My Experience:
Hey folks! Today, after much delay, I want to talk about my fridge. I have been running the ARB Weatherproof Elements fridge on the Wrangler for a bit over a year. Before I begin, I want to make a few things clear. This fridge was provided to me at a 75% discount directly from ARB for marketing and review. If all you are here for, is to find out if I recommend it, the answer is yes. But, with some conditions. I will continue to use the fridge , but it's not entirely optimal for me, so it may not be the best for you either. Hopefully, you can decide if you want to run this fridge in your setup, by the end of this.
The Facts:
The ‘Weatherproof Elements Fridge’ is ARB’s ‘Gloves off’ fridge. They put in some features that never made the cut in previous models. You can get this behemoth of a fridge for around the 1400$ mark. I know, not exactly a small amount of coin, but Adventure and Camper fridges are not exactly for the frugal. It has a bad-ass stainless steel exterior design, electronic lock/touchpad, UV resistant trim, incorporates a fantastic strut design, and can be thoroughly sprayed down (minus a direct injection to the compressor vents).
The fridge has integrated battery protection to avoid your rig deciding it won't be turning over in the morning, and consumption even in high temps is a meager 0.89 ah/hr at 12 V DC on average. The setup is small by no means; taking up the better parts of an SUV or truckbed at 440mm H, 490mm L, and 820mm D ( 17.3" H x 19.2" L x 32.2" D)! On top of that, this bad boy weighs in at 31.8kg or roughly 70lbs. With all that, you do get a massive 60L/63-quart space for food storage; that's enough for a week, or even two if your army is small.
Now let’s get on with my praises, gripes, and areas for improvement.
The Good:
First off, I love how sleek and rugged the design is. While visuals are certainly not the main concern for a fridge, it does leave a lasting impression when something looks, feels, and instills a sense of quality craftsmanship. All this trim does serve a purpose as well; by having a UV resistant trim and stainless steel exterior, it further solidifies that this fridge was designed to live in the back of a truck and to be exposed the the "elements" (see what I did there).
I have seen this fridge on hitch mounts, and even packed into the back of trucks running across rivers. The rugged feel is not just a statement. This fridge is a tank, and built to spec. I would say it's military-grade, but that would be an insult to this fridge. The latches are strong, the plastics feel robust, and the strut design is next level. Speaking of that strut, I’ve never seen anything like it, and I’m a huge fan. The support stops wherever you stop lifting the lid, anywhere from 0-90 degrees. It makes all the difference my setup right now, as the fridge door cannot fully open inside the Jeep. It is such a relief not to be fighting the lid while getting things in or out.
The Touch-pad. This fridge has an exceptional touch-pad for controlling temperature, checking voltages, locking the fridge electronically, (instead of the traditional padlock), or powering the unit down. I also love that the lid closes over the touch-pad, preventing any accidental tampering by friends trying to freeze your beers. Additionally, the fridge can be controlled and monitored via app by Bluetooth. My usual method as I run everything up to my navigation tablet and is excellent for folks running the setup outside the cabin.
This is a 60L fridge or freezer. My joke about it being suitable for a small army comes with a hint of seriousness. My wife and I have packed enough food in the truck to go off-grid for two weeks or more! Considering the size, the food organization is accomplished well, with a simple interior basket system. The basket pops out quickly, and the middle divider is removable, if you want to pack more over-sized items for a specific trip. The LED light is on the opening side, meaning it is never blasting you in the face at night while trying to find your beer. The basket design features one high side and one that matches up with the rear shelf; by flipping the basket around, you can make a 3rd small upper shelf area for items if needed.
Finally, let's talk about power consumption, and noise level - the ultimate concerns of the fridge world.
In my setup, the fridge sits right behind the driver's seat. I can honestly say I rarely hear it running, and when I do, it's very quiet. Where I’m based, it’s usually a scorcher out, so the fridge is running flat out.
Running flat out might be a concern of yours, but the unit has the tried and true battery protection built-in from ARB to kill the fridge, before it kills your main battery. This is a great feature, and it is important, especially when running direct off the starter battery with 12v power. I’m surprised they even added this feature though - You nearly never need it; this fridge pulls just 0.89 ah/hr at 12 V DC and does just as good at the cabin on shore-power. That is just 21.36 amp-hours (or 256.32 watt-hours) per day on average, meaning you can reliably run this fridge indefinitely on a solar setup or off the vehicle's 12v power.
Some of those “Conditions”:
I called them conditions for a reason. Many of the Elements issues are not so much a deal-breaker for everyone but could be a deal-breaker for you.
Off the bat, my first major annoyance is that it is not a dual-zone. Having the ability to run half freezer half fridge would, in most cases to I figure most people be more valuable than being able to fit obnoxiously large items. I am not saying those folks don't exist who would love this fridge and all its space, but I would love to have a dual-zone for the cost and the size. Luckily it seems ARB already saw this point and push out the new ZERO line for folks with similar views on this subject.
Next is the weight; I understand why it is heavy, but man, it is noticeably heavy. I am itching to get this fridge on a slide. I can't recommend this model to anyone with a high vehicle, or anybody not intending to use a fridge slide. In line with the weight and size complaint comes my next biggest gripe.
The lid only opens length ways; this is due to the strut design I figure, but that doesn't make it suck any less. With how awkward the size and weight of this fridge can get, it would help if you could set up the lid to open on the short end, allowing you to access items from the side and means your lid wouldn’t need as much height to fully open. It may not be a deal-breaker for everyone, but folks with a precisely dialed setup could quickly be pushed to a different ARB model or even a competitor's line.
Lastly, I was disappointed with the tie-down system. For some clarification, it works well, has a solid design, and locks the fridge down tight. That’s perfect, except the system doesn't come with the fridge, and the whole unit can't be tied down with regular straps without it by design. Tacking on a 42$ extra option for a tie-down kit to a 1400$ fridge advertised as the "No Holds Barred approach" is a slap in the face and a kick to the nads. Hopefully, when ARB reads this, they agree this is in poor taste to the consumer and includes them with the fridge. *hint*
Final Thoughts:
All in, I think it is a bit overkill considering it is not a dual-zone, so it is either all fridge or all freezer, but I can quickly think of a few folks/families who could put it to use with ease. I love the looks of this and hope ARB considers refreshing the entire "classic" range with this style and a few of these features. I say that because most folks will look to the new ZERO line rendering this obsolete or not viable due to some of those specific conditions I mentioned above. I think it would be wise for ARB to refresh the "classic" sooner than later, though. Buyers will either find what they want ,in this fridge, or look to the ZERO line. However, with both these lines, only available in huge sizes, ARB is taking a risk. The "classic" line from ARB does not stand up to the competition but is their only offering in more standard sizes. This risk could easily find consumers shopping from Dometic's shelves.
In the future, and as a prime example of this, a ZERO line fridge will probably replace the Elements in the Jeep. Due to not needing the weatherproofing in the cabin, a ZERO is a better fit and offers dual-zone capability. This Elements model will be transferred to my wife's new Tacoma build. Its weatherproofing will be put to much better use there, the size and height of the open lid will not matter nearly as much, if at all, and it will just fit the build better. That said, I have the wallet to support that; if I didn't? I would get a ZERO over this every time as my "only" fridge.
This fridge is an exceptionally well dialed-in item. It is not the jack of all trades fridge that some of ARB's other fridges are; it's a very specific fridge for a particular customer. I think it will be kick-ass for hunting trips with the truck. You could rough it up, move it into the cabin, it can be easily sprayed out and cleaned up, and it's massive. I could also see a use for it when it comes to large trucks, on months-long overland trips, or families taking long weekends often enough to justify the cost. Talking about all these intricacies does raise a topic, often not brought up in the buyers market. Don't be so focused on doing something before you can answer why should you even do it?
Why Buy A Fridge?
Why not just pick up a good cooler, fill it full of ice, and hit the campsite? While I love my fridge, I don't necessarily agree with the current marketing, that everyone needs a fridge inside their vehicle. I made an entire month-long trip across Europe, a place where ice is not nearly as available in large amounts like it is in every gas station of America, with a simple cooler.
I installed my fridge because those long couple of weeks' stints are normal for me, I probably spend three months or more of my average year camped out in the wilderness. I hated how wet the cooler made everything. I hated more than half of my space being taken up by frozen water. I hated that loud and frustrating noise of my food floating around a melted cooler. I hated having to constantly make runs off of the trail, and back to civilization for ice, when I had the potential to have stayed in the back country for another two weeks. I also realized that ice is a luxury item in most places worldwide and harder to get in quantities required to sustain a 40-80L cooler!
That is how I justified the purchase and installation of my ridiculous fridge.
Fridges are not cheap, and they are not without additional expenses. You need to power them sustainably, which means a dual battery setup for most, or a solar system, and those are also not cheap and can range massively in costs depending on reliability and features. For some, a cooler is fine, and there is nothing wrong with that. For others like my trail cooks, bug-out boys, and such, the fridge is the centerpiece of their setup, an absolute necessity. I believe that a fridge is infinitely better than any cooler in nearly every single way. But that doesn’t mean that you would get your monies worth. Do your research and don't let the ‘Gram tell you what you need in your rig.
- Let us know what fridge you run, or even what your thoughts on the ARB are.