Dimensions are reasonably compact at 26.9 (W) x 32.2(D) x 38(H) cm, and we found this an excellent size for a few nights away in our tent. It’s a great option for a mini-break or an afternoon retreat as it is small enough to be easily carried using the ergonomic handle on top. However, it’s probably more of a fridge than a coolbox to take picnicing – just bear this in mind! As food defrosts, condensation and water will gather in the base, ruining food. So you must remove access water as there is no drainage plug.

Although at Camping Secrets we always try to offer value-for-money recommendations on gear, the truth is that sometimes it’s worth buying from a reputable manufacturer – we’ve found that this is especially true for powered items. You may pay slightly more than the cheapest Chinese imports (which can often be built in the same factory!), but you get peace of mind that the company will stand behind their product. There are however some methods that you can use to determine a product’s quality without needing to physically have it. There is no drainage plug for water collection in the base. It seems to collect more water, but it’s not a major issue. It has two divider sections to divide your drinks: frozen and fresh food. So using them will reduce the effectiveness of using your food to maintain the coolness inside. Like most thermoelectrical cool boxes, there is no built-in area to store your mains or car charger connection. You must keep safe during transport and your trip when not in use.

Preview

Quite frankly, few items are as important in a camp environment as having a top-performing electric cool box. From our experience, it is important to carefully examine the features of a particular product to make sure it will match up to the conditions under which you will be using it. Outwell have taken particular care with antimicrobial coatings on the EcoCool, and in fact it has been treated with a biocidal glass coating inside – this is a special glass which has bug-killing properties and is a real selling point in our view. Hot to trot?

We’re really pleased to have scored Hi-Gear 45-Litre 12V 240V Cooler so highly, givimg it 8.3 out of 10, making it well above the average for all Plug-In. It has a hot/cold, eco and max setting. The switches are at the top of the lid under the round cover, where the power cables are concealed. However, if running from a car battery, it will drain it on average in under 8 hours.It has a hot, cold, eco and max setting like other cool boxes and LED light so you can see at a glance what setting you are on. However, you would expect to have thermostatic control for the price, which it does not. It is a power-thirsty coolbox, so I would not recommend connecting to a car charger. Only use it when you have a connection to a mains power supply. The most common used cool box in the UK is thermoelectrical due to the low outside ambient temperatures and cost. Do thermoelectric cool boxes keep food frozen? The warm setting will increase the warmth inside a cool box, matching temperatures outside. Due to a cool box being an enclosed airproof container, the temperature will be higher than the outside on a warm day. The fan will reverse, drawing the warm air from the outside via another vent. Are electrical cool boxes worth buying? Deciding whether an electrical or passive cool box is suitable for your holiday is important. Above all considering your budget and capacity. Nobody wants to interrupt their holiday by having to go to the shops daily or throwing food away and wasting money. If you are undecided on the type and size of cool box you should buy, don’t rush as you do not want to waste your money.

We’re really pleased to have scored Hi-Gear 28-Litre 12V 240V Cooler so highly, givimg it 9.8 out of 10, making it well above the average for all Plug-In. Many people do not consider the importance of a cool box. We all assume that any cool box will be okay. In reality, that is not the case. I use our Direct Leisure cool box for camping trips that are 2-3 days. It is ideal for us as a family of 2, allowing room for frozen premade food and soft drinks. It is essential that you are aware that this is a budget cool box and not as sturdy as the Vango or Outwell. You do need to be careful of the handle as the side pin it can disconnect connect and snap. Mine has after several years and many camping trips. It was may fault as I was not being particularly careful and I tried to lift not realising that is was caught on something. Thermoelectric cool box – these are well insulated coolboxes which use a Peltier cooler (12V or 240V powered usually) and electric fan to drive heat out of the box and keep your food and drink chilled. The best thermoelectric coolboxes can lower the temperature by about 30°C below the ambient temperature which means they can be used all year round in the UK. Downsides are fan noise, but in a tent you’re unlikely to hear it. On average, the below ambient temperature for cool boxes is 18 °C. However, the IceQ states it is 20°C below ambient temperatures, which I have not noticed any difference. It does take a while to cool to a suitable temperature. So if you are travelling and not using the in-car charger power cable, it will take 2 – 4 hours to cool sufficiently.They use the Peltier method, which transfers heat between two electrical junctions, which creates the cooling function. Thermoelectric cool boxes have a fan that can either draw warm out from inside via a vent or draw warm air inside via another vent—allowing food to be kept cool or warm to outside temperatures. Price – as you’d expect the price of a product can be an instantly recognisable factor on what sort of quality you can expect. Whoever came up with the phrase “you get what you pay for” pretty much hit the nail on the head. Whilst it’s not always the case and there are many bargains to be had, you can as a general rule, expect the higher priced products to offer better quality than a the cheapest option. We’ll dive into the price of Hi-Gear 45-Litre 12V 240V Cooler in more detail in a moment. That’s why we’ve pulled together this list of key factors for Hi-Gear 45-Litre 12V 240V Cooler below, to help you choose if it’s the right product for you and your budget. Cooling is by the thermoelectric effect and again is a little limited. It will get you to around 10°C in our experience on a standard UK spring day (i.e. not too hot outside). Vonshef actually suggest 12°C as the minimum temperature which is way off from where we would prefer to be – around 5-6°C. Still, it can definitely chill and is great for cooling drinks in this respect, when you don’t have to be completely ice cold.

The Vango is expensive, but it is worth the higher price for the additional extras. The lid has indents for holding 2L drink bottles in place. The base has 3 circular sections that support the bottom of a bottle providing extra height. However, not all fizzy drink bottles will fit into the circular sections. What is the best thermostatic cool box suitable for a family or large group camping trip and ideal for a week’s holiday?Hot and cold settings on electrical cool boxes allow you to control the temperatures inside. The cold setting will reduce temperatures inside 18°C below outside ambient temperatures. It works by drawing out warm air from the inside via a fan.