[Closed] Electric Cool boxes - do they work?

We've got a Halfords one. It works but it's not as effective as a fridge - it can only lower the temperature by 16c below ambient. Chucking a bag of ice in will help.

We have a lidl one that we use for camping trips. Think it was about £30/£40. Fill it up and plug it into 12v in the car whilst we're driving to our destination. Set up tent then plug it in 240v over our electric hookup. It stays on that way for at least 5 days. Works a charm. Not super chilled, but no ice to worry about and no sour milk to spoil breakfasts. Beer is drinkable temperature too!

Would absolutely recommend

I have used one (i think it was mobicool and only about £50) the 240 volt can run colder than the 12 volt. When I use it I run it 240 in the house to get it cold then 12 volt in van and it seems to run okay (if using on 12 volt only it would probably take an age to cool down say cans of warm beer).

We have a cheap aldi 12/240v one - so it starts off in the boot of the estate car for a few hours, then a weekend in the corner of the tent on a hookup. It works fine. Perhaps not quite as chilled as the fridge in your house but definitely worth it and perfect for keeping milk, bacon etc etc.

Pack it sensibly so you can quikcly flip the lid, grab what you want and shut it again!

Definitely reccomended from me too.

I've taken it to a few bike races and events too and being able to pop a cold one as you bask in that glow of tiredness/achy legs/dusty face/massive grin/"did you see that jump I hit" etc is brill.

They will flatten a battery very quickly, so switch to mains as soon as possible.

I ended up getting a 3 way fridge (runs off of a propane bottle as well). It has been great for camping.

In total opposite opinion of the above.....;)

Always used ice blocks. Bought a fancy big Outwell 240v one last year. Thought it wold solve all my problems. Total rubbish. Condensation and water all inside after a day. Didnt really keep anything any cooler or for any longer. Persisted with it for around 3/4 days, before just turning off. Constant low hum as wll whilst camping. Awful awful thing

Going back to ice blocks and old Halfords box for this years camping.

Although maybe I just got unlucky with it.

They do work. Not as good as a proper fridge but for me they are easier than farting about with ice. And the performance is clearly better.

The most expensive Halfords one has a variable temperature control which could be handy. We have the small in-car one which we used whilst camping and it is always 15C below ambient so it froze our milk on a cool night.

We use one with electric hook-up when camping. It works well, but they use a lot of juice.

How do you intend to power it? Only have it on when driving, or electric hook-up at the places you stop?

Had a cheep one, the insulation was laughable, 5mm of polystyrene at the most.
Maybe a posh one would be better put together.

Also, as above they use loads of power. Only good if you have a hook-up.

We now have a Dometic compressor fridge (CDF 36 I think). Runs of 12v but uses way less power. And actually keeps things cold. Expensive but highly recommended if you're using battery only.

APF

They work well. Bit noisy and run continuously. Well flatten your battery relatively quickly if on 12v and engine off.
I've got a Halfords one - I hacked a wee temp control unit into it so it turns off at 4c until temp comes up again.

Have a look at Alpicool ones. Chinese knockoffs of Dometic compressor ones. About £150 on Amazon. A pal has one. Used way less battery, quieter, can freeze, charge your phone and has an app to monitor temps and leisure battery usage. Pretty swish!

We have one that is branded 'Camping Gaz' but I suspect it is a pretty generic one - it works well enough for keeping stuff cool for several days. Bloody annoying with all the rummaging around to find the one thing you need that is inevitably right at the bottom though.

I also have an ancient mini beer fridge a bit like this one and it's bloody brilliant - it gets beer lovely and cold but kinda useless as a camping fridge as it's too small and the shape is entirely impractical.

100% better than doing without one. I bought a square of plastic grid from eBay and cut it to fit in the bottom. Stops your packets sitting in the pool of water which inevitably forms over time. We usually fill it with food and ice packs before leaving home, have it running in the back of the car en route then use it in the awning whilst on site.

I used a cheap Halfords one when driving my Landie across Morrocco/Sahara - it only lowered temp relative to ambient by about 15deg I think. I stocked mine with beer at start of trip and did a roaring trade swapping cooled beers for food with my fellow travellers.

We've got a halfords one. Usually run it up on the mains supply before setting off, chucking a freezer block in there helps. They are noisy, i wouldnt want to sleep in the same room as one.
72hrs may be optimistic.

There are two types - cheap ones that work off peltier coolers and expensive compressor based ones. The compressor ones are as good as a fridge (better in some ways as they are top opening, so the cold air doesn't fall out when you open the door). The peltier ones work, but certainly won't keep things at fridge temperature if you're in the south of france.

Example compressor one - https://www.jacksonsleisure.com/mobicool/fr40/compressor/cool/box/

Better than ice blocks and remember that many campsites aren't letting you chill your ice blocks in their freezers at the moment due to Covid.

We started with a halfords peltier coolbox for the camper, then fairly quickly upgraded to a waeco compressor fridge.
As has been said above they use a lot of power as they draw their rated load continuously, they only cool to ~16C below ambient but will freeze when ambient drops below 16C. You can't really use them as a fridge ie they will keep cold stuff cool but don't really work well if you put warm drinks etc in.
That being said we do still occasionally use it over the compressor fridge - it's much lighter and takes up less space for the same internal volume as it doesn't have to house the compressor. If we go for a day trip in the car it can run while driving and keeps drinks/sandwiches cool for most of the day.
One thing that really helps both types is adding some extra insulation, we've made covers from some left over space blanket insulation which keeps the boxes much cooler if they're in a hot car or direct sunlight.

I have a pretty shit one. It works provided its plugged in but the insulation is pretty crap so doesn't stay that cold when you turn it off. I has hoped it would be good enough if you packed it cold, drove with it on, camped, drove for an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon, but obviously its probably sitting in a hot car for lots of hours during the day, and then in a boot with limited airflow when it does get running. I think a really good passive box packed cold, with frozen water bottles or similar, and kept out the sun would be at least as good for most stuff.

I have a 'Norwegian' army coolbox - wrap things in foil, keep it stuffed with things to reduce empty space, keep it out of sunlight/heat, don't open it unless you have to and it keeps things OK for a couple of days when canoe touring.

As has been said above they use a lot of power as they draw their rated load continuously, they only cool to ~16C below ambient but will freeze when ambient drops below 16C

The Halfords 40l claims to have an adjustable temperature control.

Remember though that they also have insulation. They will cool things to say 16C below ambient BUT that assumes you put ambient temperature things in it. If you cool everything to 2C then it'll still be 2C by the time the sun comes up, and as the temperature climbs the insulation will keep most of the ambient heat out. And with the cooler running, it'll still be pulling heat out so even if it's coming in faster than it's leaving the delta will be a lot smaller than if you only have insulation and no electric cooler.

So it's still significantly better than a passive coolbox even in hot conditions. Assuming you've got power obvs.

Thermo electric are not good IMHO. Compressor much better but cost £££s.

Simple cool box (like a Yeti) work well IF used correctly and ice will last 4-5 days in the UK but also cost ££s.

https://uk.yeti.com/pages/ice-retention

Good link on maximising the performance of any cooler

So it’s still significantly better than a passive coolbox even in hot conditions. Assuming you’ve got power obvs.

Only if its as well insulated as the passive coolbox, which in my experience at the same price point they are (unsurprisingly) not.

Only if its as well insulated as the passive coolbox, which in my experience at the same price point they are (unsurprisingly) not.

We have a "5 day" Coleman cooler imported from the US. And it does last a pretty long time. The 40L one in Halfords looks like it has thicker insulation though, and I'd bet it's the same stuff.

Having used both I would definitely take an electric coolbox given the choice. In fact I am going to get one of the Halfords ones at some point this summer.

I just use an igloo box and use ice packs

If I'm not on a site with a freezer I just use a couple of bags of frozen ice

We use a couple of cheap ones when we camp in France (so on battery in the car then mains onsite) - they do make an unobtrusive hum and keep things cool enough to last two or three days, so we're not shopping for cheese or salad every day.

Not what you've asked because it not electric, but these are great (and rather expensive!!!) they just work, sooooooo well:

https://store-eu.dometic.com/en-gb/product-category/cooling/passive-cool-boxes/

I borrowed a friends for a week long tent trip to the alps in summer, i filled it at home and added ice once when away.

actually, they also do electric ones, god knows how much they cost:

https://store-eu.dometic.com/en-gb/product-category/cooling/electric-cool-boxes/

(around a grand!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

if you get one of the thermoelectric peltier ones that has both a keep warm and a keep cool function, then I recommend taping the switch in the keep cool position 😉

and as mentioned above, don't leave the running off the car 12V, cos about 6 hours is enough to totally drain the battery to the point where you need a jump pack.

depends where you use them. I've used mine mostly in Scotland, but it's always on mains, and if outside camping then overnight it can get cold enough that after a few nights like that, you wake up to orange slush puppy and have to defrost milk before you can have your cornflakes. certainly need to mop out the condensation (and ice) with a towel. I tend to prechill stuff where possible and run it only during the day (only on mains, never from the car).

Does anyone make cooling units you can retrofit to an existing coolbox? We have a great Coleman job but if we can improve it, why not..

Most peltier ones I've seen are pretty good but their insulation isn't as good as a 'proper' coolbox as they can rely on the peltier unit

I have a 12v/240v electric Waeco cool bag. Not as good as a coolbox as it's only a bag but it packs up MUCH smaller when not in use. Don't do much camping as a family so it's mostly used for day trips. Works great for that. If we're leaving it in the car then I tend to stuff some freezer blocks in there and turn it off to save the battery