Brand · Camp Gear
A Bodega fridge is a 12-volt compressor refrigerator for a car, truck or RV: no ice, a plug, and a dial that goes down to freezer cold. The lineup runs from shoulder-strap sizes you'd fit behind a seat to dual-zone boxes bigger than most chest coolers. Pick the size by what you'll actually keep cold, then single or dual zone, then how you'll power it. (Renee calls these 'the cooler that ate the ice budget.' She means it as a compliment. I think.)
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On this site, Bodega is one type of gear: powered coolers, which here means 12-volt compressor refrigerators. Bodega's own site lists more than that, including drawer fridges, wine and beverage coolers, beer fridges and display refrigerators. This site doesn't list the home appliances, only the fridges you'd put in a vehicle or at camp.
Inside the powered-cooler grid, the lineup splits into a few groups:
The grid filters and changes as listings come and go, so I'll write about the groups and what separates them, not about how many are listed this week. Most specs come from the Amazon listings, and the grid marks those. A dash means the listing didn't say. I didn't guess, and I'm the guy who guesses how much ice to buy every year. (I'm usually close. The fridge doesn't do close. It does a number.)
A Bodega 12V fridge doesn't melt anything. A compressor pumps refrigerant like the fridge in your kitchen, so the box holds a set temperature as long as it has power. The listings say "compressor" on almost every model, and most name -4°F as the lowest setting, which is freezer territory.
That changes the ice math completely. With a chest cooler, you pack ice and the clock starts. With a compressor fridge, the clock is your battery. Different problem, same guy worrying about it.
The compressor fridge page explains how compressor cooling differs from the thermoelectric kind across brands, and the thermoelectric cooler page covers the other side.
The small end of the grid is the shoulder-strap group. The listings describe a 16-quart model with a strap, several other small models, and compressor cooling down to -4°F on most of them. A small fridge fits between the front and back seats. Bodega's help center says smaller models fit there and larger ones suit the trunk.
Real talk: a small fridge is a lunch-and-drinks box. It won't take a quartered deer. If the job is drinks for the drive and sandwiches for the stand, small is right.
The middle of the lineup is where most of the single-zone models live, with capacities in the listings from around a long weekend's worth of food up past what one hunter needs. Several of these list wheels and an AC adapter, so the same fridge runs on the truck and on a wall outlet.
A few newer listings in the grid give exterior dimensions. Those are the numbers to check against your vehicle, because a fridge is a box with a lid, and the lid needs room to open. Renee measured our hatchback once and told me the fridge would fit "if nobody sits in the back." She sits in the back on the way to the Shore. The fridge lost.
Several Bodega fridges list dual zones. Dual zone means two compartments in one box, each with its own setting. Dometic's article on portable fridges describes the same idea: set one side as a fridge and the other as a freezer. In the Bodega grid, dual zones run from mid-size boxes up to the largest models in the lineup.
My one opinion on this page: for most deer camps, pick dual zone only if you'll keep something frozen the whole trip. The reason is plain: a dual-zone box splits one space into two smaller ones, and if both sides end up at fridge temperature anyway, you've bought a divider. If you're bringing frozen meals for the week and want cold drinks too, dual zone earns its place.
The top of the lineup is the very large dual-zone group, the size you'd plan for an RV or a long trip with several people. These list wheels or a retractable handle, per the listings, and that's not decoration. A loaded fridge that size is a two-person lift. (Walt once called a full cooler "Danny's gym membership." He was right, and I canceled the gym.)
Two listings work differently from the chest-style fridges. The RV Refrigerator 3.88 Cu.Ft lists its capacity in cubic feet, a compressor, 12/24V DC power and a lowest setting of 5°F rather than -4°F. The 35L Built-In Car Refrigerator is made to fit one vehicle's storage space, per its listing, and lists 12/24V DC and a -4°F low. Read the vehicle fit line in its listing before anything else.
Capacity in quarts is the box's volume, and Bodega lists it on almost every model. A fridge doesn't need ice inside it, so every quart is food space. That means you can often go a size smaller than the chest cooler you're replacing. The car fridge page and the portable fridge page compare sizes across brands.
Single zone is one box at one setting. Dual zone is two boxes at two settings. See my opinion above.
Most Bodega listings name 12/24V DC, and many add an AC adapter for a wall outlet. Bodega's help center says the fridges support both 12V and 24V systems, and to plug straight into the vehicle's socket or, if you need more reach, to use a short, thick extension cable no thinner than the recommended gauge. A thin cable is a voltage drop waiting to happen.
The same help center says whether the socket stays live with the key out depends on the vehicle, and it advises unplugging the fridge when the engine is off so it doesn't drain the battery.
Several listings name battery protection, and a few name three levels. Bodega's help center explains the trade: the higher setting cuts the fridge off sooner (it gives 11.8 volts for the HI setting) and the lower setting later (10.1 volts for Lo), so higher protection means shorter runtime but a battery with more left in it. If the fridge runs off the battery that starts your truck, read that section of the manual before the first trip.
Many Bodega listings mention app or Bluetooth control. The fridge still works from its own panel. An app is handy at a campsite. At Hemlock Run, the app would mostly tell me Walt left the lid open, which I already know because I can hear him.
Bodega's help center gives a short list that applies across the lineup:
Dometic's portable fridge article adds two habits that hold for any compressor fridge: pack it full with few air gaps, and keep it out of direct sun, with a cover or a wet towel draped over it if you don't have one. Each time the lid opens, cold air falls out and warm air comes in. That's physics, and physics is a bigger brand than any of them.
Dometic's article also gives a packing order that works in any chest-style fridge: load from the bottom up, last day's food first, so the first night's dinner sits on top. Freeze easy pre-cooked meals like stew flat in containers that fit, and fill the gaps so there's less air to cool. On a dual-zone Bodega, the frozen side takes the meals and the fridge side takes what you'll open every hour.
If your trips are two nights and the truck doesn't run in between, a good chest cooler and ice still do the job without a battery plan. The coolers page covers that side.
Both brands sell 12V compressor fridges, both in single- and dual-zone versions, and most listings from both give -4°F as the lowest setting and 12/24V DC power. On this site the differences are in the spread:
If you want the biggest box, that's Bodega's side of the grid. If you want the smallest one, that's Alpicool's. In the middle, they overlap, so compare capacity, zones and dimensions model by model. The Alpicool brand page has its lineup.
Here's what I could verify from Bodega's own pages:
Bodega's pages don't give a founding year, a headquarters or where the fridges are made, so I've left those out.
Pack it tight, keep the lid shut, and bring the right cable. The fridge does the rest. My job is down to remembering where I put the cable.
What the listings state is checkable: the Bodega fridges in the grid list compressor cooling, most list -4°F as the lowest setting, and most run on 12/24V DC with an AC adapter. Several list battery protection and dual zones. Whether one suits you depends on the size you need, single or dual zone, and how you'll power it. Compare those fields in the grid.
Yes, through the vehicle's 12V socket. Bodega's help center says to plug into the built-in socket, or use a short, thick extension cable of the recommended gauge, and to unplug when the engine is off, since some vehicles keep the socket live. Its battery protection shuts the fridge off when voltage drops too low.
Bodega's warranty page describes a 1-year warranty that extends to 2 years when you register the product on its site, for products bought directly from bodegacooler.com. It says purchases from third-party sellers may not be eligible, and excludes misuse, accidents and unauthorized repairs. The exact period for each model is in its instruction manual.
A dual-zone fridge splits one box into two compartments that you can set separately, so one side can freeze while the other stays fridge-cold. Several Bodega models in the grid list dual zones; others are single zone, one compartment at one setting. The grid's zones field shows which is which.
The product grid on this page links to Bodega listings on Amazon US. Bodega also sells on its own site, bodegacooler.com, and its warranty page ties the longer coverage to buying there. Read the capacity, zones and voltage in the listing of the exact model before you order.
