The Camping Forum

[frenchbird]

Hello all

I'm a newbie on this forum and to family camping!
We are going for a 10 day camping trip with our 2 toddlers in August in France and need to take with us some kind of "fridge". It needs to be small as we haven't much room but needs to hold milk and some medication I have that must be kept cool at all times.

We are staying in a tent and have booked a pitch with electricity but we have absolutely no idea what we need to buy! I'm assuming we need some kind of electricity cable? Do we need a connector for French campsites? And can anyone recommend a cool box/fridge of some sort that can be "powered" and be used for 10 days but thats not too big to pack??!!

Ive had a quick look at different websites and frankly I'm utterly confused as to what we need! It seems we need to be spending loads and loads of money (which frankly we dont really have/want to)!

Help please!
Thank you

[Camp Moose]

you'll need one of these Mains 240V Mains Hookup Unit
http://www.outdoorworlddirect.co.uk/cru ... a5050.html
and one of these, Continental Conversion Lead
http://www.outdoorworlddirect.co.uk/cru ... -lead.html

[Wayne]

Hi again Frenchbird.

I agree with Camp Moose, that will get electric into your tent and give you what you need for plugging into. There is nothing stopping you running a 4gang extention lead from one of the sockets into the sleeping area for charging phones and additional lighting.

As for fridges, its a bit more complicated, as you only have room for a small fridge and there is a tight budget to consider then what you will actually end up with is a chiller (or electric coolbox). Whilst they are called camping fridges they actually are only capable of chilling stuff stored in them. Unlike the larger 3way camping fridges that can cool 25deg below ambient temp the chillers can't match this.


This is a 45litre 3way fridge from Tristar and will run on 240v 12v or Gas, the trouble is your looking down the barrel of £150 and they fill your boot, they are BIG.




Tristar 24 litre coolbox

However this is quite a decent looking chiller/ coolbox from Tristar and can chill by upto 16deg below ambient temp. So on a 20deg day your box will be at 4deg.
It is 24litre and so isn't to big and at £39.99 from Go Outdoors is a fair price. It will run on 12v as standard and comes with a 12v car adaptor to plug into the ciggy socket.

I have never used this box, but I know the make and trust it.

You do have to buy a 240v to 12v unit with these boxes though which aren't dear and are only small. Soon as I find a link I'll list it unless someone beats me to it.

[frenchbird]

thx for your replies!
So its looking like i need to spend near £80 to £100 - ouch! much more than i had hoped.
I'm assuming buying the electric cable / cooler second hand is a bad idea? what with it being electric and what not?

The fridge looks ace but yep, way too big, at this rate we need a trailer as well as a roof box
Its like a military operation this camping malarky! I guess after a few trials you get it right kit wise but it seems like such a major investment to start of with! think we'll leave table and chairs to next year lol!

[frenchbird]

was just having a look around for cool boxes and saw something about a transformer? would i need to buy this as well as the power mains hook uppy thing and the convertor?

thx!

Hi again Frenchbird.

I agree with Camp Moose, that will get electric into your tent and give you what you need for plugging into. There is nothing stopping you running a 4gang extention lead from one of the sockets into the sleeping area for charging phones and additional lighting.

As for fridges, its a bit more complicated, as you only have room for a small fridge and there is a tight budget to consider then what you will actually end up with is a chiller (or electric coolbox). Whilst they are called camping fridges they actually are only capable of chilling stuff stored in them. Unlike the larger 3way camping fridges that can cool 25deg below ambient temp the chillers can't match this.


This is a 45litre 3way fridge from Tristar and will run on 240v 12v or Gas, the trouble is your looking down the barrel of £150 and they fill your boot, they are BIG.




Tristar 24 litre coolbox

However this is quite a decent looking chiller/ coolbox from Tristar and can chill by upto 16deg below ambient temp. So on a 20deg day your box will be at 4deg.
It is 24litre and so isn't to big and at £39.99 from Go Outdoors is a fair price. It will run on 12v as standard and comes with a 12v car adaptor to plug into the ciggy socket.

I have never used this box, but I know the make and trust it.

You do have to buy a 240v to 12v unit with these boxes though which aren't dear and are only small. Soon as I find a link I'll list it unless someone beats me to it.

[nutgone]

A lot of these electric cool box type chillers have the transformer built in, the ones to look out for will have 2 power leads on them, one with a cigarette lighter plug, the other will have a normal household mains 3 pin plug.

You can pick these up for about £30 brand new, if you're lucky. Be aware, they can be a bit noisy, as they have a fan running all the time, but they are by far the easiest & cheapest option.

As for mains hook up, yes, I'm afraid you really do need a proper mains hook up for tents, as linked to above. These can still be had for around £40 & will make sure that you & your family are safe. Don't trust the cheap home made ones available for £10 on ebay, you can't really put a price on safety where mains electricity is concerned, & take it from me, French site electrics aren't always up to the standards you'll find on most English sites.

3 way fridges are nice but expensive & bulky. the electric cool boxes, although limited, are the same size as a cool box. But don't expect it to run off your car's cigarette lighter socket all night, it WILL flatten your battery in a matter of hours. Fine to keep it cool whilst travelling, even leave it on whilst you're stopped at the services, but not over night (an hour or 2 will be fine, but no more than that).

Hope this helps.

EDIT:
Forgot to mention, the electric cool boxes; I said they have their limitations, this is basically that they are only designed to KEEP things cool, they're not supposed to actually COOL things down. If you put something in one that isn't chilled already, all you will be doing is warming everything in there already very slightly, & although they will eventually chill stuff, it does take time. So best to put stuff in that is already chilled.
I've actually had one ice-up before, but like I said, this does take time.

You do see them on ebay sometimes, but I usually find they end up selling for more than a brand new one! (as so much stuff tends to on ebay)

[Wayne]

As Nutgone says a lot have the transformer built in and have two leads 240v and 12v. The one I suggested only has the 12v plug and would require the 240v to 12v transformer, but these are not expensive. The ones built in are generally a little dearer, so it don't matter which way you go.

I'm still looking for a link to a transformer.

[nutgone]

Sorry Wayne, I didn't realise it was you'r post above.

Yes, you're absolutely right, the transformers are available all over the place. It's sometimes worth getting a better cool box & buying the transformer, if it doesn't have the dual voltage leads already fitted. Don't let that stop you buying one.

Just make sure the transformer can cope with that particular box. Most cope with all of them, but I believe some of the more expensive boxes (some Waeco ones, for instance) need a slightly bigger transformer, as they are quite power hungry.
Shouldn't cause a problem though, & 9 out of 10 boxes will work with any old transformer.

[Wayne]

They had them on the Go Outdoors site, but can't see them now

[Wayne]

One here for £18 but shop about, think you will get cheaper

[frenchbird]

thank you! sorry didnt reply sooner, I didnt see I had any replies to my threads! need to go investigate settings now as i dont seem to get notifications of any replies/updates on this forum.

We're going to buy the box/cable/converter/transformer (if needed) this weekend. We have a Go outdoors shop here so will check there first and then if no luck will buy the recommendations here online!

I may come back with a million more questions tho
thx again

[Wayne]

I may come back with a million more questions tho
thx again

[frenchbird]

Forgot to mention, the electric cool boxes; I said they have their limitations, this is basically that they are only designed to KEEP things cool, they're not supposed to actually COOL things down. If you put something in one that isn't chilled already, all you will be doing is warming everything in there already very slightly, & although they will eventually chill stuff, it does take time. So best to put stuff in that is already chilled.
I've actually had one ice-up before, but like I said, this does take time.

You do see them on ebay sometimes, but I usually find they end up selling for more than a brand new one! (as so much stuff tends to on ebay)

on this basis, if we put an ice pack in the box would it keep the ice pack iced? or at least is it a good idea to start of with an ice pack in there and to take it shopping with us so can put products straight from shops cold fridges into it?
thanks about to go spend lots of money on all of this

[nutgone]

Ice packs can help, in hot weather. I don't think it's as important as with normal cool boxes, as these do have a small powered cooling unit on them, probably best to stick the odd frozen item in there every so often, just to keep temperatures down a bit.

The cooler unit will catch up eventually, but sadly it won't keep an ice pack frozen.

I think you'll just have to suck it & see, so to speak. Give it a try & see how you get on, I'm sure you'll get your own system together sooner or later, & us lot here will guide you where you're unsure.

[subaqua]

if you have the space and cash, get a 3way fridge. we got a tristar quest from go outdoors , £150 at the moment from what i saw on todays trip , and on gas we can get things to freeze rond the edges . in the summer.

in the winter on electric in the warmish conservatory i managed to freeze a couple of bottles of wine in it .

whn we used anormal electric coolbox we always used to eat a lot of frozen peas as they were ceap way of getting the temp down rapid in the unit