I've been using my new lidl cool box at home for several days now as my kitchen fridge has packed in. I've noticed that ice keeps building up on part of the cooling mechanism. What should I do? Do I leave the ice or defrost the cool box? I want to use the cool box for a week in the summer and I'm worried that if I have to keep turning it off to defrost my food/beer won't be very cold!
Cooling boxes work by cooling down about 18-20 degrees below the outside temperature. So if its a cold night it will chill to below freezing point and ice will form. When we are camping early or late when nights are cold then we get round this by turning it off overnight and switching it back on first thing in the morning. As long as you dont open the lid and let warm air in your food and drink will stay cold and fresh. This shouldnt be a problem in the summer when nights are warmer.
Thanks Carol - I'll try turning it off. It does seem to be happening during the warm days though as well as the night. Today it reached 24 degrees here and there's quite a bit of ice. The stuff in the cool box is still really cold so I'm really pleased with the way its working just worried the ice will break it.
I bought one from Lidl recently and I'm really chuffed with my little bargain (thanks for the tip-off UKCS!) but not found any ice build up.... so far.
I've got a query re: battery use.
I haven't got EHU so how long can I leave it plugged into the car when parked up? I'm worried I might drain the battery if I leave it switched on for the weekend?
It will drain your battery very quick if your engine is not running. If you have to stop at a motor way service or the like it isn't so bad but it will soon run your battery down in a weekend I believe the lidl cooler is 12 volts DC only, if so the only way you can use it while camping for any length of time is to be on EHU and use a transformer
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The ice shows that the coolbox is working properly, I have a similar one , ezetil and it is the best coolbox I have ever had it has been to France for 2 summers and kept the food and drink perfectly all the time. Don't worry! Enjoy the cold beer and wine.
So do I just leave the ice there or try to get rid of it. We are planning on using it for a week in the summer?
I'm really impressed with my £29 bargain so far - I bought it thinking it would only keep food cold if I put it in cold but last night I put some non-cold UHT milk in there and this morning its cold. This is going to make a huge difference to our camping this year. Last year all I thought about all day was what food to buy, had to put up with runny flora, and get up early to buy fresh milk from the shop!!!! I might finally be able to relax on holiday. (All I need now is to find someone to do the washing...)
I wouldn't be concerned about the ice, but I would turn it off and give it a clear out at some point before I went away - if only to avoid ending up with a box full of melted ice whilst travelling!
To repeat what's been said your box will cool to a set point (probably 18-20 degrees) all of the time so any time that the outside temperature is lower than that you will get ice and you will freeze things. I froze milk absolutely solid leaving mine on mains in a garage a couple of years ago - it ruined the salad that was in the box as well. They are not like your normal fridge that has a termastat to keep it at a certain temperature.
It will only cool to 18-20 degrees though, so if we are lucky enough to have temperatures of 25+ degrees this summer do keep an eye on things in your box they can go off quite quickly once the temperature rises especially if your are opening the box up often to get beer out of it!