Igloo has plenty of brand partnerships, and it releases new ones all the time. If Igloo can bring its Disney/Star Wars/sports collaborations to electric coolers, they could sell even faster than hot-pink Stanley cups. There’s a large, 83-quart dual-zone version ($1,000) suitable for long-term nomads and comparable to heavyweight brands like Anker Everfrost ($850) or Dometic CFX3 ($900-1,400). Igloo also made smaller sizes of its electric cooler down to 20 quarts ($400), for those just looking for a way to keep groceries cold on the way home — without the hassle of ice.
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.
It cools up to 40ºF below surrounding temperatures and can warm up to 135ºF. To set it up as a warmer, match the arrow on the plug to the red dot or blue for cooling mode. The first day of the test was overcast, with temperatures starting at 80 degrees and dropping igloo electric cooler to the mid 70s. This is close to the conditions inside the back of a car or truck, and the coolers did not perform as well as we’d hoped. After two hours, temperatures in most of the coolers stabilized at a mere fifteen degrees colder than outside air.
If you’ve had one too many experiences of reaching into what you thought was a well-packed cooler only to find it full of melted ice, it’s time to upgrade to an electric cooler. With built-in cooling mechanisms, electric coolers are similar to mini-refrigerators but more portable. Their cooling power can range from deep freezing to just cold enough to keep drinks chilled, and some thermoelectric options can even keep food hot. An electric cooler gives you a guaranteed cold space for long car camping trips, road trips, or hunting trips.
When surrounded with ice, perishables are protected from heat for two or three days. So long as your food is in a waterproof container, even melted ice will typically keep food at safe temperatures for another day or so. The coolers we tested are designed to only use 5 amps of 12-volt power, which is about the same draw as one headlight. That’s low enough that it won’t kill your battery over a short stop. With the smallest internal capacity and the lowest price, the Igloo – Iceless 28 Quart cooler was also able to get our test lunch to the lowest temperature on an overcast summer day. The Igloo was truly freezing cold at 25.9 degrees on a 65-degree afternoon.
We even built in a 3-stage battery protection system that shuts off ICF when low voltage is detected so it doesn’t drain your vehicle’s battery. Electric coolers vary enormously in size and capacity. Electric coolers stay cold more efficiently when full, so try to select a size that won’t leave you igloo cooler with wheels with a lot of space in the unit. Part of the appeal of an electric cooler is its portability, but how much you plan to move yours from place to place should inform exactly what kind of cooler you choose. Most thermoelectric coolers either have a side door like a mini-fridge or a top door, or both.
With a capacity for up to 36 cans, this small cooler is ideal for those on the go. With a 12-volt power cord that plugs directly into your car’s cigarette lighter, it’s easy to take on the road for long car trips. The Igloo Iceless 28-Quart Electric Cooler is powered by a brushless motor that makes minimal noise for a quieter car ride.
The Koolatron – P27 has the best combination of size and performance. With the best cooling performance on a 90-degree day, this 29-quart cooler will help keep your food and drinks cool. The Igloo Iceless 40 is a thermoelectric cooler with an advertised capacity of 40 quarts. It claims to cool up to 36°F below ambient temperature and comes with a spare fuse. Take Versatemp on your next adventure to expand the possibilities of your food and drinks spread. This portable electric cooler with wheels chills without ice but can also shift gears to keep things warm — all you need is your vehicle’s 12V auxiliary power outlet.
In a traditional insulator, space must be left for ice. Eliminate the ice, as the Iceless 28 can, and all of the space is available for consumables. We estimate that leaving the ice out of this model makes it as functional as a version half again as big. If you read our How to Choose a Cooler article and decide you need a 40 quart model with regular ice usage, you’ll find you can get away with this 28 quart offering. Provided, of course, that you can keep things cool with electricity.
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.