I've browsed the (many) posts on this topic but don't seem to have found one that directly relates to our situation.
We've got a VW van we take camping (it's not actually a converted camper) and just need some way of keeping things like milk & butter cool for a couple of days at a time.
It seems from the previous posts that most people think electric cool boxes aren't worth it compared to a three-way fridge, but here's the thing: we don't go on EHUs and are not planning to start carrying gas around, so our only power supply is the 12V car charger when we're on the go. Presumably this will not power a fridge, so my simple question is whether a cool box is, in reality, our only option.
Alternatively, if we were to get a leisure battery and charged it at home, on average (I know this will depend on details, but as a rough guide), how long would this keep a small (say, 20-30l) fridge powered?
you can hardwire in a leisure battery into a van. that was our plan when we had a camper. that way it trickle charges after your main battery is charged everytime you go out... might be worth checking out justkampers for the kit and their forum?
If you're moving around every day you'll probably be OK with an electric coolbox running only whilst driving. I used to have a large Camping Gaz one on the boat, and it only needed about 30 minutes, twice a day, to keep it cool (a couple of hours a day would be better). You do want to be careful not to leave the door open though, and try to only put cold things in.
If you don't move around you could add a leisure battery charged from a spilt-charge relay, but it won't run the coolbox for very long - 8 hours or so for an 85Ah battery.
The 3-way fridges won't get cold on 12v, it will only keep them cool if they've been brought down to temperature on gas or mains.
We use an electric coolbox without (so far) electric hookup. It goes on charge when we are using the car and is kept topped up by ice packs on a daily basis (most camp sites have a freezer availoable for free or charge a minimal amount to hire frozen blocks). We have found this works well keeping milk etc cool. This year we have a new cool box to use, a Waeco one, that is thermostatically controlled rather than on all the time like a lot are, so it should be more economical and we will boost it at times when the car is not in use.
We looked at three way fridges but they were just too big for us to justify (we just use the car and roofbox and don't use a trailer).
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Topic: Electric cool box - worth it?
