Car Coolers

[Morricol61]

We have a portable fridge/freezer for travelling and a large Waeco Ice chest and both are good for different reasons. The fridge/freezer is smaller but it can drain the car's battery so is no good for camping. It is great for times when we will have access to mains power when stopping overnight or longer at motels or cabins.

To keep things cool in the ice chest I freeze 3 or 5 litre bottles of water in our chest freezer and put a couple into the ice chest, pack drinks and food around them and then top everything with squares of foam which I cut from an old yoga mat The ice in the bottles last about 3 days or so, depending on the ambient temperature and how often I open the ice chest.

If we are travelling or camping for a longer time I pack our food into plastic containers with lids so I can buy ice as needed and the food stays cold and dry even if the containers are floating in cold water. I have different containers for fruit/veg; meat; cheese & deli items etc so there is no risk of cross contamination.

[papaof2]

From the temperature specs on this unit, it appears to be a compressor-driven unit and not thermoelectric (TEC). The TEC units only manage 30-40 degrees F below ambient temperature (40-50F in 80F environment).

This unit specs to -20C (-4F) so that tends to indicate compressor cooling. If it's TEC, it's a very unusually highly rated TEC unit. The power (45W) also matches the power specs of other compressor models. The Engel and Whynter compressor-driven fridge/freezers are also rated at 12/24 volts DC but use less power - at a somewhat higher price.

[statsman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by papaof2 The Engel and Whynter compressor-driven fridge/freezers are also rated at 12/24 volts DC but use less power - at a somewhat higher price.

Also, at least in the case of the Engel we purchased over 15 years ago, there is less available fridge/freezer space for the footprint. If keeping something cold with the lowest possible power usage is the requirement, these will work best. For many situations, they are overkill at three times the cost.

[braumeister]

Just for grins, I set the cooler to 39°F and put a plastic container of water inside it overnight. This morning the water was 37°F (measured with a highly accurate thermometer. And the thing is so quiet when running you can hardly hear it. Definitely a great purchase!

[Chuckanut]

Quote:

Originally Posted by papaof2 From the temperature specs on this unit, it appears to be a compressor-driven unit and not thermoelectric (TEC). The TEC units only manage 30-40 degrees F below ambient temperature (40-50F in 80F environment). This unit specs to -20C (-4F) so that tends to indicate compressor cooling. If it's TEC, it's a very unusually highly rated TEC unit. The power (45W) also matches the power specs of other compressor models. The Engel and Whynter compressor-driven fridge/freezers are also rated at 12/24 volts DC but use less power - at a somewhat higher price.

Yes, the Massimo has a compressor.

[ivinsfan]

Costco made a lot of money off board members this week. Just took delivery of our new cooler yesterday...plugged into power 90 minutes ago...36 degrees...

[braumeister]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ivinsfan Costco made a lot of money off board members this week.

And at about $70 cheaper than Amazon's price. Maybe we should have a "last thing you bought from Costco" thread to compete with the Amazon one.

[Chuckanut]

Quote:

Originally Posted by braumeister And at about $70 cheaper than Amazon's price. Maybe we should have a "last thing you bought from Costco" thread to compete with the Amazon one.

Do it!

[Chuckanut]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ivinsfan Costco made a lot of money off board members this week. Just took delivery of our new cooler yesterday...plugged into power 90 minutes ago...36 degrees...

As the OP, I am gratified that my search has helped so many others. That is one of the things that makes this site rewarding.

[ivinsfan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chuckanut As the OP, I am gratified that my search has helped so many others. That is one of the things that makes this site rewarding.

We were actually thinking about buying one of these and stuck in an endless googling/pricing loop.

The minute I read your post I was like OK, I can just buy this and be done with it. Used our daughter who has a COSTCO membership so a double win for Ivinsfan......

[braumeister]

Quote:

Originally Posted by braumeister Maybe we should have a "last thing you bought from Costco" thread to compete with the Amazon one.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chuckanut Do it!

Actually, I wish folks would make more use of this thread, which I have often found very useful:

What you consider *superior* products

[MichaelB]

This cooler looks interesting. Is the idea to keep it plugged into the car DC outlet while you drive, or do you cool it at night and use it during the day?

[braumeister]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MichaelB This cooler looks interesting. Is the idea to keep it plugged into the car DC outlet while you drive, or do you cool it at night and use it during the day?

Both.
Since it's wheeled, you can easily bring it into your hotel room for the night, and it comes with both a wall plug and a car plug so you can use it in your car while you drive.

[Time2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FlaGator For what you have paid, and the description of how they work and your experience, you have likely been using "thermoelectric" models. The adverts I have seen for them claim they will cool only 40-ish degrees below ambient-not nearly enough when ambient is 100+. I lived in the Valley for decades and am not surprised with how they have worked for you. When you get tired of using ice and are willing to spend some money, look at the compressor models from Engel and the Costco items described above. They are real refrigerators. My 15+ year old Engel works great during trips and as a back up during power outages, and will still freeze water. Not cheap, though-would cost close to $1,000 to replace my Engel today. Not sure I would spend that now with the Costco models at 1/3 the price.

Here's a guy talking all about TECs and building a refrigerator from them. Lots of info about the problems of that technology,
but it has it's applications.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWUhwmmZa7A&t=1214s

[Morgan22]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ivinsfan Costco made a lot of money off board members this week.

Yup, we just bought one. Couldn't decide on which size to buy, but they dropped the price by $70 on the 50 qt the other day, so we pulled the trigger.

We currently use a 50 qt regular cooler for camping trips. This new one will be great. No more ice, so we can add more drinks into the cooler.

[ERD50]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ivinsfan Costco made a lot of money off board members this week. Just took delivery of our new cooler yesterday...plugged into power 90 minutes ago...36 degrees...

Heck, I have no real use for one (cooler and ice packs serve our needs just fine), but I sort of want one! I'm just impressed they actually have a compressor in them the thermo-electric Peltier designs are pretty marginal). I was curious earlier about mini-compressors, and my searches all seem to point to this one (most pics show the compressor alone, you need to add the hot and cold side coils, fan, etc):

https://www.rigidchill.com/mini-comp...2v-compressor/

-ERD50