12volt Cold Boxes

[peasea]

I have seen these for sale at £40. Are they any good, how much current do they
draw and is there sufficient cooling capacity to reduce temperature of contents or does food have to go in pre-frozen?

<hr width=100% size=1>PC

 

[Andrew_Fanner]

They swallow Ah, reduce internal temp by 20 degrees C from ambient and doi't cool fast. Might not be best unless you do a lot of motorsailing or have big batteries.

But they are cheap and if you stay in amarina each night they could be solution.

Al IMO of course.

<hr width=100% size=1>Two beers please, my friend is paying.

 

[Vara]

No,lots,no.yes.
Only consider if you have loads of battery power on boat.They are quite useful if journey to boat is long and you can plug the beast into ciggie lighter.

<hr width=100% size=1>If it can't be fixed with a lump hammer dont fit it!

 

[VicS]

I bought an even cheaper one from Lidl. Takes 4amps, I'm not sure if it manages the 20C reduction claimed but if it does will take a good while. Ths best bet is to fill it with frozen stuff and freezer packs then use it to maintain the temperature.

I guess you only get what you pay for though.

<hr width=100% size=1><font color=purple>Ne te confundant illegitimi.</font color=purple>

 

[MainlySteam]

Like all refrigeration they use a lot of power. There is nothing inherently wrong with thermoelectric frigs as some claim, but like any frig one just has to check the cooling capacity of the unit you are looking at. On the coolboxes it is usually given as the drop below ambient they will achieve - if they don't say then it is probably of low cooling capacity. The cheaper ones usually have a low cooling capacity.

John

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[l'escargot]

They are more for keeping stuff cool that is previously chilled, they have to work long and hard to actually cool something down from scratch - ok for milk and bacon but you've got a long wait for a cold Stella.

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[Bejasus]

£24.99 from Safeway or £29.99 from Woolies. Best are the dual voltage ones which you can cool down at night at home and then if long journey to the boat, plug into the car. We always put a bottle of frozen drinking water which helps immensely, and you can all ways drink it when it melts. Although being on the Broads for up to a week at a time, we mainly use it for bacon, butter milk etc for brekkies and eat at pubs etc, at other times. Beer and soft drinks are always drinkably cool when kept under v-berth next to the hull./forums/images/icons/wink.gif

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[Colin_S]

Just bought one today for £29.99 from Wilkinsons. Not sure on the consumption nor how good it is as it's still in the boot of my car.
Also got a very minature fridge that works on dual voltage and heats as well as cools. According to the box it holds 6 cans of drink (small ones). I got it as I'm renovating a house and it's better than leaving the milk for my brews in a bowl of water to keep it cool. I tried that one today and made a glass of squash which I put in it and it did cool down nicely. Draws a lot of current for it's size - 60w. It will eventually end up in the garage as a bait fridge cos it's too small for beers

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