12 V cooler
I have a 12V cooler I carry in the cab while traveling to keep drinks and snacks cold. The owners manual says it draw 6 amps. Also when sightseeing we take the cooler with lunch. My question is, when ...
Forum Discussion
midnightsadie wrote:
I have one , I put a marine battery in the trunk ran a line with cig plug to the back seat ,never had a problem. its only drawing power when the compressor runs which ain,t often.
OP is talking about a 12V COOLER not a 12V FRIDGE.
Big difference between the two items.
12V COOLERS do not have a compressor, instead they use a solid state device called a "Peltier chip". Basically a bunch of semiconductors junctions which when a voltage is applied one surface gets cold and the opposite surface gets hot. They are terribly inefficient and use considerably more power than a compressor unit of the same size.
They typically will draw full power 24/7 and they cannot cool more than 40F BELOW the ambient air temp.
See HERE for Peltier effect details.
Personally, dump the 12V cooler and use a decent well insulated ice chest, fill the ice chest with homemade ice blocks (we use quart size food containers to freeze blocks). The bigger blocks will last much longer than a bunch of small ice cubes.
