Those are great for supplementing a fridge when you are out of space and ONLY when you have 120 household current. Also fine for driving while engine is running.
I assume you mean a cooler like a Coleman???
TERRIBLE to run off a battery.
These are not like the high-end Danfoss compressor fridges that only sip electricity. These are power hogs and will kill batteries fast. Batteries are expensive. If you run it off your battery you will soon learn the true cost of a cheap "cooler" is that batteries cost over $100 each and will not last long.
Is it too late to return it?
For $600-800 you can get a chest refrigerator that has a Danfoss compressor (or similar) that will be much more kind to your batteries. Yes, it sounds like a whole-lotta money, but in the end, if you camp a lot, it is a great value and will last a long time.
***edit, The Danfoss compressors run for a very small percentage of the time it is plugged in, where the Coleman cooling unit runs 100% of the time. Power draw in amps might be similar, but the time running those amps is not, thus the difference in power consumption. In cooling there is no comparison, the compressor ones are better.
***If you like big-boy toys, then these are cool things to have….
If you are waiting for SHTF then these are a valuable thing to have around if power goes out. The recent NY power outage was talked about as a china hack. Maybe, maybe not, not my problem, but power does go out in storms, or disasters. Ability to keep food… priceless
