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| The fridges were subjected to 24 hours in the test chamber. This was done to replicate the back of a closed car in summer. |
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Author: Peter Pinto
Date: Wednesday, 9 November 2005
WAECO CoolFreeze CF-40 AC
BEST COMPACT FRIDGE
The test was done at the Australian Defence Industries facility in Western Sydney where the fridges were set to run at a few degrees above freezing.
The ambient temperature profile roughly approximates an outback summer's day. It started with four hours at 15°C, took six hours to climb to a peak of 55°C where it stayed for four hours, before descending over another six hours back to 15°C, where it remained for the final four hours.
"Among the smaller fridges... the WAECO CF-40 AC was the cheapest unit tested but still had it where it counted, producing a temperature graph that could have been sketched by a metronome and consumed a measly 22.5A over the full 24 hours".
Even at 55°C the energy consumption of the CF-40 AC was a class leading 2.2A per hour meaning more run time out of your battery.
Along with temperature and energy performance, the lowest retail price combined with extra features such as battery protection, internal light, sturdy handles, high power 'Turbo' button, and 240V built in earned it the "Best Compact Fridge".
"We were particularly impressed" states author of the article Ben Wickham, "... ran like clockwork, keeping its maximum internal temperature within about a degree throughout the entire 24-hour period. It also had the lowest energy consumption figures of the entire field, suggesting that even though it is sharply priced, it is still constructed with very effective insulation."
High Performance, Low Power Consumption
Current draw:
22.5 amps consumed over 24 hour test. No other product tested came even close. Average of other competing product in this class was 30.9 amps.
Temperature performance:
Never varied more than 1°C, even during the gruelling 4 hours at 55°C ambient.
Price and features:
Cheapest unit on test, and yet sporting features such as digital display, emergency function, 3 stage battery protection, internal light, sturdy handles, high-powered 'Turbo' button and 12/24/240 volts built in.
Acknowledgement
Acknowledgement is given to the Australian 4WD Monthly magazine for permission to use the contents of the article 'Cool Runnings - the 4WD Monthly mega fridge-freezer comparison' by Ben Wickham, issue #87, pp56-76.
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