hi could anybody recomemend a good basic coolbox, which hopefully will keep the food cooler for longer? we dont use ehu and cant afford a three way one,as anyone got one, or know of one ??
Hi I've just brought a new fridge from Focus DIY it will run from 12v or 230v mains it was £34.99 I've had one of these before and they're very good and around the price is very reasonable.
Halford sell a good 12 v ones that with an adapter also plugs into the mains. We pre chill this, fill with frozen things and it lasts a couple of days keeping chilled. The next day we plug it to our spare 75 amp leisure battery which keeps it another day. In total it last 3-4 days without more ice packs.
I only have my fridge running from the car while we're traveling, when we've set up I mainly use the electric hook up or on the odd occasions that I'm not able to use an electric hook up I take a spare battery with me and run the fridge from that and charge it up from my car when its getting low.
Don't get the Ezetil from Woolies. I got one and its next to useless. It cost £23.95. Even plugged into the car and driving around all day, while filled with two bottles of frozen water and two ice packs, when we got back to the campsite the ice packs had melted and it was, well, not warm inside!! Overnight it was as much good as a cooler bag.
I'm just going to have to save up for the combicool.
If you are after some basic equipment I have just bought a rigid box and a soft bag.
The rigid Campingaz box was pretty useless but the coolbag (California Innovations which was recommended by the Which? report) was brilliant. It kept food cool even when I had no ice blocks in it. I bought a bottle of wine already chilled put it in the bag with some milk, etc, and went to the beach (too complicated at campsite for hiring the blocks that day). The wine stayed cool all day!
I bought the bag for £7.50 from John Lewis and I would highly recommend it. It's got lots of other great features like a unzippable inner lining and loads of useful outside pockets.
how long can you leave cooler boxes, fridges and rechargable lights plugged into the cars with out the engine running before the battery is drained.
I use a battery saver which will allow it to run from your cigarette lighter but cuts out as the battery voltage drops. This means it will run as long as possible but not flatten your battery.
Halfords sell a 3-way 12v cigarette lighter adaptor with the circuitry built in for about £10 or I moved up to a good quality one with the fridge connection on the cable from