Fridge 12 volt

[Bellehun]

I search a 12 volt fridge like avanti or koolotron 1.7 that can be ship in canada. Do you have idea where i can find it?
Thanks

Nancy

[Thomas G.]

I think that if you Google it, you will find places to ship to Canada.

A bigger issue is that these use about 83 watts - not practical for dry camping unless you have a BIG battery and a BIG solar collector.

[Kenny Strong]

Originally Posted by Bellehun

I search a 12 volt fridge like avanti or koolotron 1.7 that can be ship in canada. Do you have idea where i can find it?
Thanks

Nancy

I bought a 12 volt cooler from Costco, we went out for several days and found that we would have to have had a constant charge to the cooler to get it to work. when it got warm it took hrs. of driving to get it to cool down to just a few degrees below ambient. We took it back to Costco to get a refund. We cooled it for a day in the garage, before we left, it felt very cold; I thought we had found a great product. It was disappointing. If you could plug into a 110volt, and convert to 12v, it would be great, but not dry camping.

Later Kenny

[Thomas G.]

Here is the crux of the problem - these coolers use the Peltier effect solid state to cool - a compressor refrigerator is 6 times as efficient.


Thermoelectric effect - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Since thermoelectric devices are heat engines, their efficiency is limited by the Carnot efficiency, hence the TH and TC terms in . Regardless, the coefficient of performance of current commercial thermoelectric refrigerators ranges from 0.3 to 0.6, one-sixth the value of traditional vapor-compression refrigerators.[9]

The Peltier effect can be used to create a refrigerator which is compact and has no circulating fluid or moving parts; such refrigerators are useful in applications where their advantages out weigh the disadvantage of their very low efficiency

[Lil M.]

Hi Nancy,
Koolatron coolers are made in Canada. You can order them online Koolatron or maybe they're sold at Canadian Tire or a another big box store. I got my Koolatron Voyager on Overstock.com and the power adapter at another online store (can't remember where though).

What the others say about power usage to cooling effectiveness is true. Thermoelectric coolers only keep things about 40 degrees F colder that the ambient temperature and they basically run the whole time to keep things cool. They're better at keeping things cold when it's not so hot outside so no camping in the Gobi Desert .

That said, we've had a few of them through the years, have been glad we've had them, and have learned how to use them to our best advantage. We did manage to drain the battery once or twice because we ran the cooler too long while the engine was turned off. But getting an electric campsite helped alleviate that problem. Plus then I could bring my espresso machine and have my morning cappuccino in the beauty of the great outdoors.

When we went tent or pop-up camping with our three boys, we'd pack the perishable food and other food that we didn't need to get at very often in the thermoelectric cooler. That kept the cooler from losing its coldness by not opening it more than necessary. The lack of ice meant no more soggy meat packages or water leaking into the cheese or eggs (yech!). The beverages would go in an ice-filled cooler because we'd be accessing that more often.

Now I have my Scamp with a 3-way fridge, but I still pack the Koolatron with the perishables to transport them to my campsite (I usually camp with electric hook-up), then I turn on the fridge in electric mode, and when it's cool I transfer the food to it. (Still have to test the propane mode on my 3-way to see if it's working. If it does, then I can dry camp ).

Hope this helps.

[Lil M.]

Forgot to mention, I also freeze water in plastic half gallon milk jugs and put those in both the thermoelectric and the regular cooler. They help to keep things cold without getting things wet, and I have drinking water from home for the dog and I as the ice melts.