Engel MR040 40 Quart Portable Top Opening 12/24V DC - 110/120V AC Fridge-Freezer

I had been reading all the reviews on this and other electric coolers for weeks as this is a rather expensive item. I ordered the Engel after becoming convinced that it was the best built, performed well and used the least amount of power, (although it's not the quietest). I've been running it two weeks now and am very happy. It's powered by a modest 120 watt solar system with a brand new 12-volt 100 Ah deep cycle Odyssey extreme series battery (a very high quality $330 battery designed for solar applications) . I have found I have more than enough power on a full sunny day in Santa Fe, New Mexico with the cooler set at the number two position. But I do not have enough power on days that are half sunny and half cloudy. On those kinds of days, I typically have to shut off the cooler mid-day so as to not run the battery down too far (below 12.7). Shutting it off for one day of cloudy weather isn't a hardship as the cooler is super insulated and can keep all the items cold enough until I start it up again in the following morning. (I also add extra insulation to the cooler by putting a layer of thick insulating material over it (a quilt). When I stick my hand under this added insulation, I find it to be cool to the touch - so it is helping to keep items colder than the cooler alone would do. The cooler uses the tiniest amount of amps as noted by others, but on such a modest system as mine a few cloudy days in a row can make this cooler unfit for the job. As a result, I am seeking to add a minimum of 100 watts to my solar system (bringing to the total up to 220 watts). My solar system is an off grid set up for a two room cabin). Sunny or not, I do turn the cooler off around 6 pm because there is no need to run it (and run my battery down). I find no need to run it because keeps all items very cool and just fine during the overnight. Plus as others have noted, the compressor does make noise and I like silence. The compressor's hum is very noticeable when your living in a cabin deep in the woods where silence prevails. Fortunately, the compressor doesn't kick on all that often, but when it does it produces a low vibrating hum. I wish it was invisible to the ear, but I find it livable. (I decided against the quieter option of going with a propane built-in refrigerator because I didn't want to have to haul 20 lb propane tanks around...) I do have to say I'm disappointed my 120 watt system is insufficient as others had said 100 watts was all that was needed. It will be expensive to upgrade the solar system, but this cooler really is worth it. It keeps everything nicely cold, even when it's turned off from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. It's quiet enough to live with, and best of all I no longer have to deal with all the mess and trouble that keeping ice in a cooler has been. I'm a happy camper.

I did a lot of online research on these refrigerator/freezers. I choose the Engel due to reliability. Basically the decision came down to the Engel and ARB. I like the idea of the single moving part Engel swing compressor. Engel wins!Out of box unpack audit was a little disappointing. The unit seems to be packaged well however there are no cursory unboxing directions.If you open it from the top and try to dig your hands in and grab the cooler there is nothing to grab onto because you have to attach the handles. There are tight fitting recesses for each corner in the bottom of the box. Pulling the cooler up, the recessed cutouts grab the rubber isolator feet and pulls them off the cooler. Pulls them right over the screws and washers holding them on. So now you gotta figure how to screw them back on without flipping over the cooler. Once I got the rubber isolation legs back on, I noticed the lid was loose. The hinges and latches were loose, not screwed in all the way, so I tightened them up. Not a good first impression.I set the unit up and immediately plugged it in to AC current to test it out. I put a few room temp items in along with a wireless room thermometer. It quickly (35 minutes) went from 85° ambient to 37° for refrigeration mode. I left it there for several hours then turned the freezer setting on. It went to zero within an hour. It froze some water containers quickly.I purchased a 12 volt 55ah deep cycle AGM battery as a spare power source and backup to the AC and my vehicle battery. Both AC and DC can be plugged in at the same time. The unit defaults to AC power. So if AC power fails it will switch automatically to DC, then back to AC when restored so you loose no cooling.I tested the unit just on the AGM battery. From full charge, 12.7 volts, I ran it for 48 hours with a decent load of items in it at refrigeration temperature 37°. Ambient temp was roughly 80° during the day and 60° at night. I opened and closed the unit ten times per 24 hour period during this time to simulate real world usage. At the end of the 48 hours the battery voltage was at 12.2 volts. So in 48 hours it ran down the battery .5 volts. Not bad.I then put the unit in the back seat of my truck for one week on refrigeration mode 37°. It held temperature fine even though at times it was in the sun. When parked I made sure to keep it away from the sun, however it was in a black truck and it was 85° outside. The truck battery was always at over 12.4 volts in the morning with the Engel and a bunch of other electronics responsible for the drain from 12.7 volts full charge.My usage for this is refrigerator is primarily camping in Baja, many times in remote areas with rough roads, sporadic AC power (if any) and warm days.My testing so far has worked out favorably. The main concerns were reliability and low power consumption. I think the Engel satisfies those concerns.