Koolatron 12V Iceless Cooler & Warmer – Portable Electric Cooler/Nevera Portátil Eléctrica for Car Truck Camper Boat, Hard Sided Mini Fridge for Camping Picnic Travel Lunch Food Drinks Office 18 qt

We bought this unit primarily for a 3,000 mile, nine-day road trip to Mexico. My daughter’s medication needed to be kept cool on the trip, and we figured this was the most convenient way to do it. Filling coolers with ice gets old very quickly, and not all hotel rooms on our budget have fridges. Selected this model due to (1) price, (2) size: fits perfectly between front seats in our Chevy Venture minivan, and (3) good reviews. We also bought the additional Koolatron 110v AC adapter (model: AC-16). Before the road trip I took it on a 5 day field-test to Moab, UT. Plugged it in the night before we left, put cold perishables (milk, eggs, butter, yoghurt) in it the morning and drove off, with no ice. Everything stayed nice and cold. My overlander has a HD battery, so I even left it plugged in at night without draining the battery. Before we left for Mexico, we did a test-run on the minivan battery: after 8 hrs it drained the 75A battery low enough that it couldn’t start the engine. This was important to know. Therefore, on the road trip we had it plugged in all day long, both while we were driving (6-7 hours per day), and during stops along the way. The longest stop was about 4 hours. Performance was not diminished, even though during the day we would access it frequently for snacks and beverages. At night we took it into the hotel room and plugged it into 110V AC. Therefore, it ran CONTINUOUSLY for 9 days and nights without losing it’s cool! Now, in Mexico, we use it when we go shopping. It is 90+ F here, and we have a 20 min drive from home to the grocery store. Ice cream will even stay firm for several hours in this awesome little unit in a hot car!!! We will continue to use it for shopping, the roadtrip home and then for overlanding trips. UPDATE March 2020: We still have this original Koolatron, and it still works perfectly. In the last 5 years it has been with us on many roadtrips and heaps of off-road adventures. This is one tough and dependable product!!!

Purchased one of these as an upgrade to the non-powered cooler we usually take in the SUV on long trips, and so far, it's been terrific. Construction quality I'd rate as average. It's all plastic, and to be honest, the top cover popped off a few times when opening it - nothing that couldn't be fixed in a few seconds, but really, the quality isn't that much different than a cheap conventional cooler. Still, for the price, it's definitely more than adequate to give years of service if you take care of it. Other positives are a long 12V power cord that will reach just about anywhere in your car, and fairly quiet operation that's barely noticeable unless your car is dead quiet and you're sitting right next to the cooler. I like the overall size and shape - it fits well on the floor behind the front seats where it's easy to reach, even while driving (of course, that depends on your car). Compared to a similar sized non-powered cooler, you get a lot more usable space in this guy because you're not wasting half the capacity on ice or freezer packs...virtually the entire interior can be packed to the brim and it all stays cold. This also makes for a lighter and easier to carry unit. 12-oz cans fit best in this unit. Larger bottles work too, but you'll only get a small number in the Koolatron. If you tend to like bigger items, you might want to look at one of the larger coolers. The good news is that I find that the unit itself is fairly well insulated, so even when you shut the power, it will keep your stuff cold for at least several hours, depending on how hot it gets inside your car. It can also be used to keep food items warm - have to admit I didn't try this mode. The cool vs. heat mode is selected by the way you attach the plug - this is an area that could use a little improvement as it's hard to see in the dark. I could see someone inadvertently getting this backwards After an 1800 mile trip over the past week, I have to say that the Koolatron definitely made a difference, and for the price, it's worthwhile. Absolutely recommended.

We were very sorry that this item broke down for us - even after we returned the first and then tried a brand-new second one. We purchased the first in June for a 3-week road trip in July. We also purchased the AC adapter, especially given that the manufacturer recommends when you're on the road to keep the unit going at night with the adapter so it remains cool. The first two weeks, it was fine. Then it all of a sudden, with no warning, stopped working. Whether using the cigarette lighter outlet in the car or the AC adapter - it was dead. We returned it to Amazon when we got home and they were wonderful about sending us a new one to replace it very quickly. Then we went for a 3-day trip with the new one over Labor Day. This time the new one lasted maybe 10 hours on the first day and also died. Amazon allowed us under the circumstances to return both cooler and AC adapter (minus 20% which I can't kick too much about). However, our experience leads me to question whether Amazon should continue to carry this "product." We followed all the instructions and did not abuse it in any way and it was definitely very nice - WHILE it worked. Sorry to be so negative but I'm sure you want the truth before you lay out this kind of money for something that can so easily and consistently stop working.

My old cold chest has the cooler in lid and only the top of the chest got cool. This one has the fan in the centre, and the air circulation is ten times better, the whole compartment gets cold. Also the lid is easier to use as it has no fan and cables built in to it. More expensive than others, but that's 'cos it's better.

Estupenda nevera portatil que viene acompañada con un cable para conectarlo en el mechero del coche, consigues con ello mantener la bebida fria en esas escapadas al rio o la playa con un par de cervecitas.

Our son loved his Christmas present!

Great cooling box, very practical to have while travelling, good cooling function and enough space for 1 or 2 days. I recommend the box!

Have been using this since 2019. Used it to travel across Canada several times as a cooler (it's not a refrigerator). The fan is quiet enough. I have a vehicle voltage display and this drops the voltage by about 0.2 to 0.3 volts while in use. I added wide and flat weather stripping to the lid as I wasn't confident in its ability to keep things cool for any length of time. Once the lid was more airtight, the contents were kept cool for awhile. I like the size as it can fit tall items nicely. The thin width profile means that you'll need to be a bit creative in how you want to fit in various items such as drinks, snacks and medications and I'm pretty happy with the size. The accessory plug isn't always tight and there is no light to indicate that it's on. You need to listen for the fan, feel the lid or see the voltage usage to know that it's properly plugged in. I bought this when it was much, much cheaper. I would still recommend considering the size of items that it can hold. If it cooled a bit better, then that would be nice. UPDATE Well it finally died without any warning, not bad after 5 yrs. I did a continuity check and the power cord is fine. Will disassemble the unit to see what the issue was. I bought (from Amazon) a BougeRV 12 Volt Refrigerator, CRPRO 30. This is a refrigerator, not a cooler. Tested it once bringing some groceries home. Worked better than expected. No more coolers for me.