Refrigerator in a car: Best Automotive Interior Coolers & Refrigerators

Hot stuff: The In-Car Refrigerator | AGirlsGuidetoCars

Keep ’em smiling all summer with cold drinks thanks to the car refrigerator. Photo: Jennifer Acocella for AGirlsGuidetoCars

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The coolest car add-on keeps everyone hydrated and happy.

You can be the coolest mom, dad, aunt, uncle or friend—both literally and figuratively—with a built-in car refrigerator. This accessory, available in very few cars, beats the pants off schlepping a cooler in the car for several reasons:

You don’t have to remember to buy ice
It doesn’t slide around
You can even freeze items if needed

My daughters played club soccer, which meant tournament weekends and full days on hot fields every spring and summer. And sometimes fall to boot. At the end of a long day of multiple games, the girls would gulp down whatever leftover drinks the parents could find: the odd-flavored Vitamin waters, off brand endurance drinks and leftover water. Every tournament drive home had to include a stop at a convenience store for overpriced drinks.

The convenient refrigerator console in the Ford Flex Limited. Photo: Ford

We parents always tried to anticipate the kids’ needs, but ice melts and long games extended by overtime required extra drinks.

Imagine if you drove a Lincoln MKT, with the optional second-row refrigerated console. This crossover lets you add a mini-refrigerator between the captain’s chairs in the second row, so if you need the extra seating with the bench row, you can’t get the console. But if you do, the compressor-driven unit can chill up to seven 12-oz. cans to 41°F, and it can work as a freezer, too.

Food borne illnesses, be gone!

Think of going to Costco on a summer day and buying shrimp or milk—no worry about the food spoiling before you get home. Or bringing a container of egg salad to a picnic. My mother in law believes cold salads are dangerous within minutes of leaving the cool confines of a refrigerator. This could alleviate her listeria phobia.

Lincoln’s sister car, the Ford Flex, also has the same size refrigerated console, available in the Limited edition; you have to choose the second-row 40/40 heated reclining seats to get the cooler.

The cool box offered in some models of the 2016 Honda Odyssey. Photo: Honda

The Honda Odyssey offers a “cool box” that uses the air conditioning system to chill whatever is inside. It’s offered on EX-L, Touring, and Touring Elite models. The cool box can accommodate up to four 20-ounce bottles, or six-12-ounce cans, and it’s also in the second row, where little kids can reach. You have to turn the feature on when you want to use it, and run the air conditioner, too.

Never let your Champagne get warm

As children grow up, their needs—and yours—change. Maybe instead of baseball games, you are now driving to a regatta, or your son’s engagement party, and you want to bring that special bottle of champagne you’ve been saving. The Mercedes-Benz S-class luxury sedans have the cold box for you; an optional refrigerated compartment, with a capacity of about 8. 5 liters, or a couple of bottles of Dom Pérignon. And, of course you want a refined, smooth driving experience if you are transporting bubbly in a car.

What you need to know about these insulated boxes

The refrigerated consoles only work when the car is running, so they are ideal for a road trip. Though the cold box is well insulated and will stay cooler than the rest of the car, it will not keep perishables at an optimal temperature. A Honda spokesperson said that once the ignition switch is turned to “lock,” the cool box maintains its temperature for one hour. Maria Smith says her Odyssey’s cool box works best by keeping already cold drinks cold longer, and notes that it’s especially useful in the South during the summer
A car refrigerator is great for bringing home a doggie bag from a restaurant – but don’t forget to take the food out when you get home, or you will be in for a nasty surprise the next day! Fadra Nally had a Ford Flex with a cold box and said it was nice to have, but the worst part was forgetting you put leftovers in there until the next time you used the car
A built in fridge can literally be a lifesaver for a baby. Dana Zucker had one of the first cars to offer a cold box, the Toyota Winstar. She used it to store breast milk while commuting to work with her twins (who are now 20 years old) 30 minutes each way to work. The cold box offered her peace of mind and provided her children with safe milk. If you are traveling with medication that needs to be kept refrigerated, the console is also a great option
A perfect place to stash chocolate. Scotty Reiss tried bringing ice pops in a cold box and said they melted slightly. But the console will keep chocolate at an optimal temperature, and save your car seats from smears of melted chocolate
Accessibility! Typically placed in the center of the car, cool boxes are reachable by second row passengers. The Escalade Platinum’s cool box is between the front seats so everyone can reach it (or, have your chauffeur hand you a drink).
All those cool drinks may lead to extra stops. Sure, you don’t have to pick up drinks, but now the kids could be so well hydrated, you will have to make an emergency stop for the bathroom.

Some of the Best Cars That Currently Have Refrigerated Consoles

Now, some of the first folks to but a refrigerator in a car were luxury car makers that wanted to provide high-brow customers with a place to store high-quality alcohol. We’ll include a few of those after the more budget-friendly options.

Honda Odyssey (high-end trims only)
Ford Flex
Lincoln Nautilus, formerly the Lincoln MKT
Cadillac Escalade
Mercedes-Maybach S-Class
Volvo XC90 Excellence
Rolls-Royce Phantom
Bentley Mulsanne

Doesn’t this beat lugging your dented Coleman around all summer?

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# Car refrigerator# cold box# Ford flex# Honda Odyssey# Lincoln MKT# Mercedes Benz# refrigerated console

Judy Antell

Judy Antell, who is TravelingMom. com’s Free in 50 States editor, lives in Park Slope, Brooklyn, with her husband and three daughters. Between road trips to visit colleges, travel sports and seeing East Coast sights, she spends a lot of time on the road for a city girl.

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No Ice Needed: Put a Refrigerator in Your Car

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Food / Hydration

Written by Christophe Noel
November 27, 2017

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This fridge adds WiFi and a mobile app interface to an already popular line of 12-volt fridges. We put the Dometic CFX35W portable refrigerator to the test for this review.

Never buy ice again: That’s the primary advantage of a portable fridge. But it’s not the only one. If you have ever fished your soggy sandwich out of a pool of murky water, you understand why many people have made the leap to electric.

As a longtime leader in portable appliances, Dometic recently relaunched a line of CFX refrigerators. The lightweight and compact units now range in size from 28 to 100 quarts. Inside each of the eight models is an energy-efficient Waco compressor, powered by either 120 AC or 12-volt DC inputs, for use in your home or vehicle.

The most significant update to the CFX line is WiFi connectivity. A free iOS and Android mobile app controls and monitors internal temp. Other features include alerts if the lid is left open, or if the unit falls outside the user-selected temperature range.

I tested the CFX35W and found it a perfect addition to car camping.

Power Sipper: Engineered for Energy Efficiency

Despite a low power draw of just 0.66 kWh over a 24-hour period, it still has potential to deplete a deep-cycle battery. In most scenarios, a car’s power supply stores enough juice to keep the refrigerator running for up to 24 hours.

To avoid draining the battery, Dometic equipped the unit with a three-level low-voltage safety shutoff. Other features include a USB charging port, internal LED light, and large folding handles for a secure carry and solid tie-down points. A small crisper compartment and removable wire basket keep contents organized.

Cooler Beater: Better Use of Space, Greater Convenience

For people with small SUVs, crossovers, and wagons, the CFX35W is the ideal size for weekend getaways. With external dimensions of 17 x 18 x 28 inches, it weighs just 34 pounds. That might seem heavy, but it is considerably lighter than a high-quality cooler filled with 20 pounds of ice.

It has more storage volume than a cooler of like size. With no need for ice, the entire 1.1 ft.³ of storage space is large enough to fit 47 twelve-ounce cans. It is by all accounts a superior experience to cooler cooling.

An electric fridge keeps your food dry with no melt-water to drain or ice to continually replenish. And you never have to plunge your hands into cold water in search of your baby carrots.

The Big Chill: Freeze Deep

It’s easy to confuse portable refrigerators with the inexpensive 12-volt coolers sold in big box stores. Those products only chill to 40 degrees F below ambient temperature. On a hot summer day, that’s not enough cooling power to keep your food stored at the FDA-suggested target of sub 40 degrees F.

The Dometic’s lower limit dips to -7 degrees F to keep your Ben & Jerry’s frozen rock solid. Perhaps you want your craft IPA chilled to a perfect 42 degrees F. The CFX35W can do it. After nearly a year of use, I have found the unit maintains a target temperature with few fluctuations.

Justify the Spend: More Than Just a Camp Toy

If you’re searching for reasons to buy a fridge for your vehicle, don’t think of it as a weekend plaything. When not venturing into the sticks, my Dometic lives in the garage and chills beer. Most of the time, it’s in my vehicle.

While out running midday errands, I don’t hesitate to swing by the grocery store and plop my shopping in the CFX35W. On warm days after a post-work mountain bike ride, I always return to the car greeted by a cold fizzy drink. With an MSRP of $699, you will want to lean on the user perks to justify the expense. On the upshot, the common street price is typically less than $550 with free shipping.

Whether you’re trying to up your van life game, or want something cooler than a cooler, trust the technology you have used in your kitchen all of your life. Get a fridge.

Fueled by his personal mantra – “the Earth is cool” – Christophe Noel has dedicated his life to exploring as much of it as he can. His words and images have appeared in a number of print and digital publications as well as manufacturer websites, catalogs, and ad campaigns. When not tapping away at a keyboard as a freelance journalist, or looking through the clear glass of a camera lens, he can be found riding bicycles, motorcycles, or shuffling through an airport on route to his next adventure. Learn more at www.christophenoel.net.

type and device, selection criteria

Long car trips won’t be tiring and boring if you have a camping refrigerator that will keep food fresh on the road. Car coolers from the cigarette lighter are ideal for autocruise. They ensure the safety of not only cold, but also heat.

Car refrigerators are quite practical and often practically indispensable

The automotive industry today offers the consumer a wide range of different types of refrigeration devices, ranging from simple thermoses to modern high-tech absorption car refrigerators. They can work autonomously for a long time.

Car refrigerators. How to choose by type and device

According to the principle of ensuring the safety of stored products, car refrigerators are divided into two main types:

Passive devices that maintain the temperature of stored products for a long time;
Active devices producing cold or heat in order to maintain the quality of the stored products.

The simplest and cheapest version of a car bag – refrigerator

Passive devices

Cooler bag

Car cooler bag for food is the simplest thermostatic device. The capacity of the bag – refrigerator can be in the range of 3-25 liters. Its task is to keep the temperature of chilled products for a long time. It can take the form of a small backpack with a sealed lid and consists of 2 layers of nylon separated by a thermal pad. Such a bag – the refrigerator ensures the safety of products for 12 hours. It is important to prevent the penetration of warm air inside for a long time when the lid is opened.

Car container bag

The container bag consists of two plastic boxes nested inside each other, separated by a thermal insulation layer. The lower part of the container has a condensate drip tray. The capacity of such a container can be from 5 to 45 liters. There are exclusive models with a capacity of 150 liters. Container cooler bags are able to maintain the initial temperature of the product from 10 to 72 hours.
Cold accumulators in the form of frozen briquettes from saline solutions can be placed in a special compartment of the container, which prolong the shelf life of products in such containers. The versatility of such batteries lies in the fact that heated briquettes allow you to keep food in a hot container for a long time.

Such passive devices for maintaining the temperature of stored products are also called isothermal devices, that is, keeping heat constant. They do not change, but only retain the original temperature. This is an important aspect to consider before choosing a refrigerator for your car. A common advantage and disadvantage of passive food storage units is, respectively, their low cost and limited shelf life of internal contents.

Active storage devices

Active types include mobile and stationary devices, divided according to the principle of operation into compression, thermoelectric and absorption auto-refrigerators. Stationary refrigerators are placed in the armrests of seats or special niches between their rows.

Thermoelectric car refrigerator

Thermoelectric container-shaped refrigerator

The most common refrigerators for small cars use the Peltier effect. This is an effect opposite to the appearance of thermoelectric power in thermocouples when they are heated. For example, if an electric current is passed through two conductors with different thermal resistance in different directions, then heat will be released or absorbed at the point of their contact. If such a heat-absorbing thermocouple is blown by a fan, then a stream of cold air can be obtained that cools the refrigerator chamber. Such a device is called a thermoelectric auto-refrigerator. By changing the current through the thermocouple and the blowing speed of the fan, it is possible to control the temperature maintained inside the refrigerator compartment.

Thermoelectric type auto-refrigerators are compact, light and unpretentious. Unlike freon refrigerators, they are environmentally friendly units. They can work both in heating mode and in cooling mode, like split systems. Their operation does not depend on the vertical or horizontal position of the camera. A significant disadvantage of a thermoelectric auto-refrigerator is the large inertia of operation – the set of the required temperature is slow. Therefore, it is recommended to pre-cool the laid products.

These refrigerators are available as recessed containers. Under normal conditions, when it is +25C outside, from +3 to -3C can be maintained inside the refrigerator chamber. In the heating mode, the device provides temperatures up to + 60C. In autonomous mode, when it is disconnected from the power source, the refrigerator is able to keep cold for 8-10 hours. Basically, thermoelectric auto-refrigerators are of the type of auto-refrigerators from the cigarette lighter. The capacities of thermoelectric refrigerators, produced by manufacturers in a wide variety, can range from 0. 5 to 50 liters. The record holder among micro-refrigerators is Snegir, which allows you to cool or warm up a typical can of beer or an energy drink.

Absorption car refrigerators

Absorption gas auto-refrigerator for 40 liters

Absorption-type devices are used to cool the refrigerating chamber by a cycle of sequential heating and cooling of a water-ammonia solution with the process of separation of ammonia vapors and their reverse absorption by hydrogen. In the process of heating with an electric boiler, ammonia vapors are released from the aqueous ammonia solution, which settle in the condenser, giving off heat and turning into liquid ammonia.

Liquid ammonia entering the evaporator surrounding the refrigeration chamber boils, taking heat from the chamber, and is absorbed by hydrogen. The hydrogen-ammonia solution, flowing into the absorber, is absorbed by water and a concentrated water-ammonia solution is obtained with the release of hydrogen. Hydrogen is fed back to the evaporator, and the aqueous ammonia solution is fed back to the boiler. The cycle then repeats.

Absorption refrigerators are produced in capacities of 25-150 liters. Their advantage lies in the fact that the boiler can operate both from electricity and from a gasoline or gas heater. In this regard, they have maximum autonomy and efficiency of work. The disadvantages include its performance only in a certain position.

Such refrigerators can be installed on all types of cars. Multi-seat shift and tourist buses and special vans are equipped with models of such refrigerators that have several doors and are built into a certain place in the passenger compartment.

Compressor refrigerator for car

Mini compressor refrigerator for 10 liters

Compressor refrigerator has a classic principle of operation when the evaporation of liquid freon in the evaporator surrounding the freezer is used to cool the chamber. When freon evaporates, heat is removed from the freezer, which can be cooled down to -18C. Continuous circulation of freon in a closed circuit, consisting of a pipeline system, is carried out by an electric compressor.

In the process of circulation, freon periodically changes from liquid to gaseous state and vice versa with the help of an evaporator and a condenser. The compressor car refrigerator has an advantage over other types in terms of speed and efficiency. It quickly reaches the set temperature in the freezer, depending on the volume of the chamber, which has practically no hard limits.

They provide an optimal mode of food storage in the range from +4 to -18C for an unlimited time. When disconnected from the power supply, the refrigerator can maintain the temperature regime inside the chamber for up to 6 hours. It works in the installed vertical position and does not lose its efficiency when deviating from the vertical within ±30 degrees. Vibration resistant.

Now knowing the principle of operation of the refrigerator, how to choose the right unit from the family of its similar samples, is no longer a big problem for you. After reading the name of the refrigerator, you already see it from the inside and imagine all its advantages and disadvantages.

Selection tips

To choose the right car refrigerator for you, we advise you to pay extra attention to the following points when purchasing it:

Distance and purpose of the trip. For picnics in nature near the city, you can purchase an inexpensive isothermal container or a cooler bag. For long-distance cruises with long hikes with an overnight stay, absorption units powered by various energy sources are more suitable. Don’t forget to grab a backup power source.
Climatic conditions of the region. If the journey is to be in a tropical and subtropical zone with an elevated ambient temperature, then a cooler bag or an isothermal container, and even a thermoelectric unit, will be useless there. Under these conditions, a compressor or absorption car refrigerator will be more useful. They withstand the set temperature longer and more stable under difficult external conditions.
Car cruise road conditions. For mountain driving and off-road driving, containers and cooler bags or thermoelectric refrigerators are more adapted. Compressor and absorption units may not withstand such overloads and fail.
The shape of the refrigerator also matters. When buying a refrigerator for a car, it is recommended to put a two-liter bottle in it. If it does not fit, then this is already a reason to think about the expediency of buying for the upcoming trip.
Cigarette lighter adapter. The power supply of the auto-refrigerator from the cigarette lighter protects the battery from full discharge. The built-in protective relay will disconnect the refrigerator from the battery in a timely manner to prevent a more serious trouble on the journey than stale food.
Refrigerator body material and cover design. The material should be easy to clean and scratch resistant. The use of modern materials ensures the strength and durability of the unit, as well as its ease of maintenance. Ergonomics of the body and environmental safety are of great importance in its operation. Tightness of a cover will provide reliable safety of products. Great convenience is provided by two-section doors, which make it possible not to fully open the refrigerator.
Try to choose a model in which the lid of the refrigerator will close from the top, not the side.
The power cord must be at least 2 meters long.
Don’t pay extra for volume. Practice shows that a 40-liter auto-refrigerator is enough for a family of three.

Video: Review of refrigerator boxes Mystery, Vitol, Supra

In conclusion, before buying, do not forget to ask for and study the instructions or instruction manual, which provides a complete list of all the technical and operational characteristics of the device, confirming the assurances of the sales manager

top 10 rating according to CP

You are going on a road trip, the road from one point to another takes several days, and the question arises . .. where to eat all this time? There is absolutely no trust in roadside cafes, and you won’t be full of dry food. Then car refrigerators come to the rescue, which will keep food fresh and water cool, because it is so necessary in the heat. A car refrigerator is the dream of any driver, both one who often travels long distances, and one who, doing business, winds mileage around the city. They are very comfortable and compact. There are many choices on the market, the price depends on the volume, energy consumption and capabilities. Komsomolskaya Pravda will tell you about this miracle item and tell you how to choose a car refrigerator.

Top 10 rating according to KP

1. Avs Cc-22wa

Photo: market.yandex.ru

This is a 22-liter refrigerator container. It has programmable touch controls. This device will keep the selected temperature for one and a half to two hours after the mains is turned off. The device operates from minus two to plus 65 degrees in heating mode. The refrigerator is unpretentious in maintenance – plastic can be easily wiped with a damp cloth from dirt. It weighs about five kilograms with dimensions of 54.5 × 27.6 × 37 cm. A convenient shoulder strap is included for carrying.