coolboxes/keeping things cold

[kate93]

Wondered if using a coolbag with frozen blocks works for keeping things cold over a number of days? We are camping for a week and can't decide if we need to invest in a fridge or a electric coolbox (we will have ehu).

Any advice from all you camping experts would be gratefully received as I am unsure how all this will work in practise! Thanks

i dunno anything about anything but afaia lidl or aldi will be doing an electric coolbox soon so don't buy one before looking there.

I saw electric coolboxes in Lidl the Sunday before last for £30. According to ukcampsite bods they're quite good.

It depends how hot (!) it is and how good your cool box is. I also find that in busy times my ice blocks never actually freeze properly as the freezer doors are flapping about all the time not to mention they are usually shit and you could maybe catch botulism from the door seals
I actually stayed on a site once where they took your ice packs off you and told you where they would be eg freezer 4 drawer 2. Woe betide you if you forgot your location and you did have to fetch them at certain times, but they were always frozen although we were in North Wales which may have some bearing on it!
If in doubt get a proper fridge though my yearning is for an Icey-Tek you would not want to be caught out by a sudden heatwave now would you? :o

I usually freeze a coupe of bottles of water and a packed lunch box of bolognese and let it defrost it tends to work well alongside freezer blocks.

I got mine for ?10 in Supervalu.
It has yet to be tested. I am sceptical!
My neighbour has left his wheely one outside his house to be taken away by the bin-men. It looks nice but a bit grubby. If it wasn't for dh being a bit fussy, I'd ask him for it!

If you have ehu I wold get an electric one. Of no further assistance really as I'm a teksterer but I believe there are 3 different sorts of electric ones, some more chilling than others.
I will read the article in this months Camping and Caravvaning magazine #rocknroll and give you a precis.

Thermoelectric
pros:lightweight, small, low cost, unaffected by tilting, no moving parts, only require 12v from car or leisure battery, do not involve refrigerant fluids
cons: can only cool things to a maximum of 20deg below ambient temp. consumes power all the time it's working

absorption
pros: can operate on 12v from car or leisure battery, 230V from ehu or gas. cost effective compared with compressor cooler, no moving parts, quiet
cons:gas system requires regular maintenance, needs to be level, can only cool to a max of 20-33 deg below ambient.

compressor
pros: v effective cooling, unafected by movement or tilting, can work on 12v car or leisure battery for short periods, or 230v ehu for longer stays, only consumes power when cooling needed
cons: compressor makes some noise when operating, can be pricey, contains little voles runnning constantly on a little wheel, refrigerant liquid must be disposed of carefully at the end of the cooler's (voles) life

God bless the camping and caravvaning club. They are so thorough.

wow everyone, thanks very much for your help, that has really given me some pointers.

thank you also, Slubberdegullion, for the info from the c& cc, that really helps to understand which sort would work best for our set up.

i am off to google.....thanks again.

I may be in the minority here, but we had a lidl cool box and it was rubbish. It lasted two trips before it got worse and worse and now is in the bin. Now longing for an icey tek, if I can convince DH