Hi, anyone got one of these. What's your opinion on it. Thinking about getting one but the reviews are quite mixed. Or can anyone recommend a good electric cooler up to about £90,,,30Ltr plus. Thankyou
So long as you are not expecting it to work like a fridge, it will be fine, all these cool box’s are pretty much the same, expect cooling to be around 18 Deg below ambient temperature on a good day in real life.
You can get better coolers like the Waeco TropiCool, which give increased cooling better than your typical thermoelectric cool box’s, again they are not fridges, although they are over priced, and for the money you would be better of buying a proper portable camping fridge.
In fairness I would hang out for one of the Lidl/Aldi versions at around half the price, in fact Aldi have them in next week for £39.99 for a 29lt model, advertised as cooling to 20 Deg C below ambient.
The unit also acts as a food warmer, although I don’t see the point of that.
Just a general comment rather than a make-specific one, but never use one of these on 12 volts without the engine running unless they are the type that is compressor-driven. If they are not of the compressor-driven type, and by the price I suspect they aren't, they will completely flatten a large 12 volt battery in just a few hours.
The compressor ones are much better but usually cost around £300 - £400.
Quote: Originally posted by Colin21 on 18/7/2020
Just a general comment rather than a make-specific one, but never use one of these on 12 volts without the engine running unless they are the type that is compressor-driven. If they are not of the compressor-driven type, and by the price I suspect they aren't, they will completely flatten a large 12 volt battery in just a few hours.
The compressor ones are much better but usually cost around £300 - £400.
Second that, keep a couple of ice packs in there to help it keep cold when the engine isn't running. Lidls have them at the moment for 39.99
------------- Loving the DUB life and the campervan vibe
Generically (regardless of brand) treat it as a power assisted coolbox that extends the life of your ice blocks, rather than anything else. They are certainly not fridges, and struggle a bit to chill effectively on their own without ice blocks. The thermoelectric/Peltier technology behind these devices is horribly inefficient and they consume a lot of power for what little cooling (and heating, if duel purpose) they offer. But if you don't expect too much of them, they have their place and do what they claim.
As to Francais comment "The unit also acts as a food warmer, although I don’t see the point of that.", I use mine to keep Thermos flasks hot for longer when going on longish winter hill walks, you can come back after many hours to piping hot food and drink, whereas without it would only be warm. Obviously you can only run it when driving, but that 2 or 3 hour drive to location is time the flasks are not really losing much heat and the box interior remains warmer than outside for much longer therefore improving flask effectiveness. Also handy for bringing hot takeaway food home.
I've got a Lidl one I've had for many, many years, and a much larger more recent Coleman one. Only caveat, as already mentioned, don't leave it connected to car battery without engine running, it'll flatten it in a few hours.
Yep Paul and Nik, a handy gadget to have is the “Waeco CoolPower MU50” which protects your battery from running completely flat, most cars shut of the 12v to the Aux socket when the ignition is off, but some don’t, to be fair I prefer the cars that don’t.
Or cars like the VW Golf, which let you select 12v to aux socket on all the time, or only when engine is running.
The “Waeco CoolPower MU50” is very simple to use, it has a cigarette socket on one end, and a cigarette plug on the other, so very plug and play, although only rated to 5 amp (60 watt).
The “Waeco CoolPower MU50” is also handy if your powering the coolbox from a leisure battery or directly from a car battery, other makes of battery protector are of course available, I have seen 10 amp versions.
Monty15, you might want to check out my post “Stainless Steel Flask £2.10!”
We've had a Halfords 40l coolbox for a few years now and have always found it great. Having built in leads for both 12v and mains 3 pin plug is very useful and much better than our old one which needed a transformer to work on mains. We don't take our caravan abroad so can't comment on how it performs in very high outside temperature but we've always found it works well in the UK.
Thankyou all for your help. I've gone for the one that Aldi are getting in store on Thursday. 30Ltr box that cools below 20c of outside temp,it's £39.99 so Im quite pleased with that.
We keep one for chilling in the awning on 240v, and another on longer trips in the front locker, where i've fit a spare socket. I will 'rest' them overnight after a couple of days, and wipe them out, as they tend to get a lot of condensation when its really warm. As said, they arent a fridge, but they help to keep stuff longer - salads, uneaten pizza etc.
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Topic: Halfords 40L 12V/230V cooler
via mobile 18/7/2020 at 9:19am
