Greetings!
After going through 3 of the big name brand ones (Whynter, Engel, & Dometic) in 2.5 years, I will NEVER buy another 12v only ice chest style fridge from anyone. They’re all cheap chinese garbage, the customer service sucks, and the warranties are worthless. They’re all energy hogs, and they add a ton of heat to your interior in the summer. The repair shops are practically non-existent, and will cost you as much as just replacing it. I switched back to a good old fashioned ice chest and have never been happier.
The only people promoting this junk is people looking for suckers to get a big payday. If you must have a 12v only fridge instead of a much more efficient 3-way (Propane, 12v, 120/240v), then shop the big box stores for a dorm fridge that is 12v and has a wall wart to plug in that converts 120v/240v to 12v, and make you a car cord for it if it doesn’t already come with one. They’re frequently on sale for under $100 and come with a freezer. I had a motor home that the previous owner had replaced the original fridge with one of these, and it worked great for the couple of years I had it. It cost him $69 at Builders Square, because he included the receipt and the manual when I bought the motor home.
All the junk the promoters push these days, solar panels & controllers, roof vents, fridges, batteries, inverters, heaters, etc. etc. are cheap chinese junk being sold for high prices so the promoters can make big paychecks. My total conversion cost under $300, and includes everything including being capable of very extreme hot and cold temperatures, unlimited power, a toilet & shower, kitchen, comfy bed & seating, work desk/table. Fully self contained WINDOW van, NOT a cargo van. With a passenger van, the interior is already finished, just remove the seats and move your new furniture in and secure it. Opening windows and a $20 fan work 10x better than a $200+ roof vent, and no normal person really wants to live in a windowless box and constantly need to hide out because they got suckered into a cargo van. Smart, comfy & reliable conversions can be done very cheap if you can just ignore all the promoters.
Dollar stores, thrift stores, yard sales, truck stops, and big box stores are your friends in this lifestyle, not some clown on the internet that is quick to spend YOUR money! Any HONEST full time van dweller will tell you that cheap but reliable and comfortable is the ONLY way to succeed in this lifestyle. Otherwise you’re just creating a money pit for yourself. You want everything to be cheap and easily replaceable almost anywhere. Almost everything these days is built to be disposable rather than repairable, and you don’t want to be waiting days, weeks, or even months for a replacement to arrive. Always buy cheap & LOCAL!
If you must have an actual fridge and can’t find a cheap 12v dorm fridge, there are directions online to tell you how to use a 120v/240v one with an inverter and a temperature probe to shut off the inverter when the fridge doesn’t need the power, so the inverter isn’t wasting any power. This is still actually more energy efficient than the 12v fridges the promoters want you to buy. For me, I’ll stick to my $40 ice chest and 99¢ a week big block of ice. Simple, efficient, and nothing to break.
Cheers!