(Part 3) Best refrigerators, freezers & ice makers according to redditors

2007 4Runner here with 50qt ARB on 24/7.

I went with the single big battery option as the dual battery option was too expensive and heavy for my tastes. I purchased the Batteries Plus X2 AGM with 990CCAs. Basically a rebranded Northstar and I have had zero issues/complaints over the last 2 years. Your fridge power options are as follows:

1. Buy AGM battery and leverage factory wiring from 12v in FJ. Probably need to do the "constant on" mod to make sure the fridge always has power. I would not leave it in the keyed "on" position all night. You might wake up jumpstarting your battery more than is probably ok with risk to damaging the battery. If it's like my 4runner this is a pretty simple mod. The issue here is the factory wiring is too small to consistently supply power to the fridge. Ok during colder months, but during the summer it's too weak. The ARB has a built in voltage detection which will kill power to the fridge if it determines the power is too low. I found that the inadequate factory wiring made this kick on a bunch and not fully power the fridge. Cannot speak to other brand fridges. YMMV
   
   2a) Buy AGM battery and wire directly to the battery. This is probably the BEST option for your requirements and is a really nice "pay it forward" to the next owner. This can be easily accomplished with the ARB Wiring kit from amazon. https://www.amazon.com/ARB-10900027-Arb-Fridge-Wiring/dp/B0742LV4JW/ref=sr_1_4?crid=2I28YIX4TSEC&keywords=arb+12v+socket&qid=1564509490&s=gateway&sprefix=arb+12v%2Caps%2C221&sr=8-4
   
   2b) Buy AGM battery and wire directly to the battery yourself if you can get the materials for cheaper. Make sure you use at least 8ga wire. Anything smaller and you run into power issues in option 1.
   
   
2. Some sort of external power like a GoalZero or other battery bank. No mods to the truck, no batteries to buy, but damn those things are EXPENSIVE. The upside here is you could take this with you from vehicle to vehicle, but if you're going to buy one might as well cry once and pony up for the big boy.
   
   If you're constantly driving you should not see any issues with killing the battery. Here in VA with the summer heat I can usually let the truck sit 24-36 hours before I need to go out and start up the truck. 36 hours is REALLY pushing it. In the winter the truck can sit for 3-4 DAYS before I think about starting it up.
   
   Good luck!

Here you go!

u/darthmilks idea is a good one. Any type of clear/glass freezer would be a few hundred bucks.

Energizer actually used to sell a portable emergency charger that was just a housing for six AA batteries with a charging cord attached. Maybe check eBay for some of those?

Something that would probably take a bit longer but would probably be more efficient relates to something I've been working on for my garden grow lights in my garage. BioLite sells something they call the (SolarHome kit.)
[https://www.bioliteenergy.com/products/solarhome-620?variant=190823858190) Rigid solar panel, base unit, lights.
My plan is to redneck engineer a way to hook it to a power inverter, then use said inverter base to plug in the grow lamps.

How is this related to your issue? Well, I figure if you get a [https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079YX94FR/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_WAGiDbB6SJDEH] (plug-in cooler) you could do the same thing to keep the insulin safely preserved.

EDIT: I'm on mobile, so I give the fuck up trying to fix my code right now.

I don't know costs in AU at all, but in the US you can buy an ice maker for about $120 that should be plenty to keep your laser cool, at least assuming you are not cutting for hours on end. Assuming you don't already have an icemaker in your fridge, that gets you an added bonus along with cooling your laser.

Running piping through a freezer is an option, but you need to make sure the pipes are fully drained between uses. I would just use a mini fridge instead, you don't need or even want the water to be around freezing.

Woops. I confused myself on the pricing with the tiny fridge that holds 4 soda cans.

The ice machine is for counter tops. Around 100 bucks. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074VG4CM8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_q7gPCbFC5WHT2

Try Craigslist or offer up for second hand. eBay/AliExpress to get the price down. Amazon isn't always the cheapest.

My office recently got this ice machine. It's great. It's small, it has a pretty big area to keep the ice and it holds about as much as one we used to have that took up twice as much space. When the ice melts the water goes back down into the reservoir, and the reservoir holds a good amount of water. You could run it constantly, but it doesn't have a function that keeps it cold enough that it wouldn't melt overnight. It doesn't fully melt overnight though so it is a little bit insulated. Definitely reccommend this one.

A real compressor fridge costs money. Sure, you can buy all kinds of crappy coolers for less but if you want a real fridge you are probably not going to get something really decent under $399.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01J165FTO/

Heres the fridge https://www.amazon.com/COSTWAY-Refrigerator-Compressor-Portable-Electric/dp/B07K3Y9STC/ref=mp_s_a_1_15?keywords=12+volt+fridge&qid=1563052181&s=gateway&sr=8-15

Ive had my eye on one of these. Ive seen some people run them on solar panels

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HJHBYJ4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_iVzDDb7Q2GXYF

That specific one is refurbished but tons of companies make that style

YouTube video of solar setup
https://youtu.be/hnHRu_qUocQ

At 150W, you could run this off an inverter.

Igloo ICEC33SB 33-Pound Large Capacity Automatic Portable Countertop Clear Ic... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GXXT7CG/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_U_x_ivm5Bb0TSZYZN

Kimchi fridges are big business in Korea. And not necessarily just mini:

https://www.amazon.com/Dimchae-Kimchi-Refrigerator-DPEA-427TRT-Standing/dp/B07FSSDBPK/

There is a lot of interesting choices these days on our beloved mega-online-corp site for ~$100 or less.

Like:

- https://www.amazon.com/Pressurized-Beer-Mini-Keg-System/dp/B07DQ7CLKP/ref=sr_1_5

- https://www.amazon.com/Nostalgia-CBG64-HomeCrraft-Growler-64-Ounce/dp/B074RF71TL/ref=sr_1_13

- https://www.amazon.com/YaeBrew-Ounce-Homebrew-System-Home/dp/B0732ZQ8RM/ref=sr_1_28

​

But almost all of them are spotty as well. And not a lot of non-mega-corp website reviews. =(

> the heaviest fridge you could find isn’t over 300lbs

Not sure what your problem is, but here you go.. This took all of 1 minute on Amazon to find, by the way..

307 lbs

320 lbs

331 lbs

364 lbs

https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-RF265BEAESR-Capacity-Refrigerator-Hub0153/dp/B06XKTTG8Z/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=samsung+smart+fridge&qid=1566434240&s=gateway&sr=8-2 this is my fridge if you need it

I've got a smallish apartment fridge like this (fridge) found it gently used on craigslist for $100 and a small space heater, then an arduino and raspberry pi setup with fermentrackto control the temps.

Maybe something like this fits your specs?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N9A4MHQ/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_U_x_0ZZzCb8NNJW9M

Or this:

https://www.westmarine.com/buy/isotherm--cruise-42-elegance-refrigerator-black--18912543