REVIEW –My family and I live to be outside as much as possible all year long. We love camping, road trips, and spending time with family and friends. A lot of these activities involve coolers, which are great for keeping things cold, but come with the hassle of ice, the water that results from the melting of the ice, and the replenishment of the ice. The Hcalory car fridge largely removes these hastles, and actually creates more opportunities (ice cream?) Now, anywhere that you have a bit of 12V DC or 120V AC power, you have a cooler that needs no ice.
Hcalory is a brand best known for low-cost but very effective diesel heaters loved by van-lifers for a few years now. Now they’ve expanded in the other temperature direction, with a new line of car fridges.
What is it?
The Hcalory car fridge is a powered cooler, or a refrigerator that has the form factor of a cooler. It can run on AC or DC power.
What’s included?
- Hcalory car fridge
- AC adapter (with a power brick)
- DC cigarette lighter plug
- Manual
Tech specs
Click to expand
- Item Weigh:t 29.8 pounds
- Product Dimensions: 25.31 x 16.96 x 14.76 inches
- Capacity: 27 Quarts
- Temperature: -4o to 68o F
- Energy Consumption: 45W (when running)
- Capacity: 25 Liters
- Voltage: 12-30 Volts
Design and features
The Hcalory car fridge looks like a cooler, and largely works the same way. There’s a sturdy lid on the top that opens like a cooler, The lid has a handy latch so it won’t open accidentally, There’s sturdy medal hinges at the back of the lid that allow for the lid to move completely out of the way for loading and unloading.
The food area also features a drain in the bottom for easy cleaning and draining. It’s definitely sturdy enough to sit or stand on. There are sturdy handles molded into the sides, and has rubber feet on the bottom. There’s also a LED light inside the food compartment that turns on automatically when the lid is opened.
Now, let’s get into the fridge features. This is a 12V fridge but can run up to 30V, so it’s designed for cars, trucks, power stations, or solar generators. An AC plug is included, but it just converts 120V AC to 12V DC. The DC cigarette lighter plug is generously long—12 feet! The AC cord is 8 feet long. Once plugged in and powered, you’re met with a subtle beep, and the LED touch screen comes to life.
From the screen, you have the ability to set several parameters. You can lock and unlock the panel, adjust the temperature (-4o to 68o F), set Max or Eco mode (this determines the length of time between compressor cycles) and set battery protection mode (low voltage where the unit shuts off to save your battery). There is also the option to use some pre-set temperature settings for items such as seafood, ice cream, and fruit.
Performance
In short, it works great. We have used it a few times for shorter camping trips, and to transport a bunch of frozen food several hours to a family reunion. Once we arrived at the family reunion, we used it like a second fridge to keep all the drinks in since the main fridge was full of food. I was continuously impressed. It cools quickly, and really sips power once the temperature is established. It was able to run for almost 3 days on a 600WHr power station, outside in 90o F temperatures. It’s quiet with the compressor is on, and has been just the right size for our use (we have a larger car fridge for longer trips or more food). It’s not deep enough for a wine bottle to stand upright, but most food items will fit in there just fine, including a gallon of milk. It’s been a great addition to our outdoor adventure fleet!
What I like about the Hcalory Car Fridge
- Lightweight, sturdy handles, well built
- Very low power consumption
- Can also work as a freezer
- Very reasonable price (cheaper than a lot of non-electric coolers!)
What needs to be improved?
- Nothing
Final thoughts
If your outdoor adventures keep you in proximity to some type of power source, you should definitely consider the Hcalory car fridge. It’s available in a few sizes, and there’s one to suit just about every need. No more soggy food that was swimming at the bottom of the cooler!
Price: $147.99
Where to buy: Hcalory or Amazon
Source: The sample of this product was provided for free by Hcalory. Hcalory did not have a final say on the review and did not preview the review before it was published.
