Hughesy replied:

Brett the only thing wrong with those models is that they don't actually have a compressor as such (correct me if i'm wrong) and use Eutectic's (spelling???). For it to work it runs all the time (doesn't cut in or out like a compressor unit) and hence would chew your battery down faster than a starving dog in a butcher shop. But that might be ok for you. Good luck.
Cheers,
Hughesy

Steve L replied:

Brett,

We have both a Waeco fridge/freezer (CCF-40) and a Tropicool Classic 8 litre (or is it 7?). We use the smaller one to keep drinks, etc., cool on a daily basis while everything else is frozen in the big unit.

We've found that it cools up to around 30 degrees below ambient, but only to a minimum of 4 degrees (so if the ambient temp is 22 degrees you only get 18 degrees of cooling), but that's perfect for cooling, etc. 've also found the heating works well too - I had a bad back on one daytrip and set it to heat with a heat pack in it as I left Sydney, by the time I was at Lithgow the pack was hot enough to use!

As stated above, it doesn't have a compressor, so it doesn't cool as effectively (or freeze!). And the power drain is significantly higher than the CF units (I remember to turn it off overnight even with dual batteries).

Hope this helps - we have had no problems with either unit.

Steve

Shaun replied:

Brett I have one and have found it pretty good. One thing that I noticed is that you are best running it for a couple of hours before you throw stuff in so it gets a chance to cool, otherwise it will take a while to get down to temp. I got mine 'cause it was heaps cheaper - had it for @ 4 years and use it regularly camping and had no problems.

Terry replied:

Brett

I'm sure the Tropicool is a peltier cooling system, it works by running a current over to dis-similar metals, the current one way removes heat (cooling) reversing the current adds heat. because its a resistor type setup it _Affordable_Storage_Drawers.aspx a lot of energy to work, thats why you don't get larger units for motor vehicles. You are also limited by the ambient temperature level, hot days inside a car would test its cooling ability.