Part of the Joy of being in a caravan or camping out under the stars is creating your own little home from home. It’s a mixture of flexibility, that sense of adventure and comfort. But there are things and items that you really don’t want to be without. And fresh food is one of them. One of the best ways to keep your food and products fresh and is with a cool box. In the article, we will review the best 12v cool boxes to take with you on the road.
Table of Contents
The Best 12v CoolBoxes
- Size: 24 litre
- Colour: Grey
- Power Option: 12 volts/240 volts
- Hot/Cold: Both
- Lid Lock: Yes
- ‘Coke Can’ Score: 39
Our Verdict: The best budget 12 volts electric cool box
If you are out camping for a while or have a lot of food, then you’ll want a cool box with good capacity. How does a 24 litre bottle sound? This offers a nice compromise between flexibility, as you’ll be able to store a fair amount and compactness. It isn’t so large as to dominate your caravan or awning.
The beauty of this 12v coolbox is that it also has a temperature control and warming function too. This means that if you have a barbecue, keeping food you’ve already cooked nice and hot is easy while you finish grilling the rest of your bangers and burgers.
Provided you have a power supply, you won’t need to be messing around with icepacks. And you have plenty of power options. Connect it to a 12 volts DC car cigarette lighter port or plug it straight into the 230v mains power. Don’t worry about using too much power or putting a strain on the battery. The cool box has an ECO mode for super low power consumption.
The electric cool box is portable, with a substantial carry handle. Making it an ideal caravan and car companion.
- Size: 32 Litre
- Colour: Metallic Blue
- Power Option: 12 volts/240 volts
- Hot/Cold: Both
- Lid Lock: Yes
- ‘Coke Can’ Score: 50
Our Verdict: Best mid-sized 12 volts cool box
If you are looking for even more room, then this 12v cool box is one of the best we have seen. It boasts a substantial capacity of 32 litres, which should give you plenty of room for food and drink.
It has slightly more cooling power than our Amazon Basics 12 volts cool box and can bring its internal temperature 20°C below ambient. As with our previous suggestion, it can also help to keep food warm thanks to its temperature control feature.
Again, you have flexibility in how you choose to power the cooler. Either attach it to the mains or run it off a car cigarette lighter. It is one of the best 12 volts coolers for dual power.
One standout feature that makes this one of the best electric cool boxes is that it is practically silent. The quiet cooling fan is barely noticeable, ideal for use in a caravan or when you are camping.
This great 12 volts cool box comes in an eye-catching blue colour.
- Size: 20 Litre
- Colour: Blue
- Power Option: 12 volts
- Hot/Cold: Cold
- Lid Lock: Yes
- ‘Coke Can’ Score: 32
Our Verdict: The best small 12 volts cool box
Perhaps you are looking for a compact 12v cool box for those road trips where you are travelling lightly? If you are in a smaller caravan or camper or are just struggling for space for all the items you need to take, the best coolers will be the smaller and more compact models. Something like this small 12 volts cool box could be it. With a capacity of 20 litres, you’ll still be able to store a moderate amount of food and drink, but without the hassle of lugging something huge around.
This is a great portable cool box for those on the go. One really great feature is that it will insulate and keep cool and food will stay fresh for several hours, without power. It achieves this easily as this little cool box is stuffed with great quality insulation.
The connections are slightly limited, but that said, this is a great option if you know that you aren’t going to be anywhere near mains power or are planning a short camping trip.
- Size: 39 Litres
- Colour: Blue/Grey
- Power Option: 12 volts/240 volts
- Hot/Cold: Cold
- Lid Lock: Yes
- ‘Coke Can’ Score: 62
Our verdict: The best large 12 volts cool box
Planning a long journey, or want to do a big shop so you can focus on enjoying your time away? This large cool box could be the one for you. It boasts a massive 39 litre capacity, which should keep you going for quite a while. It is perfect for keeping all your picnic foods and drinks cool and fresh and is packed with clever features making it really easy to use.
It is great looking and comes in a metallic blue finish.
Once you start getting up to the level of large 12 volts cool boxes, portability can become a bit of an issue, not so with this. It’s a super-portable box. It is made so by two substantial wheels and an accompanying ‘pull’ handle.
We thought it was really cool because the split lid to minimise cooling loss when you open the box. This means it offers an ultra-efficient cooling performance and needs less power to get back down to the desired temperature. This will happen quite quickly in any case, as this cool box has a dual fan.
As you would expect for such a big cool box, it can be powered with many sources.
- Size: 22 Litre
- Colour: Blue
- Power Option: 12 volts
- Hot/Cold: Cold
- Lid Lock: Yes
- ‘Coke Can’ Score: 36
Our verdict: A great all-round 12v cool box
For a good all-round box that is slightly larger but still ultimately portable, this would be a great idea.
You should have enough room with a 22 litre capacity but won’t find this cool box too cumbersome. It will easily hold a 1.5 litre water bottle (or whatever types of drinks you want to take on your camping or road trip) upright, and you’ll still have plenty of room to spare for sandwiches.
One area where portable 12 volts coolers fall down is the lid. As soon as the lid comes off, the temperature can quickly rise inside. With this box, you have a super-secure locking lid, so this won’t be a problem.
Being based around portability, this cool box comes with a 12 volts cigarette lighter connection.
- Size: 22 Litre
- Colour: Grey
- Power Option: 12 volts
- Hot/Cold: Cold
- Lid Lock: Yes
- ‘Coke Can’ Score: 36
Our Verdict: The best premium 12 v cool box
A premium price tag normally means premium quality. Let’s give you an example. Alpicool offers one of the best brands of cool boxes. And when they are as good as this, it is easy to see why.
You’ll get a decent amount of storage, 22 Litres. A smaller area to cool makes it ultra-efficient.
The best thing about this coolbox is that you can consider it a portable freezer. It will chill the contents of your box down to 0°C in 30 minutes! It isn’t just a cooler, thanks to its temperature control and temperature range, it will actually freeze food if you need to.
The above features do rely on power, however. Fortunately, this ‘car fridge’ is more than capable of being powered by a battery alone. You don’t need to worry about sapping the battery either. The box contains some smart technology and a 3-stage battery protection system.
The box also has a temperature memory function to keep your food and drinks in tip-top condition. You’ll know the temperature inside the box, as an easy to see LCD display is mounted alongside the temperature selection buttons.
Buyers Guide
Do you like the look of our suggestions for the best 12 volts cool box in 2021? Or are you struggling to decide? Let’s offer you some more information on how to choose the best cool box.
Cool Box Capacity
This criterion comes hand in hand with the cool box size. Obviously, the bigger the coolbox, the more you can store. How big to go depends entirely on how you intend to use the box. Cool boxes are measured in ‘litres’, giving their volume. This can sometimes be a little hard to visualise. Our ‘coke can’ score should give you an idea of what the sizes mean.
If you are going for a long trip and have space, then bigger might be better. Some coolers have such a good power efficiency rating and are efficient at cooling that that they make a viable alternative to regular caravan and camping fridges. If you have an awning, you may have the luxury of storing your coolbox outside completely.
CoolBox Insulation
Ideally, you don’t want a cooler to be constantly running. The aim is to get the contents down to temperature then shut off. If you are running the 12 volts cool box on a car battery only, this is vital for preserving battery life.
The best way to achieve and maintain a good temperature is with a coolbox that is well insulated. All of the cool boxes that we have listed will keep food cool, even when the unit isn’t running.
Ambient Temperature
The ambient temperature, that is the temperature of the outside air could play a large part in how efficient your coolbox is. Warmer air going into the box affects how cold it can get inside. the best cool box is one that reduces the ambient air temperature significantly. As a rough guide, aim for a minimum of -15°C below ambient.
A Portable 12 volts Cool Box For Camping and Caravanning?
Part of the fun of caravans is that they are mobile. You don’t want to be restricted by carrying around dead weight. Look for features that make the cooler portable.There are lots of electric cool boxes like this. At the very least, you will want a carry handle. For larger boxes, wheels are even better.
12 Volts Cool box Power Use and Consumption
Cool boxes are fairly low power solutions. However, having the option to give your car battery a break is always nice. All of our suggestions for the best 12 volts cooler can be powered via a battery. Some also feature the ability to plug them into mains electricity.
CoolBoxes with Locking Lids
There’s no worse feeling than investing in what you consider the best 12 volts cool box, getting out on the road, and getting ready to tuck into a feast… Only to discover that the lid has come loose, and you’ve got a pile of soggy sandwiches.
So, what’s the solution?
The best cool boxes are those with a locking lid. By ensuring that the lid stays firmly in place, you can guard against warm bottles and floppy wraps.
FAQ
What is the Best Electric Cool Box?
Well, that depends on how much you want to spend. If you are looking for superb performance (and by ‘superb’, we mean practically as good as your fridge at home), we really like the Alpicool G22 Car Fridge 22 Litre Mini Fridge. It’s compact, offers strong cooling power, has an exceptional build quality and has lots of useful features.
For those on a budget, we would recommend the IceQ 32 Litre Electric Cool Box. It has ample capacity, great, efficient cooling system and a heating function that means you can keep food cold or hot, depending on what you need.
How Long Can You Keep Raw Meat in an Electric Cooler?
If you have picked a really efficient 12 volts cool box, you can consider this exactly the same as your fridge at home. Provided the interior has reasonable build quality and effective insulation, the food, stays below a given temperature consistently and benefits from a temperature control feature, you should have no reason to worry.
If you find that the internal temperature has risen above a safe level, as can happen with inferior cool boxes, it might be best not to take the chance.
Are 12v Cool Boxes Any Good?
Well, of course, they are! We wouldn’t be here if they weren’t. The best 12 volts cool boxes can be considered as a fridge for the road. They are compact, efficient, and ultimately keep your grub and drinks nice and cool!
A cool box would make an ideal choice for anyone who hasn’t got the space for a fixed refrigerator or doesn’t venture out in the caravan enough to warrant a full fridge cost.
How Long Does a CoolBox Last?
When it comes to cold, there are two real answers here…
If your coolbox is powered, then the cool temperature inside is pretty much indefinite. As you’ll have seen, all of our suggestions can be portably powered using little more than the battery in your car.
If the coolbox isn’t powered for any reason, you can expect the temperature to stay cold from anywhere between 24-48 hours. This is a variable depending on how many times you open the cooler and how full it is.
In Summary
A big 12v cool box or small? 12v only or mains powered cooler? Hot or cold? These are all options that are available to you. To choose the best 12 volts cool box, you really have to decide how often you will use it and what you mainly want to do with it. All of our options will work as solid all-rounders. Now, where did we put that beer cosy? Our hands are freezing.