Dometic RC1205GC Combicool 40L, 3-Way Portable Absorption Cooler, 12v/230v/Gas Cartridge

As you are probably doing now, I hesitated at the price of this fridge but took my chances! I am not disappointed at all.We are on a boating holiday and my son needs to follow a particular diet (ketogenic) to control / eradicate epileptic seizures. Most food available on-the-go is carb heavy so I needed to bring a lot of specific food. As advised, we charged up the fridge the night before we left using the mains plug at home. We then filled it and moved it to the boot of the car, where we plugged it into the cigarette lighter using the jack supplied (with a nice long lead to reach from the back to the front of the car) - ensuring the top grill was not covered, as it emits heat. We were able to keep the food cold for our 8-hour drive to Norfolk. When we picked up our boat, it was again moved to the 12v socket on the boat. Although it takes up workspace on the worktop, it is a willing sacrifice!The fridge on the boat is pointless due to its miniature size so it was a good call to bring our own! It has kept our food super cold (there are a few temperature options on the turn of the dial), not quite freezing but perfect for wine and beer! We can also be assured that the meat hasn’t warmed up at any point where it could cause food poisoning!I can see a great future for this fridge as it’s portability, capacity, operation and reliability appear to be second to none.I would not hesitate in the slightest to highly recommend this product. Worth every penny!

I've used plenty of Gas Fridges over many years of camping and for those who have done the same, you'll understand what I mean when I say "That they are temperamental little %^$&£"!This one is by far the best fridge I have ever bought. Easy to light and fast to cool down but wow, the coldest camping fridge I have ever used. I usually set them to full whack as with constantly opening and closing the lid, they have a job to maintain a set temperature. This one served me up a solidly frozen can of beer from being placed in it the night before. Now on its lowest setting, everything is really cool and a packet of frozen peas has only just defrosted from being placed in it 5 days ago. Price is great and I will be ordering another one as we need 1 for drinks and 1 for food.If I have to be mean and put a negative, it is only that the lid does not seal shut with a confident suction but merely closes by being placed down. This is perfectly ok but when filled too much, you cannot guarantee it will not spring slightly open. Easy solution though, we simply placed a full box of wine on it........Simple!

I thought I had a faulty product as it makes NO noise at all! I decided to wait 30 minutes - just as well, as the product works brilliantly (on electricity anyway, haven't hooked it up to gas yet), and dropped the temperature by over 10 degs C in less than an hour. It is so quiet - impossible to believe how it works without making any noise! Seems well made, is very roomy, and will be more than adequate as an emergency fridge, or on my camping holidays. Nice, simple design means it will be very easy to clean. Delivery was very quick and arrived in perfect condition.

We bought this for use whilst camping - we hoped that the reviews were right and that it would keep milk etc chilled - particularly at the price. When faced with UK’s 40C heat wave it did better than keep cool - using mains electricity at maximum setting it retained 4C inside the box despite being in the tent.Outstanding and well worth every penny - just wish it had been big enough for us to get inside for those few days!

Overall, a great product (Gas canister version).Have taken it camping twice now (camper van), and can safely say it does an excellent job on gas. The gas canisters last between about 21 to 26 hours depending on what setting you use. It gets properly 'domestic-fridge-cold' in there as long as you keep it in the shade and out of direct sunlight.On the downside, the 12v option requires an 8 amp draw, which can be dashboard-melting territory for some vehicles. I tried it on the cigarette socket of my big LWB van but got nervous when the 12v socket got extremely hot, so I decided to unplug it for the rest of the journey.The contents were still cool when I arrived, and once fired up on gas, it was very cold the next morning.You also have the issue of needing to keep the coolbox outside while it's running on gas. It does smell of 'hot gasses' if running in an enclosed space, so decent ventilation is essential.Also something to consider - as a camper van user, if I choose not to put up the awning, which can be a pain for a 1-nighter, I still have to keep the coolbox outside, so hence need a way to house it. So far I have used a cheap pop-up shower tent which sort-of works okay unless it's windy and then the tent blows away! If anyone has any ideas for an alternative outdoor coolbox enclosure, it might help me and others if you could post your suggestions here :o)Pros...It works! It gets food really cold and makes ice cubesIt's quite affordableIt has a big capacity and you can stand 2L bottles upright and still close the lid.Con'sIt can be really heavy, especially when full.The 12v system requites a LOT of current (8A) see notes aboveIt produces a "hot gasses" exhaust smell when running on gasIt's the wrong shape to fit into many spaces (it's square and bulky) - A rectangle shape would have been a more user-friendly design.As far as I can tell, it's currently the only one on the market that uses gas canisters