A few years ago, National Luna took their highly popular Weekender line of overland fridges/freezers and improved nearly every aspect of the design with their Legacy line. Central to the upgrades was an in-house redesign of the Danfoss compressor found in nearly all the high-end models on the market. The new compressor outperformed its then top-tier predecessor by an impressive 10% and was valved to allow true dual zone cooling, which is a rarity. On top of the functional improvements, National Luna also upped the compressor warranty from 3 years to 8 years, a clear indication of their faith in their new compressor design. Alongside the mechanical upgrades, the Legacy also got an insulation upgrade that resulted in a 10% improvement in R-value. Combined with a number of other tweaks and wrapped in the iconic dimpled stainless steel armor National Luna is known for, the updated Legacy line reaffirmed National Luna as a top-tier overland fridge/freezer.
When we reviewed the 55-liter model of the Legacy fridge, we raved about its construction, performance, and pedigree. In every way, it lived up to the high expectations we had for it, based both on its specifications and all the praise we received from its users. Nevertheless, we did note that National Luna was falling behind in technology and lamented some quirks with its control panel. None of the shortcomings would dethrone the fridge/freezer from its spot among the best available overlanding options, but they did indicate that National Luna had a little catching up to do in its next iteration.
Enter the new Legacy Smart QC line of overland fridges/freezers. While I have no idea if they ever read our reviews, I’m pretty sure National Luna read my mind. Point by point, everything I had nitpicked about the control panel function, location, and lack of connectivity is addressed in the new models. Best of all, they didn’t mess with all the things they got very right in the original iteration of the Legacy models.
Want smart connectivity? Check. An easier-to-use interface? Check. The choice of Celsius or Fahrenheit? Check. A repositionable control panel to adapt to your setup? Check. USB charging outlets? Check. Want to run only a single zone of your dual-zone fridge? You guessed it, it can do that too. While my editor probably won’t allow me to use the term “perfect” in a review – he will remind me that there’s “always room for improvement” – for the life of me, I don’t know where they can go from here.
Without using the editorially misguided “P” word, let me just say that National Luna took an exceptionally good fridge/freezer and made it better. If you are shopping for an overland fridge/freezer, read our previous review and put it on your shortlist.
QC Panel Upgrade Option
For those who already have a National Luna fridge, there is an upgrade path that gets you most of the benefits of a new Smart QC fridge without having to buy a new one. Equipt is now importing replacement control panels for National Luna fridges manufactured from 2009 to the present. Both the older Weekender and newer Legacy models can be upgraded. The swap takes about ten minutes to complete, from removing the first screw to pairing the fridge to your phone.
For $150, the upgrade gets you full connectivity, the upgraded panel UI that can display both Fahrenheit and Celsius and the ability to turn off one of the zones while the other is running. As far as I can tell, the only things you don’t get with the control panel swap are the USB charging ports and the ability to reposition the control panel. As nice as the latter would have been, I was ready to plunk down my money at Fahrenheit.
Slight exaggeration aside, I’ve come to appreciate having access to all the fridge controls on my phone since making the upgrade, especially as someone who was initially a bit skeptical about needing to connect my phone to my fridge. As it turns out, it’s a nice convenience that justifies the relatively low cost of the new panel. I like to check on the temps from time to time, especially in hot weather, and now I don’t even have to get out of the driver’s seat to do so. I’ve also gotten into the habit of raising the voltage cutoff threshold at night to decrease the chance of a dead battery in the morning. Being able to do that from the comfort of my sleeping bag when I invariably remember at 2:00 am is pretty nice. Is it a world changer? No. But in a world where we have gotten used to doing just about everything on our phones, from changing the temperature on our pellet grills to controlling our robot vacuums, it’s nice that our overlanding gear gets a little high-tech love, too.
