For the sizes that we tested, manufacturers rated the cooler performance at 40 degrees lower than the temperature outside the cooler, but that assumes a lot of things. Coolers for drinks and snacks have another major hurdle to overcome. Even when the cooler has good insulation, If you’re opening the lid constantly, the heat rushing in makes efficiency quite poor. We searched for coolers that igloo electric cooler customers liked most, and found a set of five with fairly good reviews and a similar set of features. We wanted to compare with a 45-quart ice-filled cooler from our cooler review, so we settled on that size as a baseline. If you’re looking for a cooler that has a bit more room, the 45-quart Wagan – EL6244 has the right features and design to make the most of thermoelectric technology.
The tray also has the option of being used as an oven pizza… This is great if you want to keep your food quite cold but don’t want to worry about accidentally freezing it. It’s got slightly thinner walls than most other coolers on my list but still does a good job getting the temp down to an acceptable level.
The cooler receives its power through a direct current (DC) car adapter plug and power source or via a DC-to-DC, alternating current (AC) or battery-converter setup. As with ice-only coolers, you can use Kool Mate thermoelectric coolers on trips, while camping or during parties. Additionally, you can use Kool Mate thermoelectric coolers as additional refrigeration for your home, office or dorm room. When you plug in a typical freezer or fill a typical cooler with ice, you can expect a pretty consistent internal temperature. Many are rated to +/- a certain range compared to the outside air. So if it is extremely hot outside (100F) and your electric cooler has a minimum temperature range of -40F ambient, then you will only experience a storage temperature of 60F!
After searching for reviews, we found that only a few sites have really compared and tested electric coolers. We relied on the comparison from OutdoorGearLab to set our expectations, which is to say we realized igloo cooler with wheels that many buyers aren’t happy with these coolers. Dometic was the only manufacturer to include an AC 120-volt power adapter with their cooler. Cheap 5-amp adapters are easy to source, but it was a nice touch.
Don’t set anything heavy on the lid, though, or the head-dissipating fan inside will start to rub on the plastic shroud. Unlike the P27, though, the P95 had terrible cooling performance. Given that it’s probably the same components in a larger box that shouldn’t be too surprising, but the other large coolers performed better. That said, a nice-looking cooler that doesn’t keep your egg salad sandwich from spoiling on a hot day isn’t where we’d recommend spending extra money.
A Brushless Motor that is designed to replace existing Thermo-Electric cooler motors. That goes double when you consider that ice doesn’t need electricity to do its job. A 120-volt adapter will help if you’ve got power hookups or a hotel room overnight, but that’s not usually an option if you’re camping. As expected, the temperatures in the evening were much better, finally dropping down below 40 and even freezing in one unit when outside temperatures were in the 60s overnight. But that’s still not the performance necessary to keep perishable items like potato salad safe if you have to unplug when you’re stopped. For a control, we loaded the top-ranked model from our review of the best coolers, the ORCA – 40 Quart Classic, with 20 pounds of ice and checked its temperature at the same time.
Some electric coolers are battery-powered, some require being plugged in at all times and some are a combination of both. Depending on your needs, one of these methods is best for you. All of them remove the need for ice and the puddles and mess that can come with that. Some can be recharged even while they are keeping your food cool.