Plug-In Coolers?

[cmwade77]

I am wondering if anyone has used Plug-in travel coolers, if so, how have they affected the battery performance and gas milleage, if at all? I am still unsure of how using electricity affects the performance of this car, so I am wondering how this works?

[eagle33199]

I have one here, haven't had a chance to use it yet, though. It shouldn't affect the battery performance, but might decrease your performance a little. The thing to remember with the prius is the 12V system is pretty much the same as other cars. in any car, if you start attaching electronics it'll decrease your performance a little. The big question comes down to the power draw of the electronics in question (in Watts). 1 horsepower is equivalent to 746 watts, so if the cooler takes 100 watts to opperate, you'll effectively be using 1/7 of a horsepower to power it.

Hope this helps.

[TonyPSchaefer]

I thought about a plug-in cooler for long trips and picnics and the like. But in order to remove the heat from inside the cooler, doesn't it have to put it somewhere outside the cooler. That is, having a cooler in the car would make the ambient temperature in the car higher.

[eagle33199]

true, but if thats the case, just hit the little talk button on the steering wheel and tell the car to lower the temperature :P

[Marlin]

Originally posted by TonyPSchaefer@Mar 17 2006, 02:03 PM
I thought about a plug-in cooler for long trips and picnics and the like.  But in order to remove the heat from inside the cooler, doesn't it have to put it somewhere outside the cooler.  That is, having a cooler in the car would make the ambient temperature in the car higher.

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Yeah, but it is heat that was already in the car.

First, let's ignore the heat generated by the electricity generated cooling device itself, which is considerable, but is outside the scope of your statment that the heat removed from the inside the cooler would ultimately be moved to the interior of the car, thereby increasing the ambient temperature of the car.

Where did the heat that is inside the cooler come from to begin with? It came from the inside of the car. If the cooler started with an internal temperature of 40 degrees when it was placed in the car, then any heat gain inside the cooler must have come from a heat loss from inside the car. Therefore, if the electric cooler removes the heat from inside the cooler to the interior of the car, it is simply moving the heat back where it came from.

Of course, you can't ignore the electricity being used by the cooling mechanism, and that will generate considerable heat that didn't come from the interior of the car, but that heat doesn't come from inside the cooler either.

[hyo silver]

The tiny amount of electricity used by a cooler will be more than offset by the money saved by carrying food with you and not having to eat in restaurants. Also, everyone will be in a much better mood if they can eat breakfast before having to break camp and head for civilisation. I used one for a month last summer, and I think they're great. Keep in mind they're not true refrigerators, and will only lower the temperature from ambient by a certain amount. If it's 95 in the car, you'll need to add ice to keep your food from spoiling. When you're parked in the shade with the windows at least partway open, you can leave the car on, and the motor will turn on every hour or so for a few minutes to recharge the battery. If you're just going for a picnic or a day trip, make sure everything is cold before you put it in the cooler, and plug it in in the house for an hour or so before you go. Be sure not to cover the vent.

[cmwade77]

Originally posted by hyo silver@Mar 17 2006, 11:45 AM
The tiny amount of electricity used by a cooler will be more than offset by the money saved by carrying food with you and not having to eat in restaurants. Also, everyone will be in a much better mood if they can eat breakfast before having to break camp and head for civilisation. I used one for a month last summer, and I think they're great. Keep in mind they're not true refrigerators, and will only lower the temperature from ambient by a certain amount. If it's 95 in the car, you'll need to add ice to keep your food from spoiling. When you're parked in the shade with the windows at least partway open, you can leave the car on, and the motor will turn on every hour or so for a few minutes to recharge the battery. If you're just going for a picnic or a day trip, make sure everything is cold before you put it in the cooler, and plug it in in the house for an hour or so before you go. Be sure not to cover the vent.

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Thank you, I actually found one at Target that is a cooler and freezer (comes with an Ice Tray, I thought that one sounded kind of interesting, it draws 5 AMPs though, so wasn't sure how that would be able to be handled by the Prius, but sounds like I am good.

[eagle33199]

bah, 5 amps isn't all that much. Other possible add on items, like subwoofers can draw up to or more than 1000 watts. (at 12 V thats a little over 80 amps)

Of course, subs like those pack in one heck of a punch.

[KTPhil]

Works fine. The small power consumed by the peltier coolers is not going to noticable effect your mileage. Your A/C will work a bit harder but you won't even be able to measure it. Once cooled, the only thing running is the circulation/cooling fans, since they are so well insulated.

They take a while to get cool in the first place, and they will nto chill food from room temp right away. I run it on the wall outlet for half an hour before leaving, and also put in food right from the fridge or freezer.

[tochatihu]

Five amps means that if is set up to run off the Prius battery when "off", three hours would be pushing it (haf the capacity of a new-condition battery).