12v Igloo Iceless 40 QT Cooler

[Hannah.Taylor]

The 12v Igloo Iceless 40 qt electric cooler (left side) is a game changer for storm chasing. It keeps your food cold without the hassle of buying ice and dumping the water every day. No more soggy food.

Igloo recommends pre-cooling the cooler a few hours before you put your food and beverages in it.

Amazon.com

You can get the adapter for it off Amazon that lets you plug it in to a standard plug at the hotel. (I actually have two of these. One I keep in my chase vehicle. The other in the garage).

I take the cooler in the hotel and plug it into the wall outlet with the adapter.

Adapter

Amazon.com

And it nevers hurts to have a spare 12v cord on hand either.
Amazon.com

 

[JamesCaruso]

That’s pretty cool. Do you have to keep it connected to power while on the road, or does it hold the cold for the day until you plug it back in at the hotel at night? I would imagine that might allow the temperature to fluctuate too much, which is bad for the food.

I couldn’t do this anyway, since I fly out to chase, but it seems like a great idea. I used to buy a cooler once I got here, and then would just give it away to the front desk person at whatever hotel I stayed at last before flying home. I chalked it up as another chase expense, and theoretically the cost was offset by buying food in a supermarket instead of at a convenience store or fast food restaurant. (Not to mention the health benefits, and avoiding coming home 5 pounds heavier ) But it was the constant draining and replenishment of the ice that led me to abandon that practice. Also on down days I’d prefer to eat at restaurants, but still had to maintain ice in the cooler and the food might not stay fresh enough until chasing started again. But just for cold drinks alone this would be great!

 

[Sean Ramsey]

I use a mini-fridge for my chasing/traveling as well. Very convenient for cold drinks, etc. plus my meals on the go are always PB&J when I'm out in the middle of nowhere to tied me over until dinner and I always need to keep the jelly cold. I've thought about buying individual packets of jelly but they're expensive. Anyways, we always use our mini-fridge on long distance trips because it helps save a ton of money from dining out (three or more and the bill gets a little high, especially day after day). It's paid for itself more than 10 times over if not more since I've had it.

 

[Hannah.Taylor]

That’s pretty cool. Do you have to keep it connected to power while on the road, or does it hold the cold for the day until you plug it back in at the hotel at night? I would imagine that might allow the temperature to fluctuate too much, which is bad for the food.

I couldn’t do this anyway, since I fly out to chase, but it seems like a great idea. I used to buy a cooler once I got here, and then would just give it away to the front desk person at whatever hotel I stayed at last before flying home. I chalked it up as another chase expense, and theoretically the cost was offset by buying food in a supermarket instead of at a convenience store or fast food restaurant. (Not to mention the health benefits, and avoiding coming home 5 pounds heavier ) But it was the constant draining and replenishment of the ice that led me to abandon that practice. Also on down days I’d prefer to eat at restaurants, but still had to maintain ice in the cooler and the food might not stay fresh enough until chasing started again. But just for cold drinks alone this would be great!

It's 12V. You plug it in the cig lighter while in the car. Then you plug it into the adapter at the hotel and plug the adapter into the standard 110v outlet in the hotel to maintain cold continuity. You can leave it unplugged for 45 mins to an hour and it will retain its cold if you dont open the lid and let the cold air out.

 

[J Miller]

Does this use a traditional refrigeration cycle or is it one of those cheap Peltier scam ones?

 

[Hannah.Taylor]

Does this use a traditional refrigeration cycle or is it one of those cheap Peltier scam ones?

I'm not sure what you mean by Peltier scam ones.

It uses Thermoelectric technology. I just used mine on Friday for a chase. I pre-cooled it the night before and my drinks were ice cold the entire storm chase.

Iceless Portable Electric 40 Qt Cooler

No ice? No problem! With our spacious 40-Quart Iceless thermoelectric cooler, you’ll get chilled food and drinks without needing to add any ice.

www.igloocoolers.com

Product Details

• Thermoelectric cooling technology (without ice!): Fan circulates cold air, allowing plastic bottles to cool as much & as quickly as cans
• Excellent cooling performance: Cools interior to 38℉ below ambient temperature
• Cool Riser Technology® improves cooling performance by elevating cooler body away from hot surfaces
• Dual orientation allows you to use & store this cooler horizontally (like a standard ice chest) or vertically (like a refrigerator)
• Quiet, long-lasting brushless motor
• Swing-up handles for easy carrying & loading
• Interior shelf is adjustable for customizable organization of different sized items
• Iceless cooler plugs into any 12V auto plug adapter
• Optional (not included): 110V AC converter for indoor use
• Spacious 40-quart capacity fits up to 52 cans

 

[J Miller]

I'm not sure what you mean by Peltier scam ones.

It uses Thermoelectric technology. I just used mine on Friday for a chase. I pre-cooled it the night before and my drinks were ice cold the entire storm chase.

Iceless Portable Electric 40 Qt Cooler

No ice? No problem! With our spacious 40-Quart Iceless thermoelectric cooler, you’ll get chilled food and drinks without needing to add any ice.

www.igloocoolers.com

Thermoelectric is another name for Peltier cooling. They're dirt cheap to make but have pretty terrible cooling capacity compared to a traditional cooler (vapor compression). You're gonna have to put a lot of power into it to cool it down, especially as the temperature difference between the cool side and hot side grows and heat tries to leak back into the cold side from the hot side. I don't know how good that 38 degree number is, but having seen tests of peltier mini-fridges, they didn't really do a very good job of chilling drinks. If you really wanted to go the thermoelectric route, you'd need a lot of power. The 12V outlets on your car are going to be fairly limited with what they can output. Car batteries are designed to be able to dump a lot of current for short periods of time for the starter motor but not for sustained power draw, and even if you could, I know my car has 15 amp fuses, so I can only pull 180W through those ports. I feel like if you're doing over 1 ft^3 it would just be more efficient to go vapor compression.

 

[Hannah.Taylor]

Thermoelectric is another name for Peltier cooling. They're dirt cheap to make but have pretty terrible cooling capacity compared to a traditional cooler (vapor compression). You're gonna have to put a lot of power into it to cool it down, especially as the temperature difference between the cool side and hot side grows and heat tries to leak back into the cold side from the hot side. I don't know how good that 38 degree number is, but having seen tests of peltier mini-fridges, they didn't really do a very good job of chilling drinks. If you really wanted to go the thermoelectric route, you'd need a lot of power. The 12V outlets on your car are going to be fairly limited with what they can output. Car batteries are designed to be able to dump a lot of current for short periods of time for the starter motor but not for sustained power draw, and even if you could, I know my car has 15 amp fuses, so I can only pull 180W through those ports. I feel like if you're doing over 1 ft^3 it would just be more efficient to go vapor compression.

I notice if I pre-cool it the night before, it works great. If I take it from not powered up and put it in the RAV and add room temp drinks, plug it in and go, it takes longer to get my beverages cold and it struggles.

But thats why I got the 110v adapter to keep it cooled at all times in and out of the RAV.