Powering an electric cooler

[Hiker42]

I've been considering switching to a powered cooler.

Right now, I have a 55qt traditional cooler. Filled with ice, it's tough for me to load in the hatch. I'm 5'7" and the loaded cooler is 80+lbs. Maybe an electric cooler could allow me to carry the same amount of food but in less space with less weight, and there's the convenience of not dealing with ice.

There are battery powered coolers that can run about two days. Would it be practical to buy one of these and use the LC's inverter to periodically charge the cooler batteries? If so, do I need to run the car the whole time? I'd be looking at about three charge cycles for some camping trips.

Would love to hear from those with experience doing something like this.

 

[Noctilucent]

This fridge has a battery so when the Cruiser is off the cooler keeps running as if it was plugged in. he adds a delta 2 max to it to add even more time he claims it can keep things cool a full week with that battery addtion. def recommend this video. I think the Inverter in our land Cruisers is a game changer and extremely slept on

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[Bedawson]

I have an iceco APL55, I connect it to a Goal Zero Yeti 500, and connect that to the LC onboard power. I charge the battery while driving, and the fridge runs off the battery when the vehicle is off. I love the setup. Althought the APL55 is pretty damn heavy tbh

 

[EOD Guy]

Eco-Flow cooler and Eco Flo "Delta 3 pro" power bank. Best I've ever owned.

 

[Hiker42]

This is great info. Thank you!

 

[damenjacobs]

I can't imagine spending 2k plus to keep water and pop cold lol!!!

 

[Hiker42]

Someone locally is selling a 45qt Eenour Battery powered fridge for $300. It supposedly runs 48 hours with two batteries, which are included in the sale. Never heard of the brand before. They have a website, but the specific model isn't listed there.

 

[EOD Guy]

I chose the Eco Flow due to it's ability to freeze one side and cool the other side and make ice cubes or you can remove the divider and freeze or cool the entire chamber. 3-5 days on the internal battery, 11 days with the pwr bank or plug the pwr bank into the LC inverter for almost limitless run time. In the boonies, I have 2, 100 watt solar panels that do an ok job at keeping the Pwr bank charged (sunshine dependent)

 

[Bedawson]

I can't imagine spending 2k plus to keep water and pop cold lol!!!

It took us a while to pull the trigger. We got ours during a Black Friday event, which helped. Our Iceco has been a lifesaver. We purchased a brand new home fridge, which died within a year. The Iceco, having the dual-zone (freezer/fridge) or single-zone (freezer or fridge), is what we lived out of for a month while the home fridge was fixed.

Besides our RTT, id say the portable fridge has been our favorite camp upgrade. not worrying about ice, or water getting your food has been awesome

 

[Don]

Most people have power stations and a 12/120V fridges without battery. If a compressor based fridge is useful then there are multiple uses for a power station.

 

[Hiker42]

Most people have power stations and a 12/120V fridges without battery. If a compressor based fridge is useful then there are multiple uses for a power station.

I've thought about going that route. I don't have much need for a power station, aside from powering a fridge. A potential upside is if a fridge running off a power station fails, replacement cost would be lower.

 

[mountaindesert]

I've thought about going that route. I don't have much need for a power station, aside from powering a fridge. A potential upside is if a fridge running off a power station fails, replacement cost would be lower.

Power stations help me in so many ways even without a refrigerator.

It Powers all my electronic devices when I don't want to leave the vehicle on (cycling on/off.)

Then the LC powers everything back up when I move to my next destination...

 

[Don]

I've thought about going that route. I don't have much need for a power station, aside from powering a fridge. A potential upside is if a fridge running off a power station fails, replacement cost would be lower.

There are inexpensive fridges on Amazon with many good reviews. I have both an inexpensive fridge and a 15 year old made in Japan Engle that still works well.

A big refrigerator is nice for a big trip. But I found it cumbersome at times. so I bought a smaller unit.

 

[EOD Guy]

With a pwr station, you can run a fan, toaster oven, air fryer, coffee maker, inductive hot plate, pwr tools, recharge cordless tools (not all of them at the same time)...... etc. With a couple of solar panels or a long drive (that you're making aways to get to the next spot) it's easy to keep the pwr sta charged. I have a remote monitor on mine so I can keep an eye on the remaining charge while camping, to see if I need to start the LC to get a full charge. Bottom line is I haven't purchased propane, or toted propane around since I got the pwr sta and have never run out of pwr......... yet......LOL