Get the Most Out of Your Marine Cooler
Marine Coolers and other high performance or extreme coolers rely on thick insulation in the sides and lid to preserve the temperature of the cooler's contents. The better coolers pay special attention to the fittings, providing a high quality gasket that creates a good seal when the lid is closed and positive latches to keep it securely shut. If you're investing in a top end cooler, you are going to want one that will stand up to the rigors of use, and it might as well look good too. You can expect to pay a little more for these premium marine cooler features, but it will be worth every penny when you're relying on it to keep your food or catch cold for the duration of your trip.
Under the right conditions, a good marine cooler can retain ice for days, but used incorrectly, the results can be less than inspiring. If you follow a few simple tips, you can get every ounce of performance out of your marine cooler.
Pre-chill your Marine Cooler:
As we mentioned, the job of the insulation is to preserve the temperature of the content. If you start out with a hot cooler, the insulation will retain that heat. If you place your ice and cool food into a hot cooler, it will have to overcome the stored heat before the temperature stabilizes. Store your cooler in a cool place prior to use, or fill it with ice a day or two prior to your trip. When you load it, replace the old ice with fresh ice.
Pre-chill your Food & Drinks:
Cool your food and beverages before loading them into the cooler. If you load warm sodas, ice will be burned cooling them off.
Minimize Air Space in your Marine Cooler:
The more air space there is in the cooler, the more ice that will be burned keeping it cool. Fill the empty space with ice, or use insulating material like towels or newspaper to fill the voids.
Minimize Opening your Marine Cooler:
Your mother always told you “Don’t stand there with the refrigerator door open.” That’s good advice for your marine cooler too. Each time you access the cooler, you let in warm air that will need to be cooled down. Try to get everything out of the cooler at once, or even keep a second small cooler where you can store a 6-pack, then you only need to get into your marine cooler once, rather than 6 separate times.
These 4 simple steps will take you a long way towards getting the most from your marine cooler. You may also want to consider the quality of the ice you get. Is it barely frozen from the supremarket cooler, or sub-zero straight out of the deep freezer? If you use cube ice, there will be more surface area to aid in heat exchange, which will cool your cooler off more quickly, but it will also melt much quicker than block ice. Keeping your cooler out of direct sun, or oven-like car trunks whenever possible will also help it perform at its peak.
