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Fridge / Cooler 12 Volt Coolers Versus Tradional Ice Cooler

J

Jean W

Junior Ranger
Donating Member
Greetings, While exploring the pros and cons of teardrops versus "standie" units, my greatest frustration is the lack of a fridge and perishable food items. So far I am experimenting with a couple options. Placeing all perishable items and refreshements is the large cooler. Perishable items are either placed in lock 'n lock containers or double bagged to prevent ice water contamination with refreshements.

Con is everything floats in water. Annoying to replacing items back into cooler because of water/ice movement. Real chore to get everything to fit again so lid closes.

Then tried two separate coolers, one for perishable and one for refreshments. Like this idea to prevent cross contaimination with refreshements. Again though the hassle of ice/water contamination and repacking in perishable cooler.

Thought about the 12 volt coolers. Hey, no ice/water headaches, but how well do they actually work. Transporting them will require planning to keep sides open for air circulation.

So I would like your input on how you pack perishable and refreshements, what tricks have you learned. Any one use the 12 vold coolers?

Thanks,
Jean
 
We use a 12v/120v cooler from camp inn and it works great. We also carry a empty cooler for storage and in case we need more cooler space.

Anna&Steve
550 Classic #269 :)
 
Jean,

Check out my cooler under Care & Maintenance - Cooler latch issue.
I'm anti 12v or 3 way as they draw so much battery power and you can't comfortably forget about them for a day. Most importantly, they won't hold a case of beer and all our food too.

We normally end up with a gallon bag or two in the ice water, but smaller items are happy on the shelf. You can make shelves for a Coleman and probably others too.

Hilditch
 
We got the 12 v when we bought the camper... it has worked great (once we stopped freezing things!). We haven't had any battery problems but have also have probably been only 12 hrs without either car recharging or plugged in. It isn't huge but then we aren't big meal makers, more the sandwich kind.
 
We just did a week camping with a 12 volt for meats, eggs and drinks and a coleman with ice for everything else. It worked great for us.
 
We bought the cooler from Camp-Inn and use that for food, and a second smaller cooler for drinks. Now that we've got the solar panel, we're saving up for the 12v cooler so we don't have to hassle with ice.
 
Many of the 12 volt coolers available today are clasified as thermoelectric coolers. Thermoelectric coolers work best at temperatures between 65 and 80 Deg. On average they will drop the temperature between outside air and inside air by about 40 Degrees but in all cases no lower than 32 degrees, unless of course it's 0 outside. Power draw on these units is typically around 65 Watts. Many units will have a small fan inside the unit to circulate the air. If you use some of those plastic liquid filled ice blocks that you prefreeze in your freezer, these units will prolong the life of these things from hours to days. You do not want to use ice in these coolers because eventually the ice will melt and the water will damage the cooler. Thermostatically controled coolers like your refrigerator will both cool and freeze, but because they use a compressor they also use a lot more power, and should only be used with shore power. RV refrigerators that run off both power and gas are a whole different animal, and while I have one in my rv, I have no idea as to what makes them run, except I know they work and both refrigerate and freeze. They are also a heck of a lot more expensive than a $100 12 volt cooler.
 
I have to say I'm a traditionalist when it comes to coolers (as in we don't have power coolers). What we do different is use dry ice instead of regular ice for the cooler we have perishables in. Our refreshment cooler still carries regular ice. We can get dry ice from Harris Tetter here in Virginia Beach. Understand that dry ice has handling concerns (use heavy rubber gloves when directly handling the dry ice to avoid injury). We put the dry ice on the bottom of the cooler, cover it with newspaper, and place the food on top. Lasts for days.
 
jpbrew,

Your are the first post I have read that used dry ice in a cooler, espically for perishables and not reporting frozen food.

I don't have a thermoelectric cooler, yet will not spend my money on one that only lowers the inside temp based upon ambient air temp.

Someday I will invest (self indulge) in a very good 12 volt cooler such as Engle. What, she just said she won't buy a 12 volt cooler. Well, there is a major differnece in performance of Engle cooler with thermoelectric motor.

Cary can explain the engineering differences.
 
Great idea with the dry ice. This last weekend was the first trip with the Dometic fridge. I have a 12v in the back of my tow vehicle where I plug it in. I will never use a ice cooler again. This thing works great and has a digital display of temp inside. I did install the handles even though it won't fit in cooler space of the kitchen. I am opposed to keeping it there, because the airflow to compressor is almost completely obstructed. You don't have to keep all your drinks in it. It cools so quickly that you can put a few drinks in there and in an hour or so it's cold! It fits great on cooler stand too!
 
One thing to correct on the dc fridges. It is true the dc fridge pulls a bit more power when running than a thermoelectric fridge but it runs far far less. As JP pointed out the thermoelectric cooler pulls about 5-5.5amps (60-65watt) but they pull it continuously. A dc fridge pulls about 6amps (72watts)when the compressor kicks in but that really is not very often. The average power draw listed is about 1.5amps (18watts). I think this is a often misread spec.

So, for use off the grid you need to use a powered dc fridge, not a thermoelectric cooler. This was something JP stated backwards. The thermoelectric cooler will deplete the battery in about a half a day unless plugged into shore power. The dc fridge will get you through the weekend on battery. Compounded with the high temps in the galley on a hot day the thermoelectric cooler just is not something that should be used in the galley of a Camp-Inn. They work fine in the air conditioned cab of the tow vehicle however with the charging system running going down the road.

Jean,

The Engle will not fit in your camper. It is too long and skinny to fit in the cooler opening. Same internal parts in a Engle as there are in a Waeco (Dometic) or the NovaKool so there really is not any reason to chose the Engle over one of these other brands. Of course if you carry the fridge in the tow vehicle like Matt does it does not matter then. You may even want to step up to the next larger size too.

Cary
 
Cary,

I would carry the dc fridge in the TV. No matter what size or brand, it is too heavy to move around constantly. When I invest in a DC fridge, will have to have the necessary elecrical service installed in truck bed.

The ice filled cooler always stays in the truck bed.

Besides, I carry a large tote containing charcoal and related items, and a lantern in the cooler space. This arrangement works best for me.
 
Ok ya'll which one did you get from Cary? They offer two....I've gotta get one. Two trips and I'm already hating the ice...and summer's upon us!


I love the dry ice idea but can't locate dry ice in my area.
 
Linda we have the waeco cf-35 and it works great.Keep in mind we do not dry camp so we dont know how long it would last on battery.Steve :)
 
Dry ice can be obtained locally at welding supply stores, some stores stock dry ice for halloween fun.
Let your fingers do the walking in yellow pages.
 
Here in Virginia Beach, we can get dry ice at Harris Tetter grocery stores. I also read a local article here that Kroger also has dry ice for sale, but haven't check them out yet.
 
Here in the West, we can get dry ice at Safeway grocery stores, and I've seen it in Smith's grocery stores in New Mexico. Usually found in small three-foot size, cube-looking freezers in the front of the store right after the checkouts. Locked, since it can be dangerous for kids (or adults who don't pay attention -- It'll freeze to your skin in seconds). Fairly reasonably priced, although I don't recall what I paid last time I bought some. It's frozen CO2, so it just disappears into a gas as it melts (sublimates, technically speaking), and leaves no liquid remnants the way ice does.
 
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