Koolatron 29 Quart Voyager Thermoelectric 12-Volt Cooler
Ideal for road trips, camping excursions, boating trips, tailgate parties, and just about any other away-from-home activity, the Koolatron Voyager thermoelectric cooler keeps your food and beverages cool without requiring you to stock up on ice cubes every few hours. The Voyager plugs directly into your car's 12-volt cigarette lighter, where it draws less power than your headlights. Once plugged in, the cooler's thermoelectric cooling module--which takes up less space than a matchbook--maintains a constant temperature of approximately 40 to 45 degrees F lower than the temperature of the surrounding air. At a temperature of 80 degrees F, for example, the contents of the cooler will stay at 38 degrees F. As a result, you can store cool drinks for weeks on end, preserve leftovers for a couple of days, and even keep ice cubes whole for three or four days longer than traditional coolers. No more costly stops for soda or snacks, saving you both time and money while on the road. As an alternative, you can also use the Voyager to heat food up to 130 to 140 degrees F--hot enough for a potluck dinner or a picnic. Or you can split the difference and keep infant food and bottles warm while on the road.Explaining Thermoelectric RefrigerationThermoelectric refrigeration uses a principle called the Peltier effect to pump heat electronically. Named after a French scientist who discovered it in 1834, the Peltier effect describes the process of electrical currents passing through a series of tiny metal cube junctions, thereby transferring heat from one metal to the other. When connected to a heat-absorbing device on one side and a heat-dissipating device on the other, solid-state thermoelectric modules are capable of transferring large quantities of heat. The Voyager cooler applies this technology through its internal aluminum cold plate fins, which absorb heat from the contents (food and beverages), and then use the thermoelectric modules to transfer it to the heat-dissipating fins under the control panel. The only moving part is a small 12-volt fan that disperses the heat into the air. Thermoelectric modules--which are ideally suited to recreational applications because they are lightweight, compact, insensitive to motion or tilting, have no moving parts, and can operate directly from 12-volt batteries.Voyager BenefitsThe Voyager offers a number of benefits to anyone who travels frequently in a vehicle. While it's not quite as portable as a traditional cooler, it still offers plenty of on-the-go freedom, making it great for day trips, long overnight journeys, pleasure boating, fishing, and camping. It's also extremely efficient, continually reducing the temperature within the first three hours depending on the contents of the unit and the surrounding air. And because there's only one moving part (the 12-volt fan), virtually nothing in the cooler can wear out. The Voyager also proves invaluable as an extra fridge in a recreation room or basement bar, the main fridge in a dorm room, as a medical cooler for samples or temperature-sensitive drugs, and as a storage case for heat-sensitive camera and film equipment in extreme climates.Specifications:Capacity: 29 quarts, or up to 48 12-ounce cansPower usage: 12 volts / 4.5 amps DCInterior dimensions: 12 by 12 by 12 inches (W x H x D)Exterior dimensions: 16 by 15.5 by 17 inches (W x H x D)Weight: 13 pounds