we’re going away next week for 8 days. we want a decent cool-box to keep the beers and steaks cold for the post-ride BBQ.

preferably about 50cm high and able to double up as an extra stool for alfresco dining. not massive, but not silly small, either.

lots of boxes out there, but what would you recommend?

cheers in advance

We’ve got a 47 litre ARB. It is very good

They were doing them in Lidl the other week. You may still be lucky.

We got one and it runs off mains or 12v

Electric powered ones use a lot of energy. Would flatten a car battery in 10-12hrs if the battery isn’t receiving a charge.

Yep, you’ll no doubt be bump starting the car/van the following morning so park on a hill!

I bought one a few years ago, biggest waste of money and even when I did plug it in rather than rely on ice packs, it would overheat the cigar plug and melted its socket on more than one occasion.

If you want a decent coolbox, get one of the two/three way jobbies that work on 12v/240v/gas. Then you can use it on 12v whilst driving and short periods, or MOVE IT OUTSIDE and use on gas. REPEAT, outside only (or perhaps big draughty awning but definitely not a normal tent)

The ARB will do about 3 days on a good battery and still leave enough for starting. It has an automatic cut out which trips if supply voltage drops too low.

They do look good on the current draw.

But the price! 😯

Got the Halfords one, was cheap in sale and seems to be on offer regularly. 12v fine, Loaded with a few freezer blocks seems to stay cold for 24 hours off battery.

Had a Halfords one for two years and its pretty good. Pretty good value and it’ll happily freeze stuff solid if you leave it closed for a couple of days. Only issue with it is it’s a noisy bugger.

is the Lidl thing noisy?

go outdoors advertising one for £60 described as energy saving

Have a Waeco CF50 – had it for years, brilliant bit of kit, runs on 12vdc/240vac and draws hardly anything, has an adjustable low voltage cut off so engine will always start. Goes down to minus 15c so can be used as a freezer.

Better price than the ARB/Engels but still not cheap.

Yup Waeco is the way to go. Proper low energy fridge in a cool box shape.

(As opposed to a cool, box shape 😀 )

The Lidl one is made by / is a re-badged Waeco

It’s noisy (the fan) when on full power / running from the 12v battery, but for the money it’s great. You can switch it off when you’re sleeping.

When you’re using an EHU you can vary the fan speed (strange you can’t when on 12v). On the quietest setting it’s fine at night.