Review on cheap 3-way fridge from ALDI

Car fridges are expensive, real expensive for something you may use once a year. But there are cheaper options. A friend of ours recently bought a Lumina fridge from ALDI. Here's an initial review.

What is the brand and model of the fridge?
The brand of this fridge is Lumina – no, I’d never heard of it either. Model LUXC-45B, Chinese built to Australian standards.

When did you buy it?
This fridge was purchased in September 2008.

How much did it cost?
$299! Aldi only has this sort of thing from time to time and when they do it’s usually good value for money.

Was it easy to set up and use?
The main difficulty we had was trying to follow the instruction manual. There was a bit of Chinglish and at least one picture didn’t correspond with the actual thermostat control on the fridge. But with a bit of trial and error we got it working well. I first tried the fridge inside on 240v. Overnight the fridge got very cold with ice forming on the alloy condenser. Before a trip I would plug the fridge into 240v for a least 24 hours.
I did some internet research and discovered that three-way fridges operate most efficiently on gas and apparently a 4kg gas bottle will last a long time. I set up the fridge outside and hooked up the supplied hose and regulator to LPG. After 1/2 hour it was cold inside and continued to stay cold. Since that time I haven’t had the opportunity to run it on gas but I suspect it will get a work out around Easter time.
As an experiment, I tried the fridge on 12v overnight without having cooled it down first. In the morning the fridge was quite cool, but no-where near the temperature it would get to on 240v or gas. The vehicle battery (light truck) was only just able to start the vehicle and needed charging. For these reasons, running on 12v would only be advisable between destinations. Running on 12v it certainly has the ability to keep your cold stuff cool even on a hot day. In the future I intend to fit two 12v fans to draw the heat away from the evaporator when it is running in the vehicle. I believe this will help it operate much more efficiently with a negligible increase in power consumption.

What trips have you done with the fridge?
I have to admit that we haven’t actually had this fridge out camping yet. However, we have used it a number of times since September. Before Christmas we spent two weeks on the NSW North Coast and took the Lumina with us. We plugged it in to 240v overnight before we left, then ran it on 12v for about 8 hrs while driving to our destination. When we arrived everything was cold and it was then plugged in to 240v for two weeks and operated faultlessly. We have since had it running in temperatures of up to 30 degrees and it has maintained an operating temperature of between 4 – 6 degrees.

What are the negative aspects of the fridge, that is, what its worst features?
This fridge seems to be quite sturdy but the drawback of this is the weight (approx 18.5 kg) and its physical size (465 mm H x 510mm W x 475mm D). I suspect that the price is reflected in a lack of insulation in the walls, and the lid in particular. At some stage I might even try to improve this with some aerosol foam...

What are the best features of the fridge?
The best features of the Lumina are its price and size. I have never seen a cheaper three-way fridge. Sure, you can buy cheaper thermoelectric coolers but they will be a lot smaller and less efficient. It’s 45 litres which is a reasonable size and it does the job it was intended for.

Do you think it is good value for money?
If you look around you will find this Lumina fridge to be excellent value for money. It comes with a 12 month warranty. However, I know two other people that have this same fridge – one works fine, the other wouldn’t operate on gas and had to be returned for warranty repairs. It’s probably a case of getting what you pay for.

Would you recommend it to others?
If you have $1500 spare and want a fridge with a long warranty that will operate in all conditions, buy something else. If you don’t have a lot to spend but just need something that will do the job, look out at Aldi and buy a Lumina. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.