Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[hughver]

I'm traveling north (Cruising) for the summer and plan to take along an ice chest filled with frozen meats. Anyone have a formula (or chart) for how long dry ice will last in a specific capacity cooler. I have several sized coolers but the one that I'd like to take is a 150 Qt. marine Igloo that the specifications say will hold ice for 7 days at 90° outside temperature. My other two options are a 20 or a 48 qt., both have excellent insulation.   

[yorkdude]

No help here, I have used it plenty for long weekends but never longer so no need for any deep thinking.
Nothing on the WWW?

[hughver]

I will only be traveling for two days, I do this every year but not with this large of ice chest.

[Bentley]

Will you need dry ice for just 2 days?  If that Igloo is like my small 48 qt, and it is double walled and core insulated, no BS...the regular ice will last that long.  The double wall decreases the amount that will fit in it.  But man does it increase the performance.  At 150 qt I would think you would have a lot of room, even with ice!

To answer your question, no, no chart.  But dry ice sublimates at 5 lbs. per day, even less then that in a cooler, and even less then that wrapped in newspaper and placed in a cooler!

[smokin soon]

I've gone that  long with block ice. Might think about combining.

[yorkdude]

I checked with a buddy who does a bunch of hunting, he uses it all the time and he said his trick if they want it for more than 3-4 days is to pre-cool the chest with regular ice and then when you pack it that is when he uses the dry ice, he said it helps quite a bit .
For 2 days though I wouldn't sweat it, we use ours for 3-4 days in summer weather and just make sure the lid is kept closed and it has never let us down.

[Hank D Thoreau]

If you want a backup plan just find a midpoint on your trip where you can buy dry ice. You can even call ahead to verify that it is available.

[pmillen]

• Regular block ice (frozen in a milk carton) will last 2 days in a quality chilled cooler.
• If you use dry ice be certain to vent the cooler so CO2 pressure doesn't damage it.
• The dry ice "pulls" heat energy from the air inside chest when it vaporizes directly from a solid (sublimation).  If you insulate it with a wrapping, it can't as easily do that and it will not cool the chest as well.  (Think about putting the dry ice in an efficient chest and then putting that chest in a larger one holding your food.  Your food will not be cooled.)
• I wonder if any of the new laws intended to reduce atmospheric CO2 will legislate against dry ice.

Use regular ice and replenish it when you buy fuel.

[Canadian John]

 Can't help much with your request.

 My memories as a child, 70 + years ago, was getting dry ice packaged with the ice cream we bought at the dairy. When we got home (not far away), the ice cream went into the fridge and the dry ice into a glass of water to make, what we as children called smoke. I was interesting to watch.. I also remember being told not to touch the dry ice..

[Canadian John]

 Just thinking about dry ice again. With the advent of far more efficient coolers in the last few years, dry ice has lost some of its popularity..I would think pre cooling all content, packing full of ice to minimize

air space and keeping the cooler in the coolest place and out of the sun, would cut the bill.

[Bentley]

You can always do a trial run...place regular ice in cooler, place temperature probe in apple, place apple in cooler, place cooler in sun.  Check in 48 hours...Viola!  Or Wala for those that think France is located south of Mexico...

[pmillen]

You can always do a trial run...place regular ice in cooler, place temperature probe in apple, place apple in cooler, place cooler in sun.  Check in 48 hours...Viola!  Or Wala for those that think France is located south of Mexico...

Best idea. 

And best joke on this page, "Or Wala for those that think France is located south of Mexico..." LOL

[bregent]

>I wonder if any of the new laws intended to reduce
>atmospheric CO2 will legislate against dry ice.

I doubt it. There is no 'extra' CO2 made for dry ice. It is made by capturing CO2 from factories and power plants.

[bregent]

Here are some more ideas: https://dryiceinfo.com/camping.htm

[Bentley]

So all you smart scientific people, what happens if I vac seal a piece of dry ice?