Just Bought the Coleman electric Cooler!

[Emme]

OK, I am sooo excited. For Valentines day we bought a family gift...the Coleman 40 qt. electric cooler, with adapter, for $62.00 at WalMart! I am so psyched. We are heading down in April and have always done the ice in the ziploc bag in the cooler thingy, but now we can have a mini fridge!!

I did a search and so many of you said positive things about it that we made the plundge and figure it will pay for itself this 8 day 7 night trip!



Emmy

 

[HappyLawyer]

is your cooler on wheels or do u carry it around

 

[Emme]

HappyLawyer, it looks like a mini fridge, no wheels...

 

[Lorix2]

emme - we bought the same one and loved being able to pack lunches/snacks/water bottles/juice boxes and just eat on the go or stop and have a picnic somewhere along the way.

The only thing you need to watch is keeping some space between the cooler and anything else by those vents on it so it will function properly.

Definitely worth the money

 

[Tigger1]

Someone took ours on there trip. They filled it with ice because they did not think it was cold enough for the fish they caught. It is only a ice cooler now. It will not cool on its own. I never felt it stayed cool enough anyway.
tigger

 

[Lorix2]

wow...we always found the temps of our drinks just perfect and food was just right as well.

I think though, the more you stuff any mini fridge, the harder it has to work to keep it cold. If the fish were really big and wrapped up, I would think it would take a long time for the fish to be cold all the way through.

 

[hercamore]

Sounds good, just wondering how heavy they are?

herc.

 

[callahanjulie10]

We have had ours for a little over a year and love it! It cools about 30 degrees cooler than outside temperature. My husband uses it weekly and we use it for every vacation- in the vehicle and room. Can't imagine being without it now!

 

[SAWYERMAW1]

Tip - be careful about leaving it running while your car is off. It can run down your battery if it stays on too long. I think it is about 3 hours but you might want to check your instructions.

 

[kweaver]

My in-laws have had one of these for years. They're great!

Some tips:

Pre-cool the unit...plug it in a couple of hours before you plan to use it.

Pre-chill the items you are putting into it.

Only use it for cold food that you want to keep cold. The temperature is not really low enough to make warm food cold (at least not in a timely manner). Don't put a warm six pack in there and expect it to be ice cold an hour later. You will be disappointed.

Good luck!

 

[LynnythePooh]

We've had two of these coolers over the last 9 years! They are great!

We lived in Germany and used our cooler all over Europe to help cut down on food expenses and take care of the kids (babies at the time)!

Pre chilling is a must - if you read the instructions carefully, you see the cooler is set to adjust to the temp of what you add. So if you add something at room temp - it will not chill it to 40 degrees. The way around this is to add a container of ice - I put an old washcloth in the bottom to absorb any condensation then add a tupperware/rubbermaid/ziploc container with ice and have no problem with the unit cooling things. One week long camping trip we used the cooler and it kept things frozen for over three days (we had packed it half full of frozen items)!

As long as your car is running you shouldn't have any battery trouble, but other posters are correct - we once drained our battery because we left the cooler plugged into the battery overnight while camping! If you have a weak battery to begin with you may have trouble.

We usually use the cooler all day when we drive, then at night we take it into our hotel room, use the adapter and pull it into a wall socket. Every night and morning I refill the ice container with fresh ice - no problems!

The coolers are a great investment and you'll find all kinds of uses for them. I even use it in the summer and at holidays as an extra fridge for drinks!

 

[callahanjulie10]

We purchased an adapter so that the battery doesn't run down. I got it off the Igloo website for something like $30- which for what we purchased the cooler for was necessary. My Dh works in remote areas where the nearest store is usually 20-30 miles away. He loves it and I don't think could survive without! It is kinda like me and my cordless phone and laptop!

 

[DaddyDon]

Have had mine now for 5 yrs !!!!!! And still take it where ever we go on the road!

 

[tcfdick]

I loved mine the last trip we took to DW! It worked great and saved the $10 a day for a rental fridge. It kept all of our food and drinks cold, never had any that were hot. I kept it on it's side like a refrigerator so I just had to open the door and get out whatever I wanted. So convenient!

 

[LeahA]

I love mine! We bought it for our trip last year and it worked great in the car and in the hotel room. We have even used it when we've had parties at our house so we didn't have to worry about getting and replenishing ice!

Very good investment!

Leah

 

[Kaybee]

We have had our for years for a second fridge for our sailboat.
I will say that you do have to keep those vents clear so the fan can work to keep things cold. Don't overload it either or it won't cool down like you want it to. But it does keep everything cool like a mini fridge. You will be glad you got it!!

 

[Hawk]

Originally posted by kweaver
Don't put a warm six pack in there and expect it to be ice cold an hour later. You will be disappointed.

uhmm Pepsi Right?!?

Hawk

 

[Tigger1]

The ice was packed to the top. When I saw it I new the fan was blocked and this meant trouble.

We camp out on our way to Disney, therefore we have a plug in when we get to camp site but the outdoor temps could be 90 degrees. The coolers only cool 30 to 40 degrees below outside cooler temp. Once we arrive to Disney we are in a DVC resort and we have a refridgerator in the unit. No need for cooler untill we go home.

Therefore, I find the cooler is not a good investment for are personel travels. If I was to stay in a hotel without a fridge I would reinvest in buying a new one.

Tigger

 

[westjones]

What SAWYERMAW1 said happened to us. We forgot to unplug it before we went in the hotel. The next day our battery was down. We called AAA and were on our way in 1 hour, but it was annoying. Normally we take it in the hotel with us, but this was on our way to WDW and it was 11:00 pm and we were just going to sleep and then get back on the road in the morning. That was the only time it happened to us, but do be careful to remember to unplug it when you leave the car for several hours (it is fine for going into to rest stops and to stop to eat).

We used our at Fort Wilderness in a tent! It was great! We had a long outdoor extention cord and ran it into the tent. This way we had cold drinks and juice. We have used ours a lot and love it.

Hope you enjoy yours!
DJ

 

[kalebjaxonsmommy]

I just got one for my March trip. When I first plugged it in and added bottled water (room temp) I thought I was going to hate it.
It took a long time for it to cool it.
But now the water is nice and chilled after leaving it plugged in for a few days.
The instructions say not to use ice because the condensation and melted ice can get into the electrical part and ruin it. It says to use the preformed ice pack things.
I think it will be a very wise investment for us with a 2 day trip there and 2 days back, plus using it in our room. I would have spent the cost of the cooler ($62) in the nightly charge for one in my room and this way I get to keep it for all my trips!

Trish