Chest Style or Front Open Fridge for Van?

[RememberTheFallen]

Tried searching this topic but couldn't anything recent that was helpful.

I have started converting my regular body E-350 for camping and trying to decide on the fridge.

Right now I plan on having a fixed 80x50 bed from the back drivers corner with a cabinet running the rest of the width down the passenger side.

I currently have an ARB 50qt fridge that I want to run on a slide under the bed the pulled out to the rear. Only issue is that it is so tall my bed would be very high in a fixed roof van.

So right now I am looking at either getting the lower 37qt ARB of a front opening fridge like the Engel and installing it in a cabinet behind the drivers seat like so many other conversions.

What is your opinions on chest the vs open front in these situations?

I know that the open front are less efficient because they allow cool air out when open but are there any other drawbacks?

I plan on just using 12v with a battery bank and maybe solar.

This was kind what I was planning on sliding out the back. My Chuck box on one side, fridge on the other, with two water cans in the middle. If I bought the 37qt fridge it would go there.



Or

 

[Herbie]

After literally years of struggling to build an interior around a chest fridge, I finally went with a front-opening fridge on my most recent build iteration, and I love it:

The whole "cold air spilling out" thing is sort of a myth - it's the temperature of the mass inside the fridge (food/drinks) that really matters; the thermal mass of a couple of cubic feet of air is nothing compared to the food. My Truckfridge TF49 is running the exact same Danfoss compressor that all the big-boy chest fridges use, and it was a LOT more space efficient for me in my small van. It pulls about 25AH/day, so I get at least two days out of my 100AH Group31 house battery even if I don't deploy the solar panel or do any driving.

A chest fridge needs room above to be opened, so either you waste that space, of you have to put it on a pull-out to open it. In my case I also hated having that flat surface in the van because my wife/kid inevitably piled stuff on top if it that I then needed to move whenever I wanted to get a beer or food to cook. Obviously a front-opener needs room to open, but I find most van builds have either a "hallway" or other living space that the door can sweep through without causing big problems.

I sold my 5-year-old Edgestar FP430 fridge when I bought this, so overall this was a very inexpensive upgrade and it made the interior layout in my van SO MUCH more efficient.

 

[Luinil Explorations]

We have a Truckfridge 49 behind the drivers seat and love it. It is energy efficient, draws about 2.5 amps and only runs half the time unless it is very hot. Having it accessible inside the van is very convenient for access by the passengers to beverages or food while driving. Your plan of sliding the ARB out the back only allows access when you are stopped.

 

[Johny5]

I'm of the thought that I do my cooking out side so I want the fridge accessible so I don't have to climb into the van for supplies. Mine is accessible from the rear door but I wouldn't mind if it was over the passenger rear wheel near the sliding door .

 

[dingus]

I have the same ARB fridge 50 Qt im just putting it up front on the floor behind the drivers seat on slides cross ways in my 4x4 E 350 van so I can pull it right out and it will be closer to side doors also when slid out I can reach into it from my drivers seat to grab a pop then push it back in when im done mine will be at floor level the slides will be and inch off the floor so so will the fridge.
Im just using HD drawer slides from home depo and some of them table saw round rollers on the plywood bottom .
that's my plan so far. I will try and remember to take some pics.
I cant see it working at the back with a bed your right OP its to hi up that's why im doing it cross ways behind the drivers seat and the fact I can get into it from the drivers seat when slid out is a big +

 

[RememberTheFallen]

Thanks for all of the replies.

I had originally planned on having the ARB fridge behind my drivers seat like I used it in our first trip.



(Forgive the clutter. I do not have any shelves or the bed platform built yet)

The reason I moved it away from there was because I wanted to build a cabinet in that area. If I built the cabinet over the fridge then I would have to pull the fridge way out in the space behind the passenger seat. It seemed like it would be a pain to use. Plus something about the fridge sticking out of a flat cabinet seemed messed up aesthetically.

I planned on moving the fridge to the back to free up space for clothes storage and stuff behind the drivers seats. I thought that having the fridge in the back with the chuckbox in the cooking area might be convenient. Figured I would carry a small 6 pack cooler up front with drinks.

This debate may be for nothing now as I showed my wife pictures of Herbie's set up and she really likes the open front design. I think she secretly hates the ARB because it was originally mounted on a platform in the back seat of my Tacoma and she could never fully see over the edge and down into the fridge.

I see that two of you went with the Truckfridge. Is it better than the Engel or just cheaper?

 

[Paddy]

All fridges with danfoss compressors are of equal efficiency pretty much. So arb=Engel=truckfridge=whynter. In fact I'm pretty sure whynter is the mfg for many of these much higher end units. I got a chest style whynter from homedepot.con that cost half of what the others did. I'd have liked front opening but it doesn't matter to me and temporary flat work surface, as annoying as it is, is sometimes useful.

 

[Luinil Explorations]

All fridges with danfoss compressors are of equal efficiency pretty much. So arb=Engel=truckfridge=whynter. In fact I'm pretty sure whynter is the mfg for many of these much higher end units. I got a chest style whynter from homedepot.con that cost half of what the others did. I'd have liked front opening but it doesn't matter to me and temporary flat work surface, as annoying as it is, is sometimes useful.

I agree. All the fridges look exactly the same with similar dimensions and specs. That means they come probably come from the same manufacturer.

 

[naterry]

Fwiw our National Luna (chest) has survived 1000's of miles of Utah, Nevada, Idaho, and Baja washboards without a hiccup.

 

[mikracer]

If you're thinking about leaving the fridge behind the driver's seat, you could always build a cabinet and have it slide out. Then above the fridge, you could have additional cabinets for clothes or whatever. I've personally never been a fan of tall cabinets behind the driver's seat, but it seems to work for many people.

 

[huskyhauler]

Others have mentioned access needs for both. I currently have an upright, front-open fridge/freezer and find it annoying to get things out of the fridge. Since it's small it doesn't have many shelves so items are stacked on top of each other. If I want something in particular I have to pull it out like a Jenga puzzle and hope the rest of the contents don't come spilling out. Likewise, things tend to shift under transit and opening a front-door fridge often leads to items falling out onto the floor when I first open the fridge after transit.

A chest-style fridge would be cool for my sanity, buy like other's have said, it's can be challenging to install without wasting valuable space/cargo room unless it slides out from under a bed or other compartment, but that will lead to restricted access.

So, way your options against your needs and choose a style that fits your design model and functional needs.

 

[RememberTheFallen]

Others have mentioned access needs for both. I currently have an upright, front-open fridge/freezer and find it annoying to get things out of the fridge. Since it's small it doesn't have many shelves so items are stacked on top of each other. If I want something in particular I have to pull it out like a Jenga puzzle and hope the rest of the contents don't come spilling out. Likewise, things tend to shift under transit and opening a front-door fridge often leads to items falling out onto the floor when I first open the fridge after transit.

A chest-style fridge would be cool for my sanity, buy like other's have said, it's can be challenging to install without wasting valuable space/cargo room unless it slides out from under a bed or other compartment, but that will lead to restricted access.

So, way your options against your needs and choose a style that fits your design model and functional needs.

Interesting you mention that. Having to shuffle things around to get to what you need was one of the reasons my wife wants to get rid of the ARB chest fridge and get an open front. It always seemed we had to remove several different items to get what we needed all while supporting the lid with a shoulder or head. Maybe that's unique to the tall and narrow 50qt.

We shall see. I listed the ARB for sale and plan to get a Truckfridge. I look forward to it fitting into my layout better and having a true freezer as well.

 

[Herbie]

Others have mentioned access needs for both. I currently have an upright, front-open fridge/freezer and find it annoying to get things out of the fridge. Since it's small it doesn't have many shelves so items are stacked on top of each other. If I want something in particular I have to pull it out like a Jenga puzzle and hope the rest of the contents don't come spilling out. Likewise, things tend to shift under transit and opening a front-door fridge often leads to items falling out onto the floor when I first open the fridge after transit.

A chest-style fridge would be cool for my sanity, buy like other's have said, it's can be challenging to install without wasting valuable space/cargo room unless it slides out from under a bed or other compartment, but that will lead to restricted access.

So, way your options against your needs and choose a style that fits your design model and functional needs.

I use a pair of sliding baskets for the bottom shelf of my front-opening shelf, which helps tremendously with the problem of getting to stuff in the "back". I actually find this much easier than digging to things on the bottom of a chest fridge.

 

[bstory]

A vote for top opening Engel

We have found that both top opening and front opening small fridges mean you will be taking things out to find other things. Small space packed full = inevitable.

Personally, as my back and knees are not so good as they used to be, the idea of kneeling on the floor and/or bending over to do this made it a simple decision to go with the chest Engel, especially when you add the energy efficiency.

You don't have to lose space above the chest type fridge if you build it in to your countertop. In this example, you get lots of light into the fridge to make finding that special bit of food even easier.

 

[RememberTheFallen]

I looked at making a flip up shelf above my fridge but already had an issue with the wife using it as place to leave things. It got old moving things around to get into the fridge.

I hope to keep the space uncluttered. In the current fridge it always seems to be filled with beer. If I can manage to only keep a fews at a time cold I should have plenty of room for everything else.