12V coolbox that's also just a coolbox

dory

Hello, I don't know if such a thing exists so I thought I'd ask. I'm almost ready to go camping, just need a coolbox.


My first plan was to just get a coolbox. Fill it with ice and off I go. But if I'm away a long time I might not be able to get ice all the time. A 12V coolbox would be fine for when I'm moving, but then when the car stops it won't keep the food cold anymore. So, it would be great to find one that does both. Runs off 12V when I'm travelling, but then when I'm parked up somewhere I can put ice in it and it'll be insulated enough to keep the ice cold for a few days.

Does anyone know if such a thing exists? Thanks

Alkers

Nearly all of the 12v coolboxes that you're talking about will do this
I can't recommend a particular model as its years since we bought ours

pullandbang

dory wrote: »

it'll be insulated enough to keep the ice cold for a few days.

Does anyone know if such a thing exists? Thanks

You've no chance of keeping ice cold for a few days without some sort of refrigeration. The ice will melt after a day, depending on the ambient temp. 12v cooler boxes are designed to cool the interior of the box by a few degrees less that ambient. I can't remember the exact number, but let's say it's 10 degrees less for example. So if it's 17 degrees outside, the inside of the box will stay around 7 degrees. If it's left inside a vehicle where on a hot day, temperatues can reach 30 degrees, they're a waste of space.
Also, don't ever leave them plugged into your car without the engine running or you'll end up with a flat battery fairly quickly.

If you plan on using a cooler box and ice, a better way is to nearly fill a few drinks bottles with very salty water. Freeze those bottles and use them rather than ice. At least when they melt you're not left with your grub swimming in water. You can reuse the icepacks (bottles) over and over again.

The reality of 12V coolboxes is that they are capable of freezing the contents of the box. As such what we do is have a iceblock in the bottom and then run it whenever we are driving or for a while every day. The cold stored in the icepack is usually enough to keep milk fresh all day. So unless you are taking frozen goods they are more than adequate for basic fridge functions.

The only real issue with them is that the cooler takes up a lot of space so they are either small or bulky. Also they run off about 30W (a battery killing load if the engine isn't running), but a 30W dedicated solar panel can be had for €30.00 direct from China which would work inversely to the amount of sun so make a great match.

Shoog

CelticRambler

Shoog wrote: »

The reality of 12V coolboxes is that they are capable of freezing the contents of the box.

I think you mean aren't!

Way back in time, I looked into getting one of these for our long, long road journeys. As pointed out by pullandbang, their biggest weakness is that the time you most need them to work is when they're at their most useless - when the car is parked up and in the sun.

Back then, for many other reasons, we opted instead to buy a proper fridge freezer and a motorhome to go with it but these days, if I can't take the MH, I have a polystyrene box with a tight-fitting lid, into which I put my chilled food and pack all the empty space with ice-packs. Any freezable drinks (water, fruit juice, lemonade, milk) get frozen the night before departure and serve as icepacks until they're defrosted. If at all possible, the box will be packed in such a way as to allow me to whip out what I need in the order I need it and get the lid back on as quickly as possible.

Whenever we have used ours over any extended period of time it has created frost on the contents. So if you keep them in the shade and running for an extended length of time - as I said they maker a perfectly acceptable fridge. Their main use seems to be to chill lager at events.

Shoog

limerickpat

I have the mid sized halfords 12 v cooler box in my van for the last 6 or 7 years. my lunch and milk etc comes out of my fridge at home early morning.
In cooler weather ill only throw the power on for an hour at 1 pm maybe, in summer ill have it on maybe 11-12 and 2-3pm and stuff will stay nice and cold. In most of the year leaving it on for 4-5 hours solid will freeze the milk.

Overall they can be very useful for an outlay of less than €50

They can reduce the contents temp by 22c which even in a hot van can keep the contents down to an acceptable 8c.
As I say more than adequate as a fridge.

Shoog

Markcheese

If youre really keen on keeping your stuff cool , a small solar panel and a deep cycle battery , ( and get one that's no bigger than you need ) ,
I find it handy if I'm going off somewhere ,but it's not magic ,if you put ambient temp bottles or cans in , it'll take a very long time to cool down .

pjordan

Pretty much answered by the other replies, but I've had a couple of these which I got from well known German retail chains which have both 12v and 240v power options. I used one all over Europe on a road trip in 2008 and it was excellent and I still use em even with the caravan as a supplement to the onboard fridge. The key is to make optimum use of cooler blocks and refreeze them at every opportunity (in the freezer compartment of a campsite fridge if available). We used occasionally buy bags of ice too but that can create a water mess at the bottom. They are very effective for maintaining meat and dairy products at sufficiently cool temperatures (below 5 deg c). Just be sure not to block the top vent at any point

Moomat

pullandbang wrote: »

You've no chance of keeping ice cold for a few days without some sort of refrigeration. The ice will melt after a day, depending on the ambient temp.

We use a Coleman box and it easily keeps ice for a few days. No electric needed but it is a bit bulky.



Handy as a back up to the fridge so not opened frequently.



https://www.coleman.eu/uk/p-25996-100qt-xtreme-cooler.aspx


You can pick up a decent model for <€100

LillySV

Hi Lads,

Planning on going for a few days hols around ireland and looking for coolerbox that i can plug in while driving around to keep food cool...any suggestions on where i could get a good one for reasonable price? going in two days so cant wait to order online unfortunately

Padre_Pio

LillySV wrote: »

Hi Lads,

Planning on going for a few days hols around ireland and looking for coolerbox that i can plug in while driving around to keep food cool...any suggestions on where i could get a good one for reasonable price? going in two days so cant wait to order online unfortunately

Pop into Halfords or Argos and see what they have in stock.

Shoog wrote: »

The only real issue with them is that the cooler takes up a lot of space so they are either small or bulky. Also they run off about 30W (a battery killing load if the engine isn't running), but a 30W dedicated solar panel can be had for €30.00 direct from China which would work inversely to the amount of sun so make a great match.

Shoog

A 30W solar panel will never output 30W in Ireland, and you'll probably need an MPPT or something to make sure you get a solid 12V output.

LillySV

Padre_Pio wrote: »

Pop into Halfords or Argos and see what they have in stock.



A 30W solar panel will never output 30W in Ireland, and you'll probably need an MPPT or something to make sure you get a solid 12V output.

checked all argos stores within hour and a half of me and none of them have any. Might try argos....i see aldi had one at some stage so might look see if any in store

We just upgraded ours to a thermostatically controlled thermoelectric one. 19Ltrs capacity and capable of keeping a constant 1C with the cooler running about 40% of the time. We are very happy with the upgrade it represents and if we run it on the journeys between our stops we always have cold milk and rock hard butter. This cost us €105.00 from a European warehouse of Aliexpress. Delivery took a week.
We looked into getting one of the compressor fridges which start at €200.00 from Chinese suppliers, they come in 12Ltrs sizes for that price and even though they use a fraction of the electricity of a thermoelectric coolbox - we couldn't justify the extra cost and reduced capacity and they simply didn't fit in the space we had available. If your fulltime on the road then they probably would be the correct choice.

Shoog

LillySV

Ok , it seems lidl and aldi had some but they long sold out....I just happened to walk into a Tesco and they have mobicool mt26 25 litre cooler boxes for sale for €55, seems to have good reviews so picked that.It has both connection for mains and car. The only other place that i found had cooler boxes for sale was halfords, 24 litre is €80 and ya had to pay an extra 20 quid for converter that allows u to charge from mains power... so tesco definitely seems like the cheaper option if any lads are like me and leave it to the last min to get one!

autumnalcore

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117534046#Comment_117534046

For other propective buyers be aware that mobicool like most peltier coolers can only go 'up to' 18 degrees below ambient so if its 30 degrees in your hot sunny van / tent / car then your food is at 12 degrees.

Peltiers are very inefficient at cooling they are only barely capable of keeping stuff that is already cool cool.

So if you put e.g. a warm water bottle in there then your food could easily be at room temperature.

You need a compressor or at least a absorption coolbox to function as a fridge.

So moral of the story, don't treat coolbox as fridge, only put cold stuff in it and supplement it with iceblocks / ice where possible.

LillySV

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117750471#Comment_117750471

In the hottest weeks of this year, I brought sandwiches and drinks around and they were perfectly cool, did a great job for me , as I’d say it would for a good majority of people… if your not happy with the specs then go buy one for a few hundred …. While your at it… why don’t you trade in your car and get a Ferrari as you want premium quality I’m sure

autumnalcore

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117750657#Comment_117750657

I was simply letting people know that they are not a substitute for a fridge, sandwiches drinks not exactly critical but lots of people get caught trying to keep uncooked food in them. Probably won't give you food poisoning 11 months of the year in Ireland but try it on tour on the continent

Shark7

Would be handy

Shark7

Would be handy

Just to clarify what these are capable of. They can cool up to 30c which should cover all situations in Ireland. In order to achieve this they need at least two cooling elements ( which means up to 60w power draw) and they need to have a metal internal surface. The one we have has a temperature setting thermostat which can keep ours at a constant zero degrees. Our cost about €100 including postage.

They are not as good as a compressor type but they more than meet our needs for our Irish use case at around a quarter of the price of a compressor fridge.

Shoog

autumnalcore

100 quid for a two stage peltier sounds really good. the tropicool and yeti ones are more than double that.

60w is still less than the average absorption cooler, how is the fan noise?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117761077#Comment_117761077

Not to bad at the moment but they tend to get noisier as they age and the baring ages. we tend to run it when we are moving between sites rather than when stationary. If things go in cold and we start out with coolblock it serves us well for about 4 days out, after that you would want fresh cool blocks.

herri

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058188132/12v-coolbox-thats-also-just-a-coolbox

You're looking for a versatile coolbox that can run on 12V while on the move and keep food cold with ice when parked. These coolers are dual-power coolboxes or thermoelectric coolers with ice retention features. They're designed to switch between using electricity from your car's 12V socket while driving and insulation to keep things cold with ice when stationary.look for models that specifically mention dual-power capability or ice retention features. Some coolers even have separate compartments or sections for ice storage to keep your food and drinks cold without constantly needing to replenish ice.

spaceHopper

I've an old one I got in Lidl it has super tick insulation. I've a camper fridge now do I don't uses it much. It was great for a weekend I'd buy ice in supermarket and it's last two to 3 days. If you've a good freezer at home freeze 4 to 6 500ml bottles of water down to -22. From memory they can cool down to 18 degree difference but I never ran it long enough to see that.

Either Lidl or Aldi had different ones in recently, also Halfords do higher end ones too.

Markcheese

My brother uses commercial cool boxs for work , theyre rated to keep thongs cool for 3 days , a couple of large icepacks , good insulation , a good rubber gasket on the tight fitting lid and you're away,

obviously the food you put in would need to be cold first ...

I think the brand is igloo, he puts about 18/20 2l bottles of milk into it at a time -

(2 people to carry it when full )

herri

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122088696#Comment_122088696

This ice box cooler Mr. Freeze - 100 L Ice Box Cooler having good insulation.Linear low density polyethylene.

CelticRambler

Considering the OP's query is three years old, I'd say his ice is well melted by now!

dory

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122116322#Comment_122116322

Yes, I was just going to say! Got my ice box back in 2021. Lovely little thing from Halfords. FWIW I'm glad I didn't get one of the ones I saw on YouTube. They're ice boxes with no ability to plug it in. I plug mine into the 12V yoke-e-me-bob in the car.

herri

So, you are searching for a multifunctional cooler, luckily you are in the right place! The market has coolers that can be used as a fully functional 12V powered cooler while driving and as an ice box cooler

insulated when parked. The Dometic and Engel brands, for example, offer units that have dual functions, namely, you can connect them to your vehicle while it is moving and also use them as regular coolers when the vehicle is stationary. These coolers are built with amazing quality insulation that can even keep ice frozen for days, hence you don't have to be concerned about your food going bad. Remember to inspect the size and the specifications and select one that is in perfect alignment with your camping needs.

Esel

AI Sharon.