Ecoflow Glacier Review: A Portable Refrigerator for Wherever You Go

After I first seen the Ecoflow Glacier, launched at last year’s CES, I immediately thought, No one desires this. Correctly, not no person. I would love it. Nonetheless I dwell full-time in an RV. I’m an outlier. Hardly anyone desires a transportable, battery-powered cooler. Not prolonged after that, I was on the seashore in Florida as soon as I seen two college-aged males struggling over the sand dunes with an infinite ice maker, semi-portable fridge, and gas-powered generator. I’m mistaken! Of us do need the Ecoflow Glacier. It’s not merely me. The Ecoflow Glacier would have eradicated the entire humor from the scene, nevertheless it seemingly would have made this group’s spring break a bit less complicated.

With an impressively large cupboard space, a built-in ice maker, an trustworthy set of wheels, and an non-obligatory battery, the Ecoflow Glacier is all of the issues it’s worthwhile to carry your meals and drinks cool on a scorching day on the seashore, or a weekend throughout the woods. It almost certainly gained’t roll over dunes all that successfully, nevertheless it’s not too laborious to carry.

Ice Chest

EcoFlow targets the Glacier at full-time RVers, van lifers, and boat homeowners, nevertheless once you’ve acquired the world and money, it’s an unbelievable various for an ice chest no matter the place you reside. It’s an unbelievable alternative for weekend journeys once you resolve up the battery (purchased individually), which is ready to allow you to be off the grid for as a lot as 40 hours (a lot much less when ambient temps are better). Throw in 200 watts of picture voltaic panels and likewise you’ll be able to have refrigeration virtually indefinitely so long as the photo voltaic is shining.

Sadly, out of the sphere, the Ecoflow Glacier can’t price off picture voltaic, nor do you get the battery. It’s nonetheless a advantageous fridge, and the worth is aggressive at $1,000. That can get you the unit itself, 12-V and 120-V chargers, a basket, and a divider. The divider means you can reduce up the first compartment into fridge and freezer sections. What’s good is that everytime you’re not using it, the divider tucks neatly up into the lid, out of one of the best ways.

Each little factor regarding the Glacier is extraordinarily successfully designed. The seals are tight, nevertheless it’s simple to open. It’s gentle enough that I can carry it spherical merely with the included handles (it’s 51 kilos when empty). Once you load it up with meals it can get more durable, nevertheless two people can deal with it.

The administration panel is easy to utilize; I not at all wanted to study the handbook. Speaking of, you don’t get a handbook, which is disappointing in a product geared towards people going off-grid. You probably can get hold of the handbook from Ecoflow, nevertheless I’d have most popular paper.

The Glacier has a 38-liter functionality. For reference, that’s about 60 12-ounce cans. You need to use it as each a fridge or freezer, setting the temp to anyplace between 50 to 32 ranges Fahrenheit (10 to 0 ranges Celsius) for the fridge mode, and 32 to –13 ranges Fahrenheit (0 to 25 ranges Celsius) for the freezer mode. Do you have to use the divider you end up with one half that’s 23 liters and one which’s 15. You probably can then set the temperature independently, with each facet as a freezer. The Glacier detects when the divider is in place, and robotically offers two temp settings on the show, which is pretty slick.

There’s one catch to the divider. The left facet could also be as so much as 77 ranges Fahrenheit better than the most effective, nevertheless the most effective facet can solely be 59 ranges Fahrenheit better than the left. This barely uncommon limitation almost certainly gained’t come up for most people as a result of it’s laborious to offer you a state of affairs the place you’d want that huge of a temperature distinction.

Temperature, along with all of the issues else regarding the Glacier, could also be managed each by means of the app by means of Bluetooth or it’s possible you’ll add the unit to your Wi-Fi neighborhood. Do you have to don’t want to make use of the app, it’s possible you’ll on a regular basis use the settings panel on the Glacier. There are good huge plus and minus buttons that make it simple to control all of the issues on the unit. The app is nice though and makes a nice alternative once you’re planning to put the Glacier in a drawer in a van or RV.

The restrictions are that the Glacier can’t run instantly off picture voltaic panels with out the battery. You’re not powering the Glacier, you’re charging the batteries. Equally, it’s possible you’ll’t make ice off the 12-V vitality present. You need the battery (or to be plugged into the wall). For these causes, I extraordinarily counsel you buy the battery, which moreover offers you a bidirectional 100-watt USB-C PD port so it’s possible you’ll price units whereas moreover powering the fridge (powering every off picture voltaic once you’ve received the panels).

Six Months of Testing

I examined the Ecoflow Glacier for better than six months and situated it delivers on all of Ecoflow’s claims. It cools the quickest of any transportable fridge I’ve ever tried, shockingly successfully, and it held its internal temperature after all of the issues summer season threw at it.

For some context, I dwell full-time on 12-V refrigeration powered by picture voltaic panels. I’ve a Vitrifrigo refrigerator (which I don’t advocate) and an Engle freezer (which I like, although it is likely to be quieter). For a lot of of ultimate summer season, I swapped out the Engle with the Ecoflow Glacier. Ecoflow prices the Glacier in a position to 40 hours off the 298-watthour battery. That’s beneath completely final circumstances with nothing throughout the fridge. In my real-world testing with ambient temperatures ranging from 75 to 85 ranges Fahrenheit, the Glacier’s battery held up for virtually 24 hours, which is spectacular.