Once I first noticed the Ecoflow Glacier, introduced at last year’s CES, I instantly thought, Nobody wants this. Nicely, not nobody. I want it. However I reside full-time in an RV. I’m an outlier. Hardly anybody wants a conveyable, battery-powered cooler. Not lengthy after that, I used to be on the seashore in Florida once I noticed two college-aged males struggling over the sand dunes with a large ice maker, semi-portable fridge, and gas-powered generator. I’m incorrect! Individuals do want the Ecoflow Glacier. It’s not simply me. The Ecoflow Glacier would have eliminated all of the humor from the scene, nevertheless it probably would have made this group’s spring break a bit simpler.
With an impressively giant storage space, a built-in ice maker, an honest set of wheels, and an optionally available battery, the Ecoflow Glacier is the whole lot it is advisable to hold your meals and drinks cool on a sizzling day on the seashore, or a weekend within the woods. It in all probability gained’t roll over dunes all that nicely, nevertheless it’s not too arduous to hold.
Ice Chest
EcoFlow targets the Glacier at full-time RVers, van lifers, and boat homeowners, however in case you’ve acquired the area and cash, it’s an important alternative for an ice chest irrespective of the place you reside. It’s an important choice for weekend journeys in case you choose up the battery (bought individually), which is able to can help you be off the grid for as much as 40 hours (much less when ambient temps are greater). Throw in 200 watts of photo voltaic panels and also you’ll be capable to have refrigeration practically indefinitely as long as the solar is shining.
Sadly, out of the field, the Ecoflow Glacier can’t cost off photo voltaic, nor do you get the battery. It’s nonetheless a high quality fridge, and the value is aggressive at $1,000. That will get you the unit itself, 12-V and 120-V chargers, a basket, and a divider. The divider means that you can cut up the principle compartment into fridge and freezer sections. What’s good is that whenever you’re not utilizing it, the divider tucks neatly up into the lid, out of the way in which.
Every part in regards to the Glacier is extremely nicely designed. The seals are tight, nevertheless it’s straightforward to open. It’s mild sufficient that I can carry it round simply with the included handles (it’s 51 kilos when empty). When you load it up with meals it will get more durable, however two folks can handle it.
The management panel is easy to make use of; I by no means needed to learn the handbook. Talking of, you don’t get a handbook, which is disappointing in a product geared toward folks going off-grid. You’ll be able to obtain the handbook from Ecoflow, however I’d have most popular paper.
{Photograph}: Ecoflow
The Glacier has a 38-liter capability. For reference, that’s about 60 12-ounce cans. You need to use it as both a fridge or freezer, setting the temp to wherever between 50 to 32 levels Fahrenheit (10 to 0 levels Celsius) for the fridge mode, and 32 to –13 levels Fahrenheit (0 to 25 levels Celsius) for the freezer mode. In case you use the divider you find yourself with one part that’s 23 liters and one which’s 15. You’ll be able to then set the temperature independently, with both aspect as a freezer. The Glacier detects when the divider is in place, and robotically affords two temp settings on the display, which is fairly slick.
There may be one catch to the divider. The left aspect might be as a lot as 77 levels Fahrenheit greater than the appropriate, however the appropriate aspect can solely be 59 levels Fahrenheit greater than the left. This barely unusual limitation in all probability gained’t come up for most individuals because it’s arduous to provide you with a state of affairs the place you’d need that massive of a temperature distinction.
Temperature, together with the whole lot else in regards to the Glacier, might be managed both by means of the app through Bluetooth or you may add the unit to your Wi-Fi community. In case you don’t need to use the app, you may all the time use the settings panel on the Glacier. There are good massive plus and minus buttons that make it straightforward to regulate the whole lot on the unit. The app is superb although and makes a pleasant choice in case you’re planning to place the Glacier in a drawer in a van or RV.
The constraints are that the Glacier can’t run instantly off photo voltaic panels with out the battery. You’re not powering the Glacier, you’re charging the batteries. Equally, you may’t make ice off the 12-V energy provide. You want the battery (or to be plugged into the wall). For these causes, I extremely counsel you purchase the battery, which additionally offers you a bidirectional 100-watt USB-C PD port so you may cost devices whereas additionally powering the fridge (powering each off photo voltaic when you have the panels).
Six Months of Testing
I examined the Ecoflow Glacier for greater than six months and located it delivers on all of Ecoflow’s claims. It cools the quickest of any moveable fridge I’ve ever tried, shockingly nicely, and it held its inside temperature after the whole lot summer season threw at it.
For some context, I reside full-time on 12-V refrigeration powered by photo voltaic panels. I’ve a Vitrifrigo refrigerator (which I don’t suggest) and an Engle freezer (which I like, though it may very well be quieter). For many of final summer season, I swapped out the Engle with the Ecoflow Glacier. Ecoflow charges the Glacier able to 40 hours off the 298-watthour battery. That is underneath fully perfect situations with nothing within the fridge. In my real-world testing with ambient temperatures starting from 75 to 85 levels Fahrenheit, the Glacier’s battery held up for practically 24 hours, which is spectacular.
