The AstroAI Electric cooler is designed to be efficient, portable, and safe to use. It has one-day retention when not plugged into electricity. It operates on a quiet brushless motor and has a cooling fan that circulates the air to facilitate cooling. It comes with an 8” long power cord plug that can fit into any 12V DC receptacle, including a cigarette lighter in the car. Since ICF is a plug in cooler, you can use it as a portable refrigerator and/or freezer wherever you need it. You pick the exact temperature you want — anywhere from an extra frosty zero degrees to a slightly chilly 68 degrees Fahrenheit.
You may not have heard of the company before but the product is actually pretty good. 26 quart capacity means you can store up to 30 cans of beer or soda in here. There’s an internal divider if you want to keep your food and drinks separate.
The high starting temperature of the coolers just couldn’t be overcome by the thermoelectric systems. We set up our group of coolers on the patio for six days of 90-plus-degree weather. Each cooler was loaded with a pack of hot dogs, a pair of yogurt cups, and a water bottle. All items were refrigerated to about 40° F before we loaded up the coolers, but the coolers themselves had been sitting in 80° outdoor temperatures. Another big difference between an electric fridge and a thermoelectric cooler will be the built-in thermostat. The key advantage that a 12-volt refrigerator like this 50-watt model from Dometic has over a thermoelectric cooler is that it can keep your food cold even in extreme conditions.
For a control, we loaded the top-ranked model from our review of the best coolers, the ORCA – 40 Quart Classic, with 20 pounds of ice and checked its temperature at the same time. The coolers were running off of household electrical power for this test, which required the use of adapters not included with most coolers. Adding frozen gel packs can help level the playing field between electric and regular coolers, but of course that still requires you to have access to a freezer. For the sizes that we tested, manufacturers rated the cooler performance at 40 degrees lower than the temperature outside the cooler, but that assumes a lot of things.
Igloo itself offers this model for a much higher price than we think its performance warrants. You will not find a more fun thermoelectric cooler on the market. Made by Koolatron, the Corona Cruiser is designed with a party in mind.
Even after the frost was thoroughly melted the next day it was clear that the Igloo just didn’t have the insulation to keep its cool. Dometic was the only manufacturer to include an AC 120-volt power adapter with their cooler. Cheap 5-amp adapters are easy to source, but it was a nice touch. This unit also can heat up, so it can also be used to keep things warm.
Or it can sit flat like a traditional cooler or chest freezer. The multifunctional Ivation thermoelectric has a 25L capacity. It is igloo ice chest designed to be versatile for various activities such as camping, traveling, fishing, barbecuing, and picnicking, among others.