Igloo Iceless VersaTemp 35 Qt (thermoelectric) Review

Iceless VersaTemp 35 specs

• Minimum temperature is relative: Igloo rates it at 36°F below ambient, so 41°F assumes 77°F outside. In heat it will be warmer.
• Igloo doesn't publish a power rating; 62 W is OutdoorGearLab's measured steady-state DC draw (98.4 W while pulling down to 35°F).
• OGL measured 32.4 L (34.2 qt) usable volume; the 33 L shown is converted from the 35 qt rating.
• Amazon's title says 'Truck, RV, Car & Home', but OGL reports only a DC cable in the box.

Other sizes in this series

Each size is a separate Amazon listing. Prices are typical street prices, not live.

Specs are compiled from manufacturer listings and independent reviews and may change between production runs. Confirm on the Amazon page before buying.

The Igloo Iceless VersaTemp 35 is a thermoelectric cooler: a light, wheeled plastic box with a Peltier module in the lid that can cool or warm its contents from a 12 V car socket. It costs about $153–200 on Amazon (check today’s price), roughly what a budget compressor fridge costs, and that overlap is why it’s on this site. We include it as our example of why a thermoelectric cooler is the wrong tool for camping, and of the jobs where it’s perfectly fine. If you’re deciding between this kind of cooler and a real fridge, read compressor vs thermoelectric cooler first.

Who it’s for (and who should skip it)

It’s a reasonable buy for short drives with food that’s already cold: groceries on the way home, a cooler of drinks for a two-hour road trip, packed lunches in a work truck. It also warms food to about 135°F, which a compressor fridge can’t do, so a casserole can ride to a tailgate or family dinner warm. At about 12 lb with wheels and a tow handle, it’s far easier to move than any compressor fridge we track, and it runs quietly.

Skip it for camping trips, hot-weather travel, and anything involving raw meat, dairy or medication. It can’t freeze, can’t reach a food-safe temperature on a warm day, and draws enough power to drain a battery overnight.

How thermoelectric cooling works, and why it limits this cooler

A compressor fridge pumps heat out the way your kitchen fridge does, then switches off once it reaches the set temperature. A thermoelectric module moves heat electrically and has to run flat out the whole time. It can only pull the inside a fixed amount below the outside air. Igloo rates this one at about 36°F below ambient, so its 41°F minimum assumes a 77°F day.

On a 90°F day, that means roughly 54°F inside at best. In a parked car in summer it’ll be warmer still. OutdoorGearLab never got it below 43.7°F in testing, above the 40°F line food-safety guidance uses. A compressor fridge like the BougeRV 23 Quart holds a set temperature regardless of the weather, and OGL got that one below 0°F.

Power: the real problem

Igloo doesn’t publish a power rating. OutdoorGearLab measured about 62 W of continuous draw at steady state, and 98.4 W while it was pulling down to temperature. Because a thermoelectric cooler never cycles off, that 62 W is effectively its average, which works out to about 1,490 Wh a day by our estimate. The compressor fridges in our database average roughly 190–460 Wh a day at 90°F.

What that means in practice:

There’s no low-voltage battery protection, so the cooler will happily keep running until your starter battery can’t crank the engine. OutdoorGearLab also found the DC cable ran hot, a sign that it’s carrying a lot of current for a car socket. Treat it as an engine-on appliance: plug it in when you drive, unplug when you park. Our guide to how long a battery will run a 12V fridge shows the same math for the compressor fridges.

Practical use and build

The box itself is fine for what it is. It’s light, the wheels and handle make it easy to haul from the car to a picnic table, and OGL measured about 34 quarts of usable space, close to the 35-quart rating. It ships with a DC cable only, despite the “Home” in Amazon’s title, so wall use needs a separate adapter. If you want a little more room, the Iceless VersaTemp 40 Qt runs about $190.

Igloo covers it for 1 year.

What to buy instead

If you’re shopping in this price range for camping, buy a compressor fridge. The BougeRV 23 Quart costs about the same, freezes and runs for days on a modest battery. If you need space, the Euhomy 59QT costs about $234–260 for nearly twice the capacity and held temperature within 0.6°F in OGL’s testing. The Alpicool C20 is another small budget option. Our best budget portable fridges guide ranks them, and the fridge vs ice cost calculator shows how quickly a compressor fridge pays for itself.

Bottom line

The Iceless VersaTemp 35 is a decent cooler-and-warmer for short drives with food that’s already cold or hot. It isn’t a fridge. In OutdoorGearLab’s test it never reached a food-safe temperature, and it draws about 60 W the whole time, enough to flatten a car battery overnight. For about the same money, a compressor fridge does the camping job properly.

Featured in our guides

• Compressor vs Thermoelectric Cooler: Why Peltier Boxes Aren't Fridges

Sources

• amazon.com
• outdoorgearlab.com