Time for reading: 6 min.

RV Refrigerators Keep Food and Drink Cold and Fresh While on the Road

Here, we cover portable, small, and large refrigerator/freezers purpose-built for trailer/RV use which are space-efficient and energy-efficient. Some offer wine storage, and some even double as heaters.
RV Refrigerators Keep Food and Drink Cold and Fresh While on the Road

Mobile or not, a home doesn't really feel like a home if there's no refrigerator in it. Without the ability to preserve a variety of food and drink items, you're pretty much relegated to finding a restaurant stop whenever you want to enjoy a real meal instead of protein bars, chips, or other snacks from a bag.

When you think about just how much time and money detouring for meals actually costs in lost miles, extra fuel, and restaurant expenses, it's easy to realize a refrigerator for your RV or trailer isn't a luxury - it's a necessity. A quality of life improvement that also pays you back monetarily many times over.

Preparing Food In RV
Without an on-board refrigerator, preparing your favorite foods on the road is much more challenging - if not impossible.

We make it easy to step up to a variety of quality small and large refrigerator/freezers that are both space-efficient and energy-efficient. Some add the ability to warm contents while others even feature sections designed specifically for wine bottles. And to reassure you, all refrigerators we offer have been designed to withstand the kind of repeated vibrations and shocks inherent to the mobile life.

Coolers Tiny Powerful Refrigerators
Don't assume products we label as "coolers" are traditional ones in any way. They may look like a normal insulated cooler on the outside, but they're actually tiny powered refrigerators!

We'll note that even though some of the products found in our RV Refrigerators & Chillers section use the word "cooler" in their title, all of them are electrically powered refrigerators - some small enough that they could visibly be mistaken for simple insulated coolers.

Some Notes Regarding Efficiency

When you're away from home in an RV or trailer, energy usage must be metered carefully - because every ounce of efficiency counts.

Fully Equipped RV

Typical RV/trailers are set up with both alternating electrical current (AC) and direct current (DC). A 120-volt AC system supplies power to all onboard hardwired lights, appliances, and outlets, while a 12-volt DC setup is used for on-board RV engines (if applicable). Fridges we offer will plug in to any normal outlet for use.

As a general rule, refrigerators with freezer sections on top are 10 to 25% more efficient than those with freezers located on the side or bottom. For this reason, virtually all refrigerators with freezers on our website have the more efficient layout. Automatic ice makers tend to increase energy usage by 10 to 20% as well.

Large (Yet Still Compact) Refrigerators

Ranging between 7 and 20 cubic feet of interior space, the large refrigerators we offer have footprints requiring from 23"x23" to 36"x28" of floor space. All except one offer freezer compartments.

Avanti 7.4 Cubic Foot 2-Door Refrigerator / Whirlpool 11 Cubic Foot 2-Door Refrigerator
The Avanti 7.4 Cubic Foot 2-Door Refrigerator (left) and Whirlpool 11 Cubic Foot 2-Door Refrigerator (right).

Starting on the small end with 2-door freezer-on-top designs, we've got the Norcold 7 Cubic Foot 2-Door Refrigerator, Avanti's tall 7.4 Cubic Foot 2-Door Refrigerator, Norcold Polar 10 Cubic Foot 2-Door Refrigerator & Freezer, and Whirlpool 11 Cubic Foot 2-Door Refrigerator.

Norcold Ultra-Line 12 Cubic Foot / 18 Cubic Foot Refrigerators
The Norcold Ultra-Line 12 Cubic Foot (left) and 18 Cubic Foot (right) refrigerators feature 2 separate freezer sections.

Moving up to larger refrigerator/freezers with multi-door access, we've got several sizes from Norcold with 2 doors for the refrigerated area, and 2 doors for 2 separate freezer compartments. Check out their Ultra Line 12 Cubic Foot Side-By-Side Refrigerator and PolarMax 18 Cubic Foot Side-By-Side Refrigerator.

Furrion 14 Cubic Foot 4 Doors Refrigerator / Furrion 20 Cubic Foot Stainless Steel 3-Door Refrigerator
The Furrion 14 Cubic Foot 4 Doors Refrigerator (left) features a dedicated wine section. The Furrion 20 Cubic Foot Stainless Steel 3-Door Refrigerator (right) has a traditional bottom-freezer layout.

Furrion's 14 Cubic Foot 4 Doors Refrigerator features 4 doors that open on separate refrigerated sections - 1 of which is designed for wine storage. And for the largest refrigerator we offer, the Furrion 20 Cubic Foot Stainless Steel 3-Door Refrigerator provides stylish design and classic "big fridge" layout with freezer located underneath.

Compact Refrigerators

Compact Refrigerators With Separate Freezer Sections
Many, but not all, compact refrigerators have separate freezer sections.

For the purposes of this article, we'll consider a compact refrigerator as one having 1.5 to 6 cubic feet of interior storage with an overall design and weight that's best suited to stationary use (compact portable fridges are further below). If you've got less space to work with, compact refrigerators can provide decent storage volume without taking up much floor space.

Compact Square-Shaped Fridges
We've got a variety of compact, square-shaped fridges.

On the smaller side, we've got mostly square-shaped refrigerators such as the Avanti 1.7 Cubic Foot Refrigerator, Furrion 1.7 Cubic Foot Refrigerator, Sunex Eleanor Pinup Fridge (1.7 cubic feet), Avanti 2.4 Cubic Foot Refrigerator, and Norcold 2.7 Cubic Foot Proud Mount Refrigerator w/Freezer to name a few.

Norcold 4.5 Cubic Foot Dual Compartment Refrigerator With Freezer
The Norcold 4.5 Cubic Foot Dual Compartment Refrigerator w/Freezer.

Moving up to taller refrigerators designed to fit in narrow spaces, we've got the Furrion 4.3 Cubic Foot Refrigerator w/Freezer, Avanti 4.4 Cubic Foot Refrigerator, Norcold 4.5 Cubic Foot Dual Compartment Refrigerator w/Freezer, Norcold 5.3 Cubic Foot Dual Compartment Refrigerator w/Freezer, and Norcold 5.5 Cubic Foot Dual Compartment Refrigerator w/Freezer.

Avanti's 12 Bottles Thermoelectric Wine Chiller / 13 Bottles Wine Chiller Preserver
Avanti's 12 Bottles Thermoelectric Wine Chiller (left) and 13 Bottles Wine Chiller Preserver (right).

If you're interested in wine storage, take a look at the Avanti's slim 12 Bottles Thermoelectric Wine Chiller and larger 13 Bottles Wine Chiller Preserver - both of which come equipped with fitted holding racks inside.

Small Portable Refrigerators & Coolers

When space is really tight, we've got cleverly-designed portable refrigerators and chillers & coolers with interior volume capacities ranging from 0.2 cubic feet to 2.7 cubic feet. These are generally small enough to pick up and carry out of your RV with relative ease.

Small Portable Refrigerators

Some, such as the Norcold Portable Refrigerator & Freezer (choose 1.1, 1.6, or 2.0 cubic foot versions), Smittybilt Arctic Portable Refrigerator & Freezer (1.8 cubic feet), and ARB Portable Refrigerator & Freezer (choose 1.2, 1.7, 2.1, or 2.7 cubic feet) even provide a small compartment for freezing small items.

Prefer a portable fridge with a traditional front-opening door? Coleman PowerChill 2 Cubic Foot Thermoelectric Cooler (can be positioned vertically like a refrigerator or laid horizontally like a traditional cooler).

Uber Appliance Uber Chill Personal Mini Fridge
The Uber Appliance Uber Chill Personal Mini Fridge is available in 2 very compact personal sizes.

And if you want extremely compact, the Uber Appliance Uber Chill Personal Mini Fridge is available in two "personal" (micro) sizes of 4 liters (.14 cubic feet) or 9 liters (.32 cubic feet) and can be plugged into any standard wall outlet or car charger port.

Small Portable Refrigerators That Also Double As Warmers

When you need to keep contents warm instead of cold, we've got some versatile fridge/coolers that also have the ability to heat things up to around 140 degrees Fahrenheit. In order of size, take a look at the Black & Decker 0.2 Cubic Feet Deluxe Family Size Cooler with Warmer, RoadPro 0.2 Cubic Foot Cooler with Warmer & Cup Holders, Schumacher Cooler w/Warmer (0.8 cubic feet), Koolatron 1.0 cubic foot Thermoelectric Cooler, Wagan 1.5 Cubic Foot Portable Cooler with Warmer, and RoadPro SnackMaster 1.7 cubic foot Deluxe Family Size Cooler with Warmer.

Small Portable Refrigerators That Work As Warmers

This wraps up our look at refrigerators. Note that we also carry a variety of other interior appliances tailored for the mobile life such as large appliances, small appliances, furniture, lighting, bathroom components, GPS systems, propane tanks, air conditioners and heaters, and much more.

RV Interior Appliances Variety

We also encourage you to browse through other sections of CAMPERiD where you'll find some great RV/trailer exterior equipment, plumbing-related supplies, electrical, maintenance-related products, towing/hitch hardware, and much more. Should you have questions about anything on our website, we'll be happy to help seven days a week!

Shop Now