This is great info guys! At the price point of these units i didnt expect to see the "apples to apples" analysis of this many at one time. For stateside overlanding, it seems that ARB and Dometic/Waeco are the popular units, but Snowmaster is really taking the cake on most of the test for the cost. Im not sure how yalls rigs are set up, but in your experience, how do these units hold up exposed to weather and environmental elements? A Jeep Gladiator overland build is in the near future for me, and im planning ahead for organizing my utilities, including purchasing a fridge unit. Im on the fence about putting a fridge in the back seat vs. locating it on a slideout in the bed. If i was to locate the fridge on a slideout in the bed, what could be expected With and Without constructing a protective enclosure? Would the fridge cover alone be enough exterior protection/insulation for long weekend/week adventures? How does rain/dust effect them? Im not sure if you're familiar with the Decked brand bed cargo boxes, but they are an economic upgrade for increasing the utility and storage of the bed, but comes with the sacrifice of bed deck height. After seeing how modular their construction is, i emailed them a mocked up design which would allow an optional deck top that indexed toward the front of the bed about the length and width of an average fridge/cooler. This would allow possible use of a fridge/cooler in the existing pull out drawer, furthermore a possible option of a flat base slideout to replace the drawer for direct fridge mounting. End result, you have a lower fridge placement on a slideout and still have used of the other slideout drawer for equipment and essentials. Sorry for the long read, but it might benefit other stateside overlanders like myself who are wondering the same about the durability and location of their fridges. Thanks again, and keep it up.
I own a 1970 Engel 39ltr which draws a tad more than the new models, but still works really well. I also have an Engel 35 and 45 MT G/P - both draw less and so far no problems, If they last as long as the old one I will be happy.. I was considering the National Luna or Snomaster - but my old Engels reliability was hard to ignore so I stuck with them. Also I don't need things like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth etc.. K.I.S.S. is the best formula IMO.
Wish I could get my hands on a 40l Luna, I can only get my hands on 80’s and 90’s. Which means I would need to purchase 80’s on the other brands. Crazy cost for a CZcams video. Maybe one day Luna will send me one to test......... but don’t think that will ever happen. Companies don’t like their products been tested against the opposition. Hence this test is done purely with fridges I own
You can't compare the Snomaster when YOU are manually selecting the Low Setting which is a feature not found on the other brands because it is YOU who is deciding how it will run and what power it uses NOT the Fridge where as all the other 3 are fully Automatic, Bottom line is ARB and ENGEL have the Reputation and the History to back up the results, One thing you guys don't realize is the ARB is always running in Auto Mode and during it's ON cycles is it will vary it's power draw from cycle to cycle Some times it might use 1.2+/- Ah and on the next cycle it might only use 0.935 or what ever it thinks it needs to do, I have measured 1000's of hours of the ARB 47L's cycles and you might get 2 or 3 cycles in a row that match and then it will change what it does the next time round IE it can run for SAY ?? 13mins 47secs and use 1.35Amps but in it's next cycle it might run for 14mins 22secs and only use 1.279Amps So seeing as it is full Automatic you should compare it to the Snomaster in it's Auto Mode, I am sure if ARB fitted a Low Mode to the ARB 47L you would see even lower figures, Also note that the ARB will use as little as 0.398Ah and less when running on 12v, And because the ARB is running in full Auto it makes it hard to work out the final figures unless you record them and those numbers will change the very next day, I think you will find that the ARB uses a lot less power than the snomaster,
G 55 why own a fridge that does now allow you to choose what setting you want to run it on? All fridges were compared fairly in 6 different tests. The results are for you to decide.
The fact that the snomaster has this setting is a plus for me. And the fact that it has a remote to change it is another plus oh the fact it cools the beverage down the fastest.... i guess thats another plus. Its there to be a fridge not the least amount power consumption.. an extra 10ah in the battery purchase will cover that
Sorry but they are meant to use the minimum amount of power, So just to check out this guys tests I bought 2 of them, And Guess What, In Real World Conditions Snomaster Fridges Eat Batteries and When running On AC they consume as much if not more power than a Domestic Fridge Freezer, The End Result Is, One I returned and the Other I Gave Away, Bottom line is they are well made to a degree but they are useless when it comes to Off Grid and Vehicular Use, Snomasters will Eat Batteries Period. So much So that I had to hook up the Workshop Charger within 3 1/2 to 4 hours of doing the test because the Fridge was Eating a "NEW" 115A/h battery so fast it wasn't funny, And to be able to power a Snomaster you are going to need an excess of a 600w + of Solar and some very long sunny days, Sadly I am not impressed with Snomasters At All.
@@user-tv8sm6so9y You should probably watch EP3 of this series. Their numbers show the Snomaster to not burn any more power than the others in the long term testing.
Mate I own 2 snomaster and his figures are BS, because he turned the snomaster down to it's lowest power draw setting instead of running it in Auto using the same setup as all the other fridges use but even then the snomaster still use more power than the ARB's or the Dometics, The bloke is talking BS, WHY ?? because he is a Snomaster Dealer, I'm not a Dealer but I do own 2 Snomasters and 2 ARB's and 2 Dometics. There is also a few issues with snomasters and that is the Compressor is not protected against Shock, Meaning if you pick the fridge up or hit a small bump in the road the Compressor jumps and makes a Clunking sound because it rattles around inside it's housing, This is not a good thing to be happening when driving down the road and even more so during off road conditions, Also Snomasters will use as much power on AC as a normal full size domestic fridge, Either way this Guy has fixed the results because he is a dealer, And I bought 2 Snomasters just to see if he was telling the truth and Guess what I found, Do your self a favour and buy an Engel or ARB, They are the 2 best brands on the market and that's a fact.
You discussed the reasoning for why you might want the fast draw down temperature ie. Auto setting on the Snomaster. Your dissussion seemed to be very focused on drinks and recreational requirements. But the rate at which something is cooled, specifically in the freezing scenario plays a big part in the quality of the end frozen product. A faster temperature drop produces a smaller ice crystal... So when freezing meat and specifically fish. the ice crystals formed will do less damage to neighbouring cells when you come back to defrosting and handling the product. The slow temperature pull down results in large sharp crystals which will pierce other neighbouring cells, hence why some fish can look old after defrosting. It is why fishermen will recieve a higher rate per kg for fish if it is blast frozen.... Now this isnt exactly a blast chiller but the same still applies... not sure if the manufacturers intended it for this purpose... but just some more info for you.
As an overlander, I would freeze my meat etc prior to leaving. Remember these are 12v fridges. So expecting this to behave like a congenital 220v fridge is going to be difficult. The reason we concentrate on beverages is because this is the most used item and would need replenishment more often than anything else 🍺😉
Great series of articles - I'm trying to run the same tests on another fridge so I can compare. In the first cool-down test you used a 250 ml soda. This one you use water and I see the position in the vid, but I didn't hear what size. It looks like a 500 ml or is it a 250 ml like the soda? Thanks.
For the water they are all 500 ml. If you running a similar test make sure the ambient temp of the water is similar. A couple degrees either way does make a huge difference.
The newest Engel 35 and 45 MT G/P will knock out all the other fridges. Noise is down to 41 db whereas the Snowmaster Fidge operates at a noisy 47 db. This is an enormous difference, not just a little.... This aside, the Snowmaster is an excellent fridge, no doubt about that. But the Engel are legendary for their reliability and super low consumption.
@@ExpeditionExtreme I like your tests a lot and you gave some really good insights to how these fidges work and what to think about before buying. My choice is the Engel - but the snowmaster was quite close.
Hi again, just did a few tests at home with my new Engel MT 35 G/P. I only had 11 Watts average consumption over the last 15.7 hours (cooling down from 23 C to 5 C in just 20 minutes) and opened the fridge 5 times for one minute. The compressor needs 32 Watts only when working. To keep the temp. at a fixed level it is working at 2 to 3 Watts only. That is less than a third of my fridge at home. I do not regret having bought this fridge even though it is quite expensive.
jjust download the spread sheet if you don't want the explanation. Easy. Not all people understand how these fridges work and the explanation is needed.
can't seem to understand your comment. You just say its BS. So what part is BS. The fridges are BS? The results are BS? The system we put in place to measure the results are BS? Not sure what you mean?
@@WayneCook306 not everyone is clued up on 12v and fridges. Do to little explanation and comments want more explanation. If you understand it, just download the findings. A bit unfair to say BS without an explanation. It’s like me commenting on your video BS. Would you not want to understand??? Download the findings and bobs your uncle
This is great info guys! At the price point of these units i didnt expect to see the "apples to apples" analysis of this many at one time. For stateside overlanding, it seems that ARB and Dometic/Waeco are the popular units, but Snowmaster is really taking the cake on most of the test for the cost. Im not sure how yalls rigs are set up, but in your experience, how do these units hold up exposed to weather and environmental elements? A Jeep Gladiator overland build is in the near future for me, and im planning ahead for organizing my utilities, including purchasing a fridge unit. Im on the fence about putting a fridge in the back seat vs. locating it on a slideout in the bed. If i was to locate the fridge on a slideout in the bed, what could be expected With and Without constructing a protective enclosure? Would the fridge cover alone be enough exterior protection/insulation for long weekend/week adventures? How does rain/dust effect them?
Im not sure if you're familiar with the Decked brand bed cargo boxes, but they are an economic upgrade for increasing the utility and storage of the bed, but comes with the sacrifice of bed deck height. After seeing how modular their construction is, i emailed them a mocked up design which would allow an optional deck top that indexed toward the front of the bed about the length and width of an average fridge/cooler. This would allow possible use of a fridge/cooler in the existing pull out drawer, furthermore a possible option of a flat base slideout to replace the drawer for direct fridge mounting. End result, you have a lower fridge placement on a slideout and still have used of the other slideout drawer for equipment and essentials. Sorry for the long read, but it might benefit other stateside overlanders like myself who are wondering the same about the durability and location of their fridges. Thanks again, and keep it up.
I own a 1970 Engel 39ltr which draws a tad more than the new models, but still works really well.
I also have an Engel 35 and 45 MT G/P - both draw less and so far no problems,
If they last as long as the old one I will be happy..
I was considering the National Luna or Snomaster - but my old Engels reliability was hard to ignore so I stuck with them.
Also I don't need things like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth etc.. K.I.S.S. is the best formula IMO.
agreed, I still have my engels and use them in crew vehicles. Reliable but noisy and a bit clunky.
These were a great series of videos to see which would be the second best 12 v fridge currently on the market. Not everyone needs the Luna.
Wish I could get my hands on a 40l Luna, I can only get my hands on 80’s and 90’s. Which means I would need to purchase 80’s on the other brands. Crazy cost for a CZcams video. Maybe one day Luna will send me one to test......... but don’t think that will ever happen. Companies don’t like their products been tested against the opposition. Hence this test is done purely with fridges I own
You can't compare the Snomaster when YOU are manually selecting the Low Setting which is a feature not found on the other brands because it is YOU who is deciding how it will run and what power it uses NOT the Fridge where as all the other 3 are fully Automatic, Bottom line is ARB and ENGEL have the Reputation and the History to back up the results, One thing you guys don't realize is the ARB is always running in Auto Mode and during it's ON cycles is it will vary it's power draw from cycle to cycle Some times it might use 1.2+/- Ah and on the next cycle it might only use 0.935 or what ever it thinks it needs to do, I have measured 1000's of hours of the ARB 47L's cycles and you might get 2 or 3 cycles in a row that match and then it will change what it does the next time round IE it can run for SAY ?? 13mins 47secs and use 1.35Amps but in it's next cycle it might run for 14mins 22secs and only use 1.279Amps So seeing as it is full Automatic you should compare it to the Snomaster in it's Auto Mode, I am sure if ARB fitted a Low Mode to the ARB 47L you would see even lower figures, Also note that the ARB will use as little as 0.398Ah and less when running on 12v, And because the ARB is running in full Auto it makes it hard to work out the final figures unless you record them and those numbers will change the very next day, I think you will find that the ARB uses a lot less power than the snomaster,
G 55 why own a fridge that does now allow you to choose what setting you want to run it on?
All fridges were compared fairly in 6 different tests. The results are for you to decide.
The fact that the snomaster has this setting is a plus for me. And the fact that it has a remote to change it is another plus oh the fact it cools the beverage down the fastest.... i guess thats another plus. Its there to be a fridge not the least amount power consumption.. an extra 10ah in the battery purchase will cover that
Sorry but they are meant to use the minimum amount of power, So just to check out this guys tests I bought 2 of them, And Guess What, In Real World Conditions Snomaster Fridges Eat Batteries and When running On AC they consume as much if not more power than a Domestic Fridge Freezer, The End Result Is, One I returned and the Other I Gave Away, Bottom line is they are well made to a degree but they are useless when it comes to Off Grid and Vehicular Use, Snomasters will Eat Batteries Period. So much So that I had to hook up the Workshop Charger within 3 1/2 to 4 hours of doing the test because the Fridge was Eating a "NEW" 115A/h battery so fast it wasn't funny, And to be able to power a Snomaster you are going to need an excess of a 600w + of Solar and some very long sunny days, Sadly I am not impressed with Snomasters At All.
@@user-tv8sm6so9y You should probably watch EP3 of this series. Their numbers show the Snomaster to not burn any more power than the others in the long term testing.
Mate I own 2 snomaster and his figures are BS, because he turned the snomaster down to it's lowest power draw setting instead of running it in Auto using the same setup as all the other fridges use but even then the snomaster still use more power than the ARB's or the Dometics, The bloke is talking BS, WHY ?? because he is a Snomaster Dealer, I'm not a Dealer but I do own 2 Snomasters and 2 ARB's and 2 Dometics. There is also a few issues with snomasters and that is the Compressor is not protected against Shock, Meaning if you pick the fridge up or hit a small bump in the road the Compressor jumps and makes a Clunking sound because it rattles around inside it's housing, This is not a good thing to be happening when driving down the road and even more so during off road conditions, Also Snomasters will use as much power on AC as a normal full size domestic fridge, Either way this Guy has fixed the results because he is a dealer, And I bought 2 Snomasters just to see if he was telling the truth and Guess what I found, Do your self a favour and buy an Engel or ARB, They are the 2 best brands on the market and that's a fact.
You discussed the reasoning for why you might want the fast draw down temperature ie. Auto setting on the Snomaster. Your dissussion seemed to be very focused on drinks and recreational requirements.
But the rate at which something is cooled, specifically in the freezing scenario plays a big part in the quality of the end frozen product. A faster temperature drop produces a smaller ice crystal... So when freezing meat and specifically fish. the ice crystals formed will do less damage to neighbouring cells when you come back to defrosting and handling the product. The slow temperature pull down results in large sharp crystals which will pierce other neighbouring cells, hence why some fish can look old after defrosting. It is why fishermen will recieve a higher rate per kg for fish if it is blast frozen....
Now this isnt exactly a blast chiller but the same still applies... not sure if the manufacturers intended it for this purpose... but just some more info for you.
As an overlander, I would freeze my meat etc prior to leaving. Remember these are 12v fridges. So expecting this to behave like a congenital 220v fridge is going to be difficult. The reason we concentrate on beverages is because this is the most used item and would need replenishment more often than anything else 🍺😉
Conventional
Great series of articles - I'm trying to run the same tests on another fridge so I can compare. In the first cool-down test you used a 250 ml soda. This one you use water and I see the position in the vid, but I didn't hear what size. It looks like a 500 ml or is it a 250 ml like the soda? Thanks.
For the water they are all 500 ml. If you running a similar test make sure the ambient temp of the water is similar. A couple degrees either way does make a huge difference.
The newest Engel 35 and 45 MT G/P will knock out all the other fridges. Noise is down to 41 db whereas the Snowmaster Fidge operates at a noisy 47 db. This is an enormous difference, not just a little....
This aside, the Snowmaster is an excellent fridge, no doubt about that. But the Engel are legendary for their reliability and super low consumption.
Yes engel is legendary, thats why we wanted to run a number of tests to see how good each of the fridges perform in different environments.
@@ExpeditionExtreme
I like your tests a lot and you gave some really good insights to how these fidges work and what to think about before buying. My choice is the Engel - but the snowmaster was quite close.
Hi again,
just did a few tests at home with my new Engel MT 35 G/P.
I only had 11 Watts average consumption over the last 15.7 hours (cooling down from 23 C to 5 C in just 20 minutes) and opened the fridge 5 times for one minute.
The compressor needs 32 Watts only when working. To keep the temp. at a fixed level it is working at 2 to 3 Watts only. That is less than a third of my fridge at home. I do not regret having bought this fridge even though it is quite expensive.
This: refrigerator olympics
Bla bla bla bla...to mach tocking!
jjust download the spread sheet if you don't want the explanation. Easy. Not all people understand how these fridges work and the explanation is needed.
What a load of BS...
can't seem to understand your comment. You just say its BS. So what part is BS. The fridges are BS? The results are BS? The system we put in place to measure the results are BS? Not sure what you mean?
@@ExpeditionExtreme To much chat about nothing without getting to the point that is what i mean by BS..
@@WayneCook306 not everyone is clued up on 12v and fridges. Do to little explanation and comments want more explanation. If you understand it, just download the findings. A bit unfair to say BS without an explanation. It’s like me commenting on your video BS. Would you not want to understand???
Download the findings and bobs your uncle
@@ExpeditionExtreme Yes no worries point taken..