys! It was neat being filmed for the Tiny Home Tours channel and we are thrilled with the fridge!

[@lanceriffle4841]

I have 3 of these smaller frig's and I pitch the crisper drawer. You may want to use it as an organizer for dry storage someplace else but I get a lot more usability with that silly thing out of the way. YMMV. Thanks for the video.

[@SteveAudra]

We actually like having the drawer but that's a great alternative for someone who doesn't!

[@SteveAudra]

Oh, and we learned something new! We had to look up YMMV! 🙂

[@jaymcintosh2918]

Great video! I was going to spend a lot more, you save me a lot of $. Thanks again for being real.

[@SteveAudra]

That's what we love to hear! We're glad the video was helpful!

[@katyd4183]

I'm laughing cuz this is the one I bought, but just starting my build. I am so happy that it does not use too much power. Freezers usually don't freeze well in these small Fridges. Thank you for the video.

[@SteveAudra]

Sweet! Glad to hear you got the same fridge! We're sure you'll be happy with it!

[@SteveAudra]

Do you have the same issue we do with the bars on the storage shelves?

[@Christina0623]

Congrats S&A!! So exciting! Can't wait to see how it does on a road trip. Congrats on the sponsorship, too!! Have a blessed Easter day & and love to GG. 🚐🥳✝️🐾💙

[@SteveAudra]

Thanks, Christina! ❤️❤️ Thanks for your contribution and we're pretty thrilled to have our first sponsorship. Happy Easter to you, Hitch, and the rest of your family! ✝️

[@Christina0623]

@@SteveAudra 💙💙💙

[@lannyandroxanneadvantures2546]

That's a nice Frig.! I think you fixed your Delta problem Nice trick Steve.

[@SteveAudra]

We really like it! Steve was practicing that trick for weeks. He's gotten quite good at it! 😆

[@edemery873]

Glad you got the fridge to work. Saw you video on the tiny home channel. You guys did great. looking forward to next week

[@SteveAudra]

Thanks so much! We love the new fridge and were pretty excited about the Tiny Home Tours feature! See you next week! 🙂

[@ljhoats]

Yay refrigeration..... By the way that bird invasion was adorable

[@SteveAudra]

Yes, we've been thrilled with it! We love the Ibises! They are very fun birds!

[@eltlbit]

Another great informative video, thanks for all you do, and share...much ❤ for you Audra & Steve you guys are awesome...lots 🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🐈

[@SteveAudra]

Thanks!!! ❤️ We forget, what kind of fridge do you have? Happy Easter!

[@roxannek1551]

Nice frig! I’m glad it’s compatible with the Delta👍🏼

[@SteveAudra]

Us too! What a game changer!

[@jshenderson]

Great job with the video. sorry steve got his wires crosses :) That frig looks like it will be well worth the money and effort.

[@SteveAudra]

It's already been such a game changer! And nothing new, Steve gets his wires crossed often! 😆 Happy Easter! ✝️

[@jshenderson]

@@SteveAudra I also caught the tiny house tour video. yall did a great job showing your van.

[@SteveAudra]

@@jshenderson Thanks, Jeff! 🙂

[@michaelballard17]

I have the 4.3 size for my rebuild. I’m about halfway done rebuilding my trailer and hope to get on the road soon.

[@SteveAudra]

Hey! It's great to hear from you! We were just thinking about you the other day and wondering how your build was going. Now I realize you just wrote on our Facebook. I hadn't realized it was you with that profile pic. LOL! Have you been documenting your build anywhere? I think you'll be happy with the fridge! Congrats on the progress with the build!

[@magoo402]

Think that would work out perfectly for my build,

[@SteveAudra]

We really are happy with it!

[@debberkebile4396]

Great! You'll love that so much more. I know I have an upright trucker fridge and love it. It holds so much. Almost 2 weeks of food! Tiny homes your!!?? What where's the link for that! So cool😂❤

[@SteveAudra]

Hi Deb! Here's a link to the tour: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pJqxfXhuo76Yn7M

[@michele2017promastertravel]

Good thorough review. I'm a little jealous with my tiny fridge.

[@SteveAudra]

Oh no! Maybe an upgrade is in your future? We held out for quite some time but are definitely glad we made the switch!

[@michele2017promastertravel]

@@SteveAudra I've been toying with the idea of a larger fridge for a while but I think I need to wait for this one to fail because I bought a Dometic CFX28 and it was $$$ three years ago. I'm glad your video went into using an ac fridge because I was half considering one. Now I'm not. Like you, I know I would run out of power with one. My Flex 1500 has 160ah (2000wh) and it's perfect for my current setup. Nice thing is I can easily stack another batteries if I feel I need more... which I'm also considering. I'm currently watching a channel that is rebuilding their van interior- they ripped out their bed and lower cabinets and making it better. All these upgrades are giving me the itch to change things.... ugh.

[@SteveAudra]

@@michele2017promastertravel I think it's important to prioritize and do what's right for you. We certainly put off the 12v for awhile because of the expense but we knew for us it was time.

[@bottomrung5777]

Bet the freezer would freeze stuff better if you taped over some of the vent slots on the freezer door. I think the freezer part is where the cold is produced which is designed to escape into the fridge area to keep that area at the desired lower temp.. Try blocking off two slots at a time. The lowest ones since cold air drops and you want the top slots letting armer air out.

[@SteveAudra]

Thanks for that suggestion! We may try experimenting with that idea a bit.

[@pavel9652]

This was my understanding, but I think there must be cooling elements in the fridge, because freezer is to small for the entire volume. Maybe it is to assist fridge compartment.

[@danawadeandramboadventures2657]

Awesome find guys 👍

[@SteveAudra]

Thanks! We're so happy with it! 😊

[@danawadeandramboadventures2657]

@Steve & Audra we love watching you guys , and the van looks awesome 👌 oh and Happy Easter too 😀

[@SteveAudra]

@@danawadeandramboadventures2657 Happy Easter to you guys as well! ❤️✝️

[@danawadeandramboadventures2657]

@@SteveAudra thankyou so much 🐰🐇 you guts are the best!

[@cfoster8706]

I'll change that for a chest box refrigerator and use a sliding platform. Too small for two people. 😅

[@SteveAudra]

It's actually quite impressive how much fits in the fridge! We knew we wanted an upright fridge, partly so we wouldn't have to root around so much like you do with a chest fridge and also because of the design of our build. It's worked out great for us on the road even now that we're traveling full time!

[@user-di8ov4zr3x]

How is this one working so far?

[@SteveAudra]

We've been really happy with it! The freezer is just okay but the whole thing seems pretty efficient and a good value for the cost. We really like having an upright fridge so we don't have to root around as much like we'd have to with a chest fridge.

[@magoo402]

Do you think I would be ok with 200 Watts of solar.

[@SteveAudra]

It really depends on your battery or power system and whatever else you're running. We have 300 watts and when it's sunny we have absolutely no problem. We've had a couple cloudy days recently and that was more of a challenge. We can charge our Ecoflow Delta up in an hour or two when plugged into a standard outlet so that's what we did the other day when our power got low.

[@pavel9652]

Get as many solar panels as you can install. They are dirty cheap compared to the batteries.

[@KimKreiss-qo3os]

Take out the door storage bars and flip them the opposite way? That might have them go up the other way?

[@SteveAudra]

We can try but I don't think that will make a difference. There is no friction to hold them upright so they just fall.

[@KimKreiss-qo3os]

@@SteveAudra how weird. I kinda remember the flip trick from college days umpteen years ago. Lol

[@jukeofearl]

I’m wondering if your eggs froze being across from the freezer on that top shelf.

[@SteveAudra]

Great question. The eggs do just fine there.

[@jukeofearl]

@@SteveAudra Awesome, good to know. Have you tried those hard plastic egg containers. The half dozen ones come with a little handle on them. You could slot the handle on the egg container under the bar on the fridge door and the handle on the eggs would hold up the bar on the fridge door. That way Steve doesn’t have to untie and retie the cardboard container whenever you get new eggs. You would also have a top for the eggs to protect them. Them bad boys are expensive nowadays. Thanks for the video and the response.

[@SteveAudra]

We just keep that same container in and move the new eggs into it. So far so good with no eggs being accidentally cracked but your idea of the plastic container is a good one. Because yes, now adays you gotta be Bezos or Musk to be able to afford them. LOL 😂

[@jukeofearl]

@@SteveAudra Be careful reusing those cardboard eggs cartons too many times. There is a possible salmonella transfer from the shells to the cartons. Should be ok a few times but I wouldn’t do it for too too long. I would hate to see video where you guys wound up on the hospital. That is a sick no one should experience.

[@Lapeerphoto]

I am curious, what gauge wire do you have run from your power bank to your fuse distribution panel? Hard to tell from this video, but it looks smaller than 12awg. Which defeats the purpose of running 12 to the fridge, if its smaller to the battery. IMO the wire from your Fuse box to your Battery bank should be 10AWG minimum, Positive and Negative. *We have a 55qt 12v chest type fridge. Wife wants an upright. FYI: Your video was first on the list with my search, "12 volt upright fridge"

[@SteveAudra]

Great question/observation. We're using a EcoFlow Delta 1300 as our power supply. The only option to get 12v power from it to the fuse block is the cigarette light outlet. I'm not 100% sure but I believe that wire is 14 gauge. I don't believe we had a choice in wire gauge when we ordered that at the time. As you saw, the fridge calls for 12 gauge so I am glad I followed the directions. So yes, you are correct, we have a couple different size wire running at the moment. Regardless, yes, you are correct, it would be better if all wires were the same gauge so as to avoid any problems. That all said, we've had no problems so far. I keep an eye on it making sure the wires aren't overheating, etc. FYI - the max we've ever seen the fridge pull is about 45 watts so the draw isn't that large and we only run fans and led lights on the rest. Our overall draw, if EVERYTHING was running, is not that large. Less than 100 watts.

[@SteveAudra]

BTW, we're really happy with the fridge and we like not having to root around as much for things like you would with a chest fridge. The freezer section is just okay.

[@Lapeerphoto]

@@SteveAudra Good to know. Thanks for the follow-up. I shared yr video with my wife. That's her major complaint with our chest type fridge, rooting around for the thing you need on the bottom. We will likely get this fridge (or similar). Then set both sides of our chest type to zero, and use the whole thing as a chest freezer. Because it freezes ice way faster than your demonstration. 😁 Happy and safe travels. We start full time in 14 months. (Well, 6mo trip at first)! Cheers from Michistan.

[@SteveAudra]

@@Lapeerphoto Awesome! We hope we'll see you on the road! Keep in touch!

[@KimKreiss-qo3os]

What connects do you have for your Jerry cans? Getting ready to put these in our rig. Thanks!

[@SteveAudra]

Hi Kim! Here's a link to our video on installing the sink and plumbing: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pp3Oqp2npK6Go8U There are links in the video description on all the parts we used. We since changed the setup for the hose/component in the clean water tank. I can try to dig that part up and give you the info for it later.

[@KimKreiss-qo3os]

@@SteveAudra thank you!

[@Klausjp.ontheroadagain]

Fail, freezer space needs to be double

[@SteveAudra]

It all depends on how you live