All camping fridges will have a 12V power cable option, with a plug on the end that looks like this:
You then need a Battery Box or Portable Power Station to insert this plug into.
Connecting Your Camping Fridge To A Battery Box
If you would like to use a 12V battery (similar to a car battery) to power your fridge while camping then you will need to place that battery inside a battery box to convert it to a usable power source. The battery box connects to the battery terminals then provides relevant wiring, switches, safety fuses and terminals to be able to access the batteries power. It is not possible to hook a fridge to a battery directly without this battery box to act as a kind of ‘adapter’. These battery boxes also make it easy to connect power sources (e.g. solar panels) to the battery to charge it while you are camping.
All battery boxes will have a female 12V socket to insert the male 12v plug (pictured above to connect to the power).
Though you could use a car battery inside a battery box, it is better to use an AGM, lithium, or other deep cycle led acid battery designed for this purpose. Car batteries are designed to give a lot of power, in a small space of time, to enable the car engine to turn over and start up so they are not as well suited to camping situations where you want a slow low draw of power over multiple days.
Connecting Your Camping Fridge To a Portable Power Station
Portable Power Stations are similar to battery boxes, in that they have a battery inside, but the battery is manufactured inside the box and not designed to be changed. This is good in that they are easier to use (you just plug and play), but they are no use if the battery stops working and will need replacement.
Like battery boxes they are built with the wiring, fuse protection and 12V ports that you can insert your 12v cord into.
We have many other articles on our site about battery boxes and portable power stations if you would like to learn more about these topics. Just use the search box above.
