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I am in Arizona and need to carry an ice chest for water, etc. most of the year. I am considering getting a MINI Cool Bag for my MCS (currently on the pond). I cannot locate dimensions for the bag and my dealership is out of them at the moment. Can anyone give me the exterior and interior dimensions so I can decide if it will work for us? I like the idea of not having to bother with ice or cold packs. Also - do you like it?
I have one, but have only used it for one weekend trip so far.
As for dimensions, it's about 10" deep X 16.5" wide X 16.5" tall on the outside. It's 13" tall by 11.5" wide X 6" deep on the inside, although you lose a little bit of that because of a heatsink. One of the sides needs a few inches of airspace on the outside of the bag in order to vent the exhaust fan.
As for how well it works, it certainly kept some cans of soda and bottles of water very cool, if not ice-cold. It only cools while the car is running, because we had it connected to the switched outlet in the boot. We weren't in the car more than 3-4 hours at any one time, so maybe the bag didn't have a chance to cool off completely.
I'm thinking of getting an AC adaptor that puts out 12V so that we can take the bag into the hotel with us next time and leave it plugged into the wall so that it can stay cold.
I'm happy with it so far, and it's certainly less messy than an ice chest or ice packs, but I'll need to experiment a little bit more to see how cool it can really keep drinks and food.
I have one, but have only used it for one weekend trip so far.
As for dimensions, it's about 10" deep X 16.5" wide X 16.5" tall on the outside. It's 13" tall by 11.5" wide X 6" deep on the inside, although you lose a little bit of that because of a heatsink. One of the sides needs a few inches of airspace on the outside of the bag in order to vent the exhaust fan.
As for how well it works, it certainly kept some cans of soda and bottles of water very cool, if not ice-cold. It only cools while the car is running, because we had it connected to the switched outlet in the boot. We weren't in the car more than 3-4 hours at any one time, so maybe the bag didn't have a chance to cool off completely.
I'm thinking of getting an AC adaptor that puts out 12V so that we can take the bag into the hotel with us next time and leave it plugged into the wall so that it can stay cold.
I'm happy with it so far, and it's certainly less messy than an ice chest or ice packs, but I'll need to experiment a little bit more to see how cool it can really keep drinks and food.
Scott
Thanks so much for the info - you sure covered all of the bases. I think adding the AC adapter is the way to go. It's hard to picture what we would be able to fit in it, but it certainly would work big time for motoring in the Phoenix vicinity. Looks like we'd also have to carry a conventional ice chest for longer trips across the desert - not a problem - just good insurance! Since MINI is still floating over, I've about decided to wait until the dealership restocks so I can look at it.
Well, just to give you a little more information, I went out to the kitchen and was able to fit 19 soda cans in the coolbag and still zip it closed easily. I emptied it out and then refilled it with eight 20-ounce water bottles. The bottles didn't fit as efficiently because of their size/shape.
According to the coolbag manual, the capacity is 14 liters. I know that doesn't mean much by itself, but you can use that to compare it to ice chests to give you an idea.
The coolbag uses a Peltier cooler, so there's no liquid refrigerant. It's not supposed to be used in an enclosed space, since the warm exhaust air has to go somewhere. We put it on the back seat so that it had plenty of air and so that we could reach it from the front seats.
The manual says that it can keep food and drinks 25 degrees celsius (77 degrees Fahrenheit) below ambient temperature. I think that number is probably overly-optimistic. We had the climate control set to 74F, which means that in theory, the coolbag could have gotten as cool as -3F. I don't think the drinks got much colder than 45F or so, but maybe if we had been on the road longer it could have gotten cooler.
I really wish I had used the bag more to give you a better review, but I just got it last week when I picked up my car.
I don't have the OEM version, but then I picked mine up for around $30 instead of the $175 the dealer wants.
I like mine and have used it a lot. The only way mine will keep something cool, is if you start with something cool. We use it for drinks primarily but will also us it when carrying items back from the grocery store.
I'm not anywhere near mine so I can't help with dimensions, but I think the majority of the units are about the same size.
Well, just to give you a little more information, I went out to the kitchen and was able to fit 19 soda cans in the coolbag and still zip it closed easily. I emptied it out and then refilled it with eight 20-ounce water bottles. The bottles didn't fit as efficiently because of their size/shape.
According to the coolbag manual, the capacity is 14 liters. I know that doesn't mean much by itself, but you can use that to compare it to ice chests to give you an idea.
The coolbag uses a Peltier cooler, so there's no liquid refrigerant. It's not supposed to be used in an enclosed space, since the warm exhaust air has to go somewhere. We put it on the back seat so that it had plenty of air and so that we could reach it from the front seats.
The manual says that it can keep food and drinks 25 degrees celsius (77 degrees Fahrenheit) below ambient temperature. I think that number is probably overly-optimistic. We had the climate control set to 74F, which means that in theory, the coolbag could have gotten as cool as -3F. I don't think the drinks got much colder than 45F or so, but maybe if we had been on the road longer it could have gotten cooler.
I really wish I had used the bag more to give you a better review, but I just got it last week when I picked up my car.
Scott
You are incredible to go to all of that trouble! 19 soda cans is a lot of space - plenty enough for soda/water and food for a trip to the mountains. I really like your idea of placing the bag on the rear seat - easy to access and frees up the boot. On those 'not too often' occasions when we take a long trip it will be easy to combine the cool bag with an ice chest. I am going to find one on the web and order it. I want to have it ready to go when MINI arrives. Thank you again. Awesome!
