It can cool contents to 40 degrees below the surrounding temperature or heat food to 149 degrees. It will fit into any car, and you can have it plugged in to ensure chilled drinks throughout the ride. This is the best personal cooler option in our opinion, and it has indeed touched the adventure spirits in us. The cooler should be sufficient enough for you to keep your drinks but should not offer extra space as that will add to the weight and size. Since these are generally made for traveling purposes, you would not want to carry extra weight. Plus, the body is light, and you can keep a number of cans at once.
While some of these items are designed for compact and flexible storage, sometimes you just want the best and biggest cooler. If you are a truck driver or have an RV or pickup for a long road trip, you may want a big, powerful cooler that keeps plenty of items cool for the long haul. Some users report extended use in 100+ degree weather without an issue.
Next time you’re on a family outing, camping out, or enjoying outdoor sports events, you won’t need to search for ice for the cooler! Just plug the Plentikool thermoelectric cooler (and warmer) into your vehicle’s cigarette lighter. It cools without Ice – as low as 46 degrees below outdoor temperature- or warms food to 155 degrees. With its 8-foot power cord you can keep the cooler on the back seat and even belt it in. The Plentikool keeps foods colder than any other thermoelectric cooler.
The key advantage that a 12-volt refrigerator like this 50-watt model from Dometic has over a thermoelectric cooler is that it can keep your food cold even in extreme conditions. Other extra features that make this cooler stand out are removable dividers and a drain plug. The drain probably hurts insulation a bit, but it’s very nice for easy clean-out after a longer trip. This cooler kept coldest on hot days during our test, but it’ll still allow the contents to get up around 50 degrees sitting outside on a 100-degree day. We have a series of quality 12-volt travel coolers from Koolatron, RoadPro, Coleman, and Igloo. 12 Volt Coolers are just the ticket for that weekend road trip or camping.
The fan was just about the loudest of any thermoelectric coolers on this list. Thermoelectric coolers work in a way that is quite different than your typical coolers. Rather than harnessing the heat capacity of ice or ice packs, electric coolers take advantage of the Peltier Effect. The first day of the test was overcast, with temperatures starting at 80 degrees and dropping to the mid 70s.
The Wagan is just as nice to use, if you don’t need a thermostat to keep your cooler from freezing. The Dometic – TC35-DC-A is a cooler with extra features that might justify its cost among a select group of buyers, but in terms of pure functionality it’s not doing much extra. The main feature to note is a thermostat, which will allow you to fine-tune the internal temperature and save power. If you just want to keep your beverages at a more refreshing temperature without dealing with ice, it’ll do just fine. If you want to pack this with food and take it to a party, make sure you carefully pack the most perishable items next to a frozen water bottle or ice pack. While that’s not necessarily a bad thing, in this case, it’s far outshone by its competition.
It is the heaviest of the thermoelectric models we tested, though they are more similar in weight vs. capacity than the compressor units. The handles of the Igloo retract into the overall shape of the chest, which is a pretty neat feature when you want to squeeze this little box into a tight space. It also has a long DC cord, at 7′ 10.5″ — though no AC cord is included. This Igloo cooler has an eight-foot-long power cord, and it can be set horizontally or vertically, whichever you prefer.
Non-expedited orders are processed for shipment within two business days of payment verification, excluding holidays. You will receive a shipping confirmation e-mail once your order has shipped. The e-mail will provide igloo cooler with wheels your tracking number and link to the shipping carriers tracking page. The Peltier Effect creates a temperature difference from one area to another by transferring heat between two separate electric junctions.
This is close to the conditions inside the back of a car or truck, and the coolers did not perform as well as we’d hoped. After two hours, temperatures in most of the coolers stabilized at a mere fifteen degrees colder than outside air. The high starting temperature of the coolers just couldn’t be overcome by the thermoelectric systems.