Well, after a very long 2 weeks without a fridge, the insurance company has come to the party to fix our fridge, so looks like we keep the Waeco for now.
But just following up on everyone’s comments, it seems there are a few clear favorites. We have no alliance with any of these companies but spent the week making inquires with all of them trying to find out the best model to suit our needs. The comments below are comments and opinions made by various company reps and sales consultants during the course of our enquires.
ENGLE appear to have the best reputation in the camping world, that said, they do not make a large upright. Speaking to their rep about this, they have opted instead to go for the 95 litre upright model. They make two different models and suggest combining them and running them independently so you can have a set up that best suits your needs. Their reasoning is that this places less stress on the compressor than it would in a much larger model, and if you are not using one you can turn it off. Overall, it appears a good solution, and the way their compressors are designed; they use the least amount of power.
The VITRIFRIGO is an Italian made Fridge and staring to gain popularity. From our enquires it appears that a lot of care has been taken in the finish. The rep we spoke to indicated they still use the Danfoss compressor, but have mounted it better than others using the same compressor. Also, their controller allows the compressor to run more often, but for less time, keeping it cooler and apparently making it more efficient. Their reliability and service also appears to be superior.
EVAKOOL are a Queensland based company. Their range covers from Esky’s to upright fridges & freezers. They have been around for a long time and most people rate them highly. They use a Wancool compressor in their bigger models which has a self diagnostic fault system.
From our enquires over the last week, it appears it all comes down to the compressor and how well it is vented. In our case, we allowed the recommended venting suggested by the manufacture, but this still did not appear to be enough, so from our experience we would suggest as much venting as possible.
Overall it is still personal preference, and we are sure each Brand will have its success stories and failures. We hope that this has helped some of you out if you are considering a purchase in the future.
Regards
The FRC Team
