Auto-refrigerators, or How to keep food away. Personal experience and tests for yourself

I love wild rest and I love traveling. My recent review of mosquito repellents aroused interest, so I decided to review the auto-refrigerators. After all, this is an interesting thing for every car owner: I drove into the store on the way to the country \ to the village \ on the river bank with tents and took food for the weekend. But only at night in summer the temperature is below 20 degrees and higher. Meat for barbecue in such conditions will not live a day. So I took three types of refrigerators and checked them for myself. Well, who is too lazy to read - at the end of the article there will be a video.

Some theory

Automobile refrigerators can be divided into three types: thermobox, isothermal and hybrid electric gas. There are also compressor rooms, but these are already noticeably more expensive models and, in fact, they are ordinary household refrigerators, just smaller in volume. And taking into account their cost in the region of 50 thousand rubles, I don’t see any reason to consider them. But I will say briefly: they can freeze to -18 degrees, and the avid fishermen will not do - the volumes are not the same. Fishermen would rather take a freezer chest, just like the ice cream vendors use.

I specifically do not write the names of the models, as I consider only the types of refrigerators. But I took readings on cooling products with all refrigerators and in the table below you can see the results.

Thermobox

You can also find the words "isothermal container." It is a well-insulated box with a volume of 10 to 50 liters with a hole for draining water. The easiest way to use: throw products, pave them with cold batteries (or bottles of frozen water). You can also use dry ice. On the side there is a stopper for draining water or condensate. Can store cold up to 32 hours in the shade, if not open the lid. In principle, for leaving for a day or two with a bunch of ice will do. But more than this time will not serve, because the cold is over.

Pros : Different volumes, easy to clean, easy, inexpensive, nothing to break, keeps the cold up to 32 hours
Cons : Do not freeze, but only isolates from the external environment

Thermoelectric refrigerator

The thing is popular and even sold in many auto shops and supermarkets. The basis is the same thermal box, only in the top cover is mounted the Peltier cooling element, blown by fans on both sides. It cannot freeze, but only provides a temperature difference with the external environment of 13-15 degrees. That is, if on the street, in the shade where the air conditioner will stand, there will be 30-35 degrees, then inside there will be 18-20 degrees. Therefore, in order to preserve food, it would be good to add cold batteries, which you should first freeze in the freezer at home. Some models are able to work on the contrary, that is, not to cool the internal volume, but to warm up. The model I tested can only cool in two modes: ECO and HP (High Power).

Pros : Powered by 220V and 12V mains in auto, has two cooling modes
Cons : Provides delta temperatures with an external environment of 13-15 degrees

Hybrid electric gas cooler

The most interesting model of this test, if only because it knows how to eat from the vehicle's cigarette lighter, from the 220V network and from the gas canister. The gas fridge is called absorption. I see no point in writing a separate article on the principle of work, since it is easy to search online for the phrase "absorption refrigerator." In my case, the refrigerator was a car, with a top door. It operates from a conventional propane-butane gas bottle, which can be refueled at any gas filling station. Gas consumption - less than a liter per day. The manufacturer stated that the 5-liter bottle is enough for 7-9 days of work. It is absolutely silent and can freeze even ice. Must provide a delta with an external environment of 22-25 degrees.

Pros : Really cool, silent, running on electricity and gas
Cons : heavy weight, relatively high cost

Testing method

In order to objectively evaluate the performance of three different types of refrigerators, the following situation was modeled: 6 identical bottles of 1.5 liters of mineral water were used as products. They have sufficient heat capacity, thus it will be possible to track the cooling dynamics. Thermoelectric and hybrid refrigerators were connected to a 220V network in a thermal box. Thermoelectric cooler worked at maximum performance, that is, HP. The temperature was controlled by a pyrometer with a measurement accuracy of 0.1 degrees. The measurements were carried out three times: at the setting, after 5 hours, after 10 hours. In this case, the situation was simulated when the movement of the car lasted 7 hours, and after the engine is turned off and the refrigerators are de-energized. That is, electric refrigerators worked 7 hours and 3 hours just kept cold. The external temperature was a stable 22.5 degrees.

Refrigerator characteristics

Characteristics in the form of a screenshot

Test results

Results in the form of a screenshot

findings

Now summarize the operating experience, impressions and conclusions. Thermoboxing is good when leaving for a day and a half, when you need to keep chilled foods and initially freeze ice or cold batteries. It is simple, cheap and easy. From the results it can be seen that already after 5 hours, the cold accumulators lost all the frost and the products gradually began to heat up. That is, you need to take a lot of ice and open the refrigerator as rarely as possible.

Conclusion 1: Thermobox for short trips, but cheap and cheerful

Regarding the thermoelectric cooler, I can say the following: it cools well with a fan, but I did not see the declared 15 degrees of the delta after 5 hours. That is, it can cool products a little, but I would not leave marinated skewers in it for a couple of days in the summer. Perfect for summer residents: as you drive from the store to the country or to the campground, you can keep the freshness of the products. It does not work without external power and turns into a thermal box, with the only difference being that it costs a little more. Comfortable handle and bucket form factor - really comfortable to wear and takes up less space in the trunk. At the end of the test, the temperature of the bottles was above all, and this indicates poor thermal insulation and the need to be constantly connected to the network. If you leave the refrigerator connected to the car for the night, then it is able to “suck out” the entire battery for 6-8 hours, depending on the capacity of the battery. It is good to use it with a compact solar power plant - there was a positive experience on the road, but not everyone has such a power plant.

Conclusion 2: Thermoelectric cooler is suitable for delivering food to the parking lot.

Well, the star of the test is a hybrid electric gas refrigerator. It is absolutely silent, it works in the car, at home and in nature - away from electricity. It works long and efficiently. There is even a small ice mold in the kit and it is not useless: you can freeze ice for an evening cocktail in a day. The refrigerator is large and roomy, it has cooling controls. The photo shows that there are separate power indicators for 12 and 220 V, and when the gas is burning, the arrow goes into the green field. The left handle is responsible for adjusting the freeze when working on electricity, and the right handle is for igniting the gas and adjusting the gas cooling.

As for his work, he allows to reach the lowest temperature during the active phase. The refrigerator freezes food all the time and does not land the car battery if it is connected to a gas cylinder. That is, it is an ideal option for campsites and camps lasting more than a day. It is highly desirable to arrange the refrigerator strictly horizontally - for this, there is even a small level in the upper part. So the efficiency of the refrigerator will be maximum.

Conclusion 3: The best refrigerator for autonomous trips and living in a country house without electricity for an unlimited time.

And now the video: