Our camping trips and adventures consist of many different setups these days. Whether in our Sprinter van, toyhauler, or boat; we’re always stretching our trips out as long as possible. With this comes the need to store our drinks and food. Portability is probably the most essential factor in this. This is why I was interested in trying out a dual-zone refrigerator/ freezer. In this blog post, I’ll be reviewing the BODEGA cooler 38 Quart T36 Dual Zone 12V Portable Car Fridge.
Why a Fridge/ Freezer Combo?
The main reason we wanted to add a dual zone fridge/ freezer to our gear is to keep our beer ice cold without freezing our food. It’s nice to crank down the temperature of the drink side but still maintain 38 degrees F on the food side so things don’t freeze up. Remember the freezing point of beer will be colder than 32 deg F. Another added benefit of having a separate freezer area is the ability to store cocktail ice and drinks in the same cooler. Now you’re probably thinking all we care about is alcohol, but that’s not entirely true. Having a large freezer area that allows us to bring extra frozen foods or even ice cream on adventures is super useful!
Flexibility & Options
Although the key reason we wanted a dual-zone fridge/ freezer is to have the option of two different temperature zones, it is nice that this cooler has a removable partition. When removed it can act as one big refrigerator if we don’t need the freezer. It also has a drain plug to wash out the inside without having to pick it up and dump it. The baskets are great too. They make unloading all the food super quick and easy. No more unloading all the food into bags and then into the house fridge.
Wheels & Retractable Handle!
Since we are always on the go with this fridge/ freezer having wheels and a retractable handle is extremely helpful. When completely loaded up with food and drinks, it can be a bit heavy to lug in and out of the house.
Performance Test
As expected, the fridge side only takes about 15-20 minutes to cool to 38 degrees. The freezer, if set really low like -2 degrees F, takes about 45-60 minutes to cool. Not bad though! We just set it about an hour before our trip and it’s ready to load up and go. It is also comparable to other portable refrigerators as far as noise level. It has an acceptable hum when running and is very quiet.
Other Cool Features
I didn’t even realize there was a light inside until opened it up in the dark. Very nice!
The USB outlet is nice to charge your phone or other devices. I think we’ll use this often to keep our Bluetooth speaker or tablet charged up.
I don’t know how much I will use it, but the fact that you can control it with your phone via the app seems pretty neat. It has that option as well.
I see this fridge/ freezer being a very useful component of our gear on adventures. Its flexibility and features are going to make our trips even easier!
Specs:
- Power with: AC wall plug or 12V DC adapter.
- Dimensions: 28.5″ x14.1″ x14.4″
- Capacity: 38 Quart（36L）(Left Side/ Right Side: 19 Quart / 19 Quart)
- Weight: 30 pounds
- Refrigeration Range: -4ºF-68ºF
- Noise Level: <42dB
- Rated Power Input: 60W
- Rated Current: AC 1.5A-2.7A , DC 6.0A(12V) / 3.0A (24V)
Links
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Shop the Bodega Store: https://www.bodegacooler.com/collections/t-series-car-fridge
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