How to choose a 12V fridge for an RV, van, or campsite

A 12V fridge is not a cooler you fill with ice. It needs power the whole time you want things cold, and the four we already list are not the same object with different logos. This is how to tell them apart using the listing in front of you, before you spend the money.

Prices, stock, and the temperature range belong on the current listing. A number copied onto a page like this goes stale. Use this page to see which questions the product name already answers, and which ones you still have to read.

What the name actually tells you

These are the four portable 12V fridges in the catalog:

Model numbers are not liters and they are not inches. Do not treat "45", "75", or "50" as the capacity. Read the capacity and the dimensions on the current listing.

One temperature, or two at once

Start with a normal weekend, not a fantasy packing list. Drinks and leftovers at one temperature is a different purchase from frozen food and cold drinks at the same time.

If you only need one temperature, a single compartment is the simpler object. You set it colder when you want freezer behavior and warmer when you want drinks. You cannot do both at once in one box.

If you need both at once, start with the Dometic CFX3 75DZ, because it is the only one of the four whose name says dual zone. Before you buy, confirm the listing shows two compartments and a control for each. Do not infer that from the model number alone.

The CFX3 45, the Iceco JP50, and the BougeRV are listed as one portable unit. "Fridge freezer" on the Dometic 45 and the Iceco often means one compartment that can be set either way. Confirm that on the listing. A name is not a diagram of the inside.

Measure the spot with the lid open

On the listing, write down the outside length, width, and height, the empty weight, and the height with the lid fully open if they publish it. If they do not publish the open height, leave room above the box to load it. Then measure the spot in the rig, and the path through the door. A fridge that fits the hole and not the doorway is still the wrong fridge.

Empty weight matters because you will lift this unless it lives in one place. If the number on the listing is more than you want to carry up the steps, it’s the wrong fridge even if the liters look right. You know what you can lift.

Power is the other half of the purchase

These are 12-volt fridges. That means a house battery, a portable power station, or a 12V socket that is actually live while you are parked. A campsite pedestal does not automatically feed a 12V plug. Something in the rig has to make 12V while you are on shore power. If you are not sure yours does, find that out before you count on the fridge overnight.

The BougeRV is sold as a car fridge. Many 12V sockets in a car turn off with the key. Check whether that socket stays live with the engine off before you plan to leave the fridge running in a parked car.

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BougeRV 12V Portable Car Fridge

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Confirm the size, the cord in the box, and the power figure on the current listing.

On the fridge listing, find the power figure. It might be watts, or amps at 12 volts. Watts divided by 12 is amps. Amps multiplied by 12 is watts. Use those only as a translation between the two labels.

Compressors cycle. A number labeled max, surge, or peak assumes the compressor never stops, which isn't how these fridges run. If you divide your battery's usable amp-hours by that peak amp number, you get a shorter estimate than a typical day. If the listing also gives an average draw, use that instead. Either way it's a sketch: lights, a vent fan, and phones are extra load, and the amp-hour number printed on a battery isn't always the amount you want to use. That sketch is still more useful than a comment that says the fridge "lasts all week." We haven't tested these ourselves.

Gear we already list, if you are sorting the power side rather than the fridge itself. None of these is matched to a specific fridge here. Open the listing and read the 12V port, the amp-hour number, or the watt-hour number yourself.

• Victron SmartShunt 500A battery monitor, if you want a meter on what the rig uses once the fridge is installed.
• Renogy 100Ah 12V LiFePO4, Renogy 200Ah 12V LiFePO4, and Battle Born 100Ah 12V LiFePO4. A 200Ah name is a bigger number than 100Ah. Whether you need the bigger one depends on the fridge draw you just looked up, plus everything else you run.
• EcoFlow Delta Pro, Jackery Explorer 2000 Plus, and Goal Zero Yeti 1500X, if you would rather run the fridge from a portable station than from the rig's battery. A wall outlet on a station is not the same thing as a 12V socket. Check which one the fridge cord needs.

Watch a person use the category before you buy

Amanda Woolsey's BougeRV Rocky video is the fridge footage we have. The title mentions a discount. Treat any code in an old video as expired unless the current listing says otherwise.

A fridge is one upgrade, not the whole rig. Today's featured video is 20 Life Changing RV Upgrades in 20 Minutes from RV Repair Woman. It is about 22 minutes. Watch that when you are still deciding whether a fridge is the thing to do this weekend, or whether power, water, or something else in the rig should come first. The four models above are compared on this page.

More of the same shelves: RV life, van life, and travel gadgets. If a curb caught a wheel on the drive in, the sidewall size is in check a wheel after a curb. If you're still gathering the rig, see everyday picks.

A checklist for the day you buy

• One temperature, or fridge and freezer at the same time?
• Outside dimensions, and room for the lid, versus the spot and the doorway.
• Empty weight versus what you will actually carry.
• Is a 12V cord in the box? Is an AC adapter, or would you still have to buy one?
• The power number on the listing, average if they publish it, not only the peak.
• Where those amps will come from while you are parked, including in a car with the key off.
• Today's price on the listing. A screenshot is already old.