Thermoelectric cooler vs a fridge?

N

Nivel Egres

Observer
Need some experienced input here, please, since I've never had to make this choice. I am trying to decide on what to take with me on the upcoming trip to Wind River Range and onwards from there (including my upcoming LatAm trip this fall/winter). The current choices more or less came down to the following two (positives and negatives IMHOs are listed below):
(a) EdgeStar 43 Quart 12V DC Portable Fridge/Freezer
+ I like the fact that it's a proper fridge and thus, even with 90 degrees ambient it would keep it's temperature.
- I don't like the fact that it's 60 lbs so, once you have 10 lbs of food in there you can't really carry it away from the vehicle.
- It's pretty darn expensive at $460 and while I am ok making that sort of investment, if I drop it or have it stolen it's gonna be painful.

(b) Koolatron 45 Qt. - 12V Travel Cooler
+ It's much lighter then the fridge model (20 pounds), so I can take into into the camp and hook it up to my solar system
+ It's pretty cheap (I think I've seen it on Amazon for 135 or something along these lines)
- It appears to only cool things down to 40F below the ambient temperature - so if the ambient temperature is 90F, I might have rotten eggs
- I've heard people having reliability issues with Peltier-based coolers, but this one does not seem to draw any negative reviews

PS. I'd really appreciate any other thoughts on the camp refrigeration topic. For my prior road trips I've avoided anything perishable (i.e. use dehydrated/dry stuff), but it gets very costly very quick.
 
E

emtmark

Austere Medical Provider
Had coolers and thermoelectric now have a engel. Your going to get there sooner than later take the plunge.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
O

oldskewlsk8ter

New member
If you were in East Texas I'd give you a Coleman thermoelectric cooler that has been collecting dust in my shop for years. Total waste of money. Get the fridge...buy once cry once!
 
S

spinyeel

New member
You would be pushing it a bit,trying to run a thermoelectric cooler off solar. They only cool around 20C degrees below ambient also.
 
N

Nivel Egres

Observer
Decided against the thermoelectric cooler, instead are going to go with a fridge above which is gonna stay in the vehicle and a smaller Igloo passive cooler as a movable component. Ordered already.

PS. it would be easy to hack a thermoelectric cooler into a fridge. Stack some additional plates - 4-10 dollars a pop plus some thermal glue and a fan upgrade. A PID controller to get to temperature perfect (with thermoelectric you can be within 10th of K). Problem is that it would also make extremely inefficient energy-wise - first plate is 10% efficient, second has to be worse due to current heat etc.
 
L

Lumpy70

Observer
spinyeel said:
You would be pushing it a bit,trying to run a thermoelectric cooler off solar. They only cool around 20C degrees below ambient also.
Click to expand...

Glad you chose a fridge. A Thermoelectric pulls between 4-7 Amps, fine when your vehicle is running. A good fridge will pull <3A, usually under 2.5A

To run a thermoelectric on solar you'd need a couple of hefty deep cycle batteries and at least 120W of solar panels in the sun for every hour you can get....maybe.
 
B

biff

Observer
get a fridge and be done with it.
There is nothing better than having cold/dry/non-soggy food.
 
J

JLee

Adventurer
Another vote (or affirmation for, as you've already decided!) for fridge. I ran my 63qt Edgestar off my (single) battery overnight for about a week and never had any problems (I was driving most of the day, giving everything ample time to recover).
 
RubiconGeoff

RubiconGeoff

Adventurer
A peltier-based cooler will easily run your battery down overnight if you leave it plugged in. And they have so little power that they really don't work very well unless everything (including the cooler) are pre-chilled and you barely ever open the lid and keep it out of the sun. Maintaining that claimed 40º difference compared to the outside temperature is wishful thinking. I'm so glad I replaced my thermoelectric cooler with an Edgestar freezer/fridge which easily chills to 8º and can run 3+ days without discharging my battery. I wish I'd never wasted the money on that peltier-based cooler.
 
RAFoutdoors

RAFoutdoors

Retired Explorer
I first started with the Coleman thermoelectric cooler. It was inexpensive, light, and fit well in my SUV. Was kind of a bummer when the vehicle heated up in summer and it only cooled to 40 degrees below ambient temperatures. I would bring it into hotel rooms and use the power converter but it was loud while it was always running. I use to have to unplug it if I was away from the vehicle for a while or it would run down the starting battery dead. We once had to get a jump start on top of Mount Washington because I forgot to unplug it before we went off hiking.
I did a lot of research, bit the bullet and bought an ARB 50 qt fridge/freezer (3 years ago). I can drop the temperature to freeze water bottles easily. I leave it in the Tahoe running and can get at least 3 days before I have to start the truck. It runs very quietly (and does not run constantly). I think my wife thought I was nuts to spend the money to buy one but she loves it now. Even if we just go for a day trip drive, she always has a cold drink. We pack picnic food so we can stop and not have to eat at a restaraunt.
Just my 2 cents.
 
T

TwinStick

Explorer
My ARB's can make ice cubes on a 97* day. No ice to get anymore, ever. No worries of getting some before the store closes, or if the store is out of ice. We have had both happen to us. We still have a cooler but just for drinks, beer, wine. We rotate containers of water. While some are in the cooler, some are also freezing in the ARB. Yes, they are expensive. Yes they work great. Yes, once you have one, you will wonder how you ever got along without one. Even for grocery shopping a long way from home. Ice creme while camping ? Yeah, there is that too. We have an 82qt & a 50qt. They can also operate at up to 30* angles. Most reg fridges & freezers have to be within 5* of level. This is a item where you get what you pay for. My .02 cents
 
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