A 12 volt fridge is a serious investment, so we are going to go over a handful of ways to maximise the performance of your fridge in any conditions.

A fridge works by making gas compress and release in a closed circuit. This results in pulling heat from one part of the refrigeration circuit to another and releasing it using a ‘radiator’ similar to a car’s radiator. The hotter the ambient temperature around the fridge, the more energy your fridge will need to use to cool down.

Studies have shown that on a 35 degree day the interior of your vehicle can reach a massive 65 degrees and any black surfaces can reach up to a massive 85 degrees which is hot enough to burn skin.

Because of the way your 12 volt refrigerator works, and knowing what we know about cars heating up in the summer sun you will find that if you leave your fridge in a hot sealed car, it will be overwhelmed trying to cool down, it will also want to use more energy to transfer heat.

There are a few awesome strategies we can implement to keep your beers cooler and your batteries to last longer.

1. Ventilate your car

Just like with your car, if the fridge’s radiator has air flowing over it, it will run cooler. So keeping your windows cracked is a good start. It also pays to keep your fridge/freezer in the shade. So make sure you get one of those silver window shades you can get from a $2 store, they can reduce the temperature inside your car by a massive amount!

2. Add insulation

Insulation will improve the temperature holding ability of your fridge, this means that if you get the inside of the fridge cold, it will stay cold. We can take advantage of improved insulation from a fridge cover and the dual operating voltage. What do we mean by that? Read on.

3. Pre-chill

By plugging in your fridge with the 240v function you can cool the fridge down for a day or 2 and get the internals chilled to nice and cold operating temperature.

4. Fill your fridge

Air is an excellent insulator, so if your fridge hasn’t got much in it, it will use more energy trying to stay cold.  So fill your fridge up! We typically freeze our meat at home and some people even use frozen water bottles to fill the empty space inside the fridge. This will drop the temperature and reduce the effort the fridge has to use to maintain temperature.

Our preference is to fill the space with your favourite beer, that way you have icy cold beers on hand at all times!

5. Re-stock your fridge at night time

The Adventure Kings 60L Fridge/Freezer can take an insane 81 cans and the Kings 80L Fridge freezer a mental 111 cans, this means there is no need to restock your fridge with hot beers  throughout the day. We recommend waiting till the cool of the night . That way your fridge doesn’t have to work as hard to chill them, and you won’t risk heating up the already cool beverages.

5. Install a dual battery

No matter how good you are at increasing the efficiency of your fridge it is inevitable that eventually you will drain the battery it runs off if it isn’t being charged. This is why people install a dual battery system. This gives your camping setup even more power to use. Dual battery systems utilise clever isolators to cut off your crank battery, to make sure you will always be able to start your car no matter how long you enjoyed camp and combining multiple auxiliary batteries if you have the space, will mean you can stay at camp for even longer!

6. Recharge you batteries

A solar charger will mean you don’t deplete your vehicle’s batteries as quickly. A clever system like the 120W solar blanket can even be thrown over your windshield to block even more sunlight, whilst putting the rays to good use! A solar charger uses clever voltage regulating circuitry to maintain your batteries and keep your fridge and other 12v accessories running smoothly virtually cost free!

If you follow these top tips for getting the most out of your 12v portable car fridge you will discover even more versatility for your camp and be more confident hitting longer tracks without fear of running out of battery or icy cold beverages!