Electric Cool Box - is it worth it?

[ElasticBandBall]

we currently have a "normal" cool box with icepacks etc, but Dh is pondering an electric one. Is it worth it? Are they colder? are there good ones and ones to avoid?

thanks.

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If you’re looking for ways to keep your food and drinks chilled for long periods, we’ve rounded up the best cooling boxes as recommended by Mumsnet users, including guidance on whether an electric or passive cool box is the right choice for your family. We hope you find it useful.
MNHQ

[beccajoh]

We've got one and it's definitely worth having. Certainly less faff than having to keep on top of freezing ice packs. Our one plugs into the car cigarette lighter too, which is useful. I couldn't for the life of me tell you which make it is, though, and it's in the darkest recesses of our loft.

[ElasticBandBall]

is it noisy?

[Mum4Fergus]

I'd recommend...mine works off 12 or 24 volt. And it's very quiet. Bought from Go Outdoors a couple if years ago ...

[Cereal0ffender]

They are noisy but we just turn it off at night. Much better than the stress of ice packs

[CampingClaire]

We had an Outwell one and it was fine...not fab but better than just cool blocks. We also had one that could either run on gas or electric. it scared the bejesus out of me and was really noisy and to be honest wasn't that great. Unless weather is really hot continuously it should be fine...certainly for a few days to a week. We camp A LOT and luckily have a Land Rover so we really splurged and went for an expedition fridge which is better than the mega double door thing I have in the kitchen at home!!

[WyrdByrd]

Definitely - but be aware of the space it will take up in the car.

We've recently replaced our people carrier with an estate, but we don't camp light, so we're hiring a mini fridge on site this year.

[TheFantasticMrsFox]

Also beware of husbands who claim they will be fine plugged in the van all night. A very cheerful man in oily overalls will then charge you £45 to start your van in the morning as the battery is dead flat and nobody could muster a set of jump leads

[profpoopsnagle]

They can also come into their own at Christmas, as an extra fridge!

[WyrdByrd]

Yes, they are handy at home too. DH hosts a monthly cards night & it saves having to clear out the fridge to make room for beer!

[FrozenAteMyDaughter]

We have a 3-way (snigger) fridge. DH bought it and I went along with it a bit reluctantly as we got a Coleman extreme.cooling last year which I considered fab.

I have to say though if you have a bit of spare cash burning a hole in your pocket they are great. We were in South of France with EHU for two weeks and it kept things properly cold. No need to worry even about chicken. We then took it camping last weekend without EHU and ran it on gas
Also brilliant. Proper cold.drinks all weekend and it was HOT. We kept it outside the tent under our tarp at night for safety. Then kept it all cold plugged into the car on the way home. Best. Purchase. Ever.

[Cereal0ffender]

I would love a 3 way but aren't they ginormous?

[FrozenAteMyDaughter]

They are big but our Coleman is bigger. They are fairly square. If you want to plug them in in the car you can't put anything on top of them but if you chill them in the house before you leave they stay cold for quite a while unplugged.

[Stengor]

I'm tempted to get one now! Can anyone recommend a make? What is the cheapest I could get a decent one for?

[Stengor]

Also, if it's plugged in the car, could you also charge a sat nav and phones/DS/ipods at same time?

[ElasticBandBall]

we have a booze extra fridge in the garage already

Does it take up more room than a normal coolbox? I don't want a 3 way just a plug in one I think.

[ElasticBandBall]

how long is "quite a while" Frozen? enough to get from Yorkshire to mid France?

[Stopmithering]

I have been thinking about one too.
I looked at some reviews which said that they don't cool stuff, just circulate cold air, so they need to have ice packs in them to cool the air down.
Is this right? Or are there different types?

[FrozenAteMyDaughter]

Well our one definitely properly cools. You can plug it in in the sitting room and it cools right down - chills wine etc.

It is Dometic I think - rather tasteful brushed stainless steel look (less cool with the dents it now sports). I can get more info from DH and post later. He did loads of research and I think it chills to 33 degrees below ambient if I recall which was fine for us near St Tropez a couple of weeks ago, although we did have a shady pitch.

You are probably talking over 200 for a good one new (IIRC).

It is definitely bigger than our previous electric coolbox (from ALDI if that is any help on size) but not as big (overall - different shape) as our Coleman Xtreme with wheels thing from Go Outdoors (squarer though so maybe a bit higher). You also have to factor in carrying the gas bottle if you are going to run it off gas rather than EHU.

Whether you could keep it plugged in and charge other things will either depend if you have more than one 12V socket in your car (as we do) or I think you can buy a sort of adaptor thing which plugs into one socket and then has two of its own so you can charge more than one thing at a time.

I am afraid I don't know if stuff would stay cool inside it on such a long journey, ElasticBandBall. We turned ours off at a campsite in Kent and were home within two or three hours (stopped at a pub). Stuff was still cold in that time. On such a long journey, I would be tempted either not to shop for perishable food until we arrived or to pack so that it can be left on during the journey (bearing in mind the need to unplug it (or a regular coolbox, of course) on any extended stops (learnt to our cost on an overnight hotel stop in Marseilles)).

[Stopmithering]

Frozen, How does the Coleman xtreme work? It's a lot cheaper!

[Cereal0ffender]

Ours is from aldi and is brilliant really cools stuff down even in the blazing heat

[FrozenAteMyDaughter]

It is indeed Stop. The Xtreme is just a straightforward cold box with very thick sides. Use ice packs or ice with the food and drinks. It just stays colder for longer than most cool boxes. it is good for several days ime.

[RaisingSteam]

We've got a 12v/24v one like 24L this one although I don't think it's the latest model. For longer holidays with EHU it's really useful not to worry about ice blocks and things going off. Also it can be plugged in on the journey if you have a long way to go. It's still an insulated box so when unplugged things will be ok for a few hours.

That one isn't much bigger than a normal cold box. It isn't a deluxe model, and water collects rather disconcertingly in the bottom, but it's better than nothing and the good ones are really pricey. I thought the buzzy fan would keep me awake but we seem to manage all right.

Short trips we just use the old cold box and icepacks.

[RaisingSteam]

Actually I'm not sure that is our model - ours has sockets for 12v and 240V mains, and comes with power leads for both.