Ryobi has come out with a “new and improved” 18V One+ Cooling Cooler, model P3370. Yes, it’s a Ryobi battery-powered cooler.
But it’s not just a 50 quart cooler for your drinks and food, it can also serve as an air cooling unit.
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I don’t even know what to think about this, but I find it awesome that Ryobi’s pushing the bounds of what a power tool brand can do. It’s as if a group of product managers and engineers meet once a month, pool some ideas, and answer the question what do you guys want to make now?
[Or were they inspired by the IcyBreeze cooling cooler, which has mixed reviews on Amazon?]
An 18V-powered cooler? Sure, why not?!
Correction: This doesn’t look to be a battery-powered cooler, it looks to be a regular cooler with air cooling feature.
- 30″ length x 18″ depth x 20″ height
- 50 quarts total capacity
- 4+ hours runtime with compact P102 battery pack (included)
- Fits 2-liter bottles
- Handle and wheels
- On-board storage
- Weighs 35 lbs
- Drain plug
The cooler has to be filled with ice, as with any other cooler.
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There is a removable “cooling tower” that’s installed between the cooler and its internal air vent. The user manual (PDF) suggests that this is not an optional component, although one product photo shows the cooler filled with cans and ice without the cooling tower.
If you just want to use the cooler as a cooler, you don’t need this part.
The manual says that the air vent is adjustable. From the looks of it, cool air is always vented out whenever it’s powered on.
There are 2 compartments on the top of the cooler. One holds a Ryobi 18V One+ battery pack.
And another is large and spacious for holding your stuff. You could probably pack some cups (if you loaded the cooler with 2-liter bottles) and snacks in there, making the cooler even more versatile.
Here again is an image of the cooler used for “air cooling”. There are 2 drink holders on the top lid. On the front, jut above the air vent is a power button.
Price: $199 for the kit
Buy Now(via Home Depot)
First Thoughts
I’m hung up on trying to determine how the new Ryobi cooler works, and until I have that figured out, I am unsure about what to think of it.
$200 will get you a small Yeti cooler, and a little more will get you a Pelican cooler. This Ryobi cooler offers much greater volume at the same price – though it might not match up in terms of ice retention – and the ability to cool the air around it as well.
The smallest battery pack Ryobi offers will power the cooler for over 4 hours. But is that with continuous cooling power?
How long will drinks stay cool in the cooler turned off? How long with the cooler turned on? We’ve got lots of questions.
Update: A bit of searching turned up the IcyBreeze, a similar air-cooled cooler.
The IcyBreeze works by circulating water from inside the cooler through a condensing unit in the lid, and blows dry cold air out through its vent.
That makes sense. But where’s the water pump on this Ryobi unit? Is there one? Without knowing exactly how the cooler works, I just don’t know what to think.
My first thoughts about this Ryobi Cooling Cooler were basically “whoa, that’s so cool!” But is it?
Could this be a good product?
Update 2: It looks like this is simply a cooler with air cooling capabilities, similar to a DIY air cooling cooler project on YouTube (embeded below), but expanded upon.
I couldn’t easily see how the Ryobi cooler kept the drinks colder than a regular cooler would, and I guess that’s because it doesn’t. Thanks to Steve’s comment for waking me up, this looks to be a passive cooler that can function as an air cooler.
As Steve mentioned in his comment, you trade ice and cooling longevity if you do use this as an air cooler. But with this cooler having a 50 quart capacity, you can fit a lot of stuff and a lot of ice.
Big Adam
This could be the product that will make me take the plunge into the Ryobi infrastructure……..unless it’s just sucking wet cold air from the ice box and dumping it to atmosphere, in which case it’s a big fat fail.
Doresoom
I’m pretty sure that’s exactly what it’s doing.
jtr165
yeah it seems to be one of those ‘coolers’ that is more focused on the air outside of it, than inside of it…i’ve run into a lot of these at various tail gating events…and they never made sense to me. A huge part of air conditioning is not just a decrease to temp, but a decrease to humidity. This blows out cooled air, but at almost 100% humidity, at least if i understand what it’s doing…
People always talk about putting stuff like this in a tent or something, and I wonder who has actually tried it. Cold and wet isn’t exactly comfortable, and fighting humidity in a tent overnight is problematic almost anywhere.
Slept in an RV running something similar during a surprisingly hot evening/night after a fall college football game. The relative humidity was pretty low outside, but with that thing, and several bodies in the RV…it was laughable. The ceiling of the RV was literally dripping by 3 am. Almost all of us woke up, turned it off, and opened the windows…the temp inside the RV went up a bit, but the humidity went way down…and life was far better haha.
Hang Fire
Swamp coolers (evaporative) work well in dry parts of the country, particularly if you have an open, shaded, low patio with boundaries, where the cool air can pool. Not so much in the humid East, or small enclosed spaces. Adding ice helps, but as you point out, the air is still humid.
jtr165
oh for sure, there are definitely situations where cooler air with a bit more humidity is ideal…but the area still needs a fair amount of ventilation potential before it quickly gets ‘too humid’.
Comfort with these variables is pretty subjective. A shaded area during a hot and dry day with something like this would be great. An alpine tent for one person, even in a very dry environment otherwise, would be overwhelming imo. I’ve backpacked in the rockies during the summer with almost 0% humidity, and would wake up in a soaking wet tent. Difference was cooling the tent down was never a question, it was plenty cold those nights.
Jay k.
As long as ice is in the cooler you will feel the cooling as cooling only occurs when matter changes from one form to the next(solid to liquid, liquid to gas) if the ice was gone… very hard to cool… but it would work great for several hours…
Koko the Talking Ape
That is what it does, alright. But the cool air coming out won’t be as damp as from a swamp cooler. A swamp cooler cools by using the heat in the air to change water from liquid to water vapor, and then the cooled air holds that evaporated water. This Ryobi unit seems to cool the air by using the heat in the air to change ice to liquid water, and then liquid water to water vapor. But as long as there is mostly ice in the cooler and not liquid water, it might not add much water vapor to the air. In fact, if the ice is very cold (and “dry”), then the unit might actually dry the air for a while, as it condenses water out of the air. The ice won’t even begin to melt until it reaches 32 degrees.
My question is, how does air enter the box? I can see where it leaves the box (that round hole in the lid.) Also, I don’t see a gasket between the lid and the box itself. Isn’t it water-tight?
Sean
This is perfect for truck campers or enclosed trailers that I tow my ATV’s with and want to sleep in on those warm desert nights. The alternative is 110v power a generator and a noisy RV AC unit.
This would work perfect in tents or my trucks RTT (Roof Top Tent). Ultra lite adventure guys who camp from their vehicles are going to eat up this 18v Air Conditioner / swamp cooler
Steve
There is no actual refrigeration going on there. The electronics just power a fan so you can cool the exterior and that’s it. Otherwise, it’s just a basic cooler. Not a bad idea, but if you need to keep your stuff cold for very long, you’re going to sacrifice your ice to temporarily cool the air around you. Once the ice is gone, you’re SOL.
Toolfreak
Geez, for a second there I thought it was a cooler with refrigeration.
Nope, just a cooler that uses battery power to blow the cold air outside.
Exactly the opposite of what you want if your goal is to keep the inside of the cooler, well, cooler than the outside air.
Stuart
Thanks! Make me feel better for thinking the same.
I don’t feel foolish for thinking it, but I do regret wasting time trying to figure out the cooler cooling part.
It doesn’t keep your drinks cooler for longer? Hmm. But it should blow colder air than a regular fan would.
fred
Blowing air across your sweaty face – cools you in part because of as your perspiration evaporates it carries away the latent heat (Enthalpy) of vaporization. Evaporative coolers (aka swamp coolers) work on a similar principle. This all works best if the wet bulb temperature is considerably lower than the dry bulb. When the relative humidity is very high the evaporative process is hindered. That’s why the weatherman sometimes quote a “real feel” temperature when the humidity is high.
Blowing air across a bed of ice cools it down – because some of the heat in the air is lost to heating up the ice and/or providing heat to melt the ice (latent heat of fusion). Before air conditioning became prevalent – the bowl of ice in front of the fan was a common sight.
BonPacific
Too bad, having an actual battery-powered refrigerator would be pretty cool. I remember taking a road-trip with an old 12v refrigerated cooler which was fantastic.
fred
Some of these work on Peltier effect (thermoelectric) cooling
Stuart
I considered that, but the design is all wrong.
Peltier cooling would require quite a bit of power, and a lot of supporting components, such as heatsinks, and possibly radiators with cooling fans.
There would be a lot of metal, leading to a lot of weight.
Stuart
Hmm, maybe not. Thermoelectric coolers are smaller and far less expensive than I assumed.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007ZYH4BM/
The 12V auto power cord and amperage draw doesn’t concern me. This part does: This cooler cools down to 36 degrees Fahrenheit below the outside temperature.
So if it’s 90 degrees outside, the cooler would only be able to cool down to 54 degrees at most. I guess that’s the tradeoff for not having active cooling of the hot side of the Peltier element.
fred
Folks have looked at stacked TE coolers – but the inefficiencies of each stage (e.g. using TE cooler #2 to cool the heat sink of TE cooler #1 and so on) quickly build making energy consumption skyrocket. While they seem to have figured out how to select some better materials for the TE junctions – I believe that the efficiencies are still quite low. If you look at the COP of a well designed refrigeration cycle it is much better than what you can get out of a Peltier cooler. The advantages of the latter – is that there are no moving parts , there is no refrigerant to leak and the systems can be made relatively light in weight.
John S
I was excited at first but like the other comments and further looking into it left with a “meh” final reaction. I think there is definitely a market for a battery powered actual cooling cooler. I had a very old Igloo Iceless Thermoelectric Cooler (I think thats what its called, having trouble finding the old one I had) that ran off either plugged in or a cigaret lighter adapter. I don’t think it is too far fetched to have the newer ones just use a Ryobi or 18 volt rechargeable battery so its kinda weird not seeing one yet.
Seeing this though, I would absolutely love to see a small ac unit battery powered for a single room / tent / out in the field. They already have a heater like the Ridgid Gen5X 18V Hybrid Forced Air Propane Heater. Summer is coming up, where’s my (multi) battery AC unit guys!
fred
We probably haven’t seen what you want yet – because its a tall order for a small battery. The propane – as in the propane heater – is what supplies most of the energy for that device. The battery just powers a small fan. The thermoelectric (Peltier Effect) coolers that plug into a cigarette lighter/ dashboard outlet – draw upon a battery that is being charged by an alternator. I’m not sure about all of the ones on the market – but the Coleman 12V PowerChill is rated at 48 Watts (4 Amps) so it presumably would kill a 9Ah battery in just over 2 hours.
Small RV/Trucker refrigerators like the Engel – draw 1 to 2 amps:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001SNWCFO/
JoeM
Ryobi… The Yellow Brand that is pretending to be the OTHER Yellow Brand, but is selling Infomercial-Grade Gimmicks to the masses in Home Depot.
Yet another gimmick. Yet another bad idea from Ryobi. There’s SOME things that I wish other tool brands, INCLUDING my DeWALT loyalty here, would also do. Like the mass battery charger, or the powered plumbing snake… but then there’s this crap… Come on… If you’re a smart enough company to think of the other tools, you’re smart enough NOT to produce this one…
Are Americans supposed to be THAT Gullible? Seriously? Does no one have an ounce of dignity or respect for the tools they own anymore?
Stuart
They’re trying new things, because they can. I don’t see anything wrong with that.
Toolfreak
I’m pretty sure more than a few people will buy this thinking the electronics will keep the inside cooler than the outside, while blowing out cool air onto them at the same time. Not everyone understands thermodynamics.
Sometimes I’ve thought that the Ryobi 18V lineup would be good to buy into, given the variety of tools they have, even though it’s very DIY/consumer grade, but in addition to the useful/practical tools, they also have some stuff like this…
fred
Stanley-B&D mostly applies the Dewalt name to tools befitting its flagship status. But they have slapped it on some tools that I thought were gimmicks – and probably were more aligned with how they position the “Black & Decker” brand for homeowner use. The DWHT72610 wrench is one that comes to mind.
https://www.amazon.com/DEWALT-DWHT72610-Adjustable-Ratcheting-Socket/dp/B00H4PDM9A
TTI – still running about neck and neck with Stanley-B&D in power tool production worldwide – with their exclusive deal at Home Depot for the Ryobi branded tools – must be doing something right having reported financials for 2016 that were substantially better than 2015 with an EBIT of $450 million on revenues of nearly $5.5 billion – and earnings per share up 15%.
The yeti
Fred your depth of knowledge is amazing . Thank you sir . I enjoy reading your comments . Stuart ought to send u a turkey or a bottle of rye at Christmas. Hope all is well for you and yours .
Stuart
You’re right, it’s about time for another Toys for Tots donation in Fred’s name. The first and last one was 3 years ago.
Fred – unless you’ve changed your mind about not wanting some tools of the kind that are always hard to buy for oneself.
Big Adam
I’d go as far to say that I’ve never found a Dewalt hand tool worthy of the name.
JoeM
HAND Tool, no. I LIKE a few of their hand tools, but I would not call them “The Best” by any stretch of the term. And I wouldn’t call them “Innovative” either. But when they do something simple, not by another of the Stanley family tools with a DeWALT rename, but for DeWALT… They tend to be pretty good… Also… extremely difficult to get wrong.
The DeWALT Premium Tapes from a year or two ago, for example. Tape Measure. Put the DeWALT strength power tool plastic and rubber on a Tape Measure, and it’s pretty awesome. Redesign the blade so it holds better, even better. Another example: The folding Retractable Utility Knife… Heavier plastic, better grip than the Stanley version, improved blade retractor, stronger pocket clip… Hard to go wrong with that… Also… Not so much innovative… but definitely among the best of the breed.
Now… Once you’ve got the Gyro Screwdriver, I don’t know why you’d EVER buy a DeWALT branded MANUAL Screwdriver, in fact I’m a hard-core DeWALT Fanboy, and I tell people to AVOID their Screwdrivers, Wrenches, and other Re-Branded products. I flip that the opposite way for STANLEY tools… Same family, but the Stanley originals are both less expensive, AND higher quality. I have an Anti-Vibe Hammer, and, I believe, a Socket Set, that are Stanley or Stanley FatMAX. They totally lack the styling, ruggedness, and DeWALT flash… but they’re better than the rebranded DeWALT versions by a LONG shot. There are some comfort-gripped DeWALT Mechanic’s Socket sets I wouldn’t mind switching to, but for the most part I would avoid the DeWALT Hand Tools.
DeWALT does Power Tools and Bit Sets/Blades/Etc. I would trust their line lasers, but I wouldn’t trust their wrenches. It’s not what they DO. Just like not asking a Florist to Re-Tile your Bathroom. Entirely possible they do Bathroom Tile on the side, but they’re mainly Florists, and are more useful picking the right flower arrangement or flower print ON the tile, than they are in actually installing the tile. Same for DeWALT and Hand Tools. Throw a bunch of darts at a dart board, one of them is bound to hit the right spot. But, for the most part… if you want it done right… Let the Dart PLAYER throw them.
This Ryobi cooler thing… I’m sorry, but that’s a total waste. I’d expect that on an infomercial, like Slap Chop. Ryobi’s Electric Drain Snake? I think that thing is brilliant. Their, what, 8-port charger? Brilliant. They’ve innovated in the past, to the point where I wish DeWALT would make THEIR version of it, and Ryobi is brave enough to try things like a Garage Door Opener… You wouldn’t think that’s in the wheelhouse, but if your workshop is in your Garage, and your Garage Door Opener runs the same as your tools… it makes a LOT of sense.
A Cooler that mechanically spreads the chill of the ice into the air? I can build that, and run it off a 9 Volt Battery, or some AA’s. That’s a Hobby Project. There’s Instructables for that. There’s Infomercials that have similar products, and even look better made… Ryobi Can AND HAS done better in the past… This was bad. Bad in every way. Embarrassing bad.
How Gullible do they think the North American market is, to have released that? Innovation is good… Infomercial-Grade Results are BAD. This is like finding out a tried-and-true company like Volkswagon or Porsche designed and built a Helmet with Wings on it. It’s EMBARRASSING coming from this company.
JoeM
A company can produce a thousand Gems, and it’s still embarrassing when they produce a total mistake.
I’m the first one to tell people I know, don’t go for the DeWALT hand tools. The only ones any good are the ones you can’t get wrong, like the redesigned Mechanics Socket sets. Their handles are more ergonomically comfortable than their Stanley brothers. Their Premium tapes are rather good. Strong and durable, of course they encased them in the same DeWALT Power Tool plastic and Rubber that their Power Tools have, so of course they’re going to be rugged. When they’ve added DeWALT-level rugged additions to the Stanley versions, the Harder Plastic, the Ergonomic Rubber, the bigger Grips, Etc… They tend to be well done. But that makes up about 5% of all the DeWALT hand tools they’ve released. The rest are just Stanley with a new paint job and logo. Yeah… Don’t buy those… Buy the original Stanley/Stanley FatMAX version, and save the money you’re paying for the DeWALT name slapped on.
And let’s be totally honest here… That wrench was nothing but a gimmick from the start… It was one when Stanley branded it, it was when it was designed, and it was never worth buying, because, like the Ryobi Cooler, it’s an embarrassment to look at, coming from people who designed things like the DCF680 Gyro Screwdriver, or this new FlexVOLT line… Ryobi innovates all the time… into lawn equipment, useful tools, tools I wish EVERY brand made, including the Not-DeWALT brands I hate. DeWALT made some pretty innovative things as well… Still waiting on them getting that Wall Scanner to work right, and the list will go on into infinity, really.
But… Man do we get screwups when they go too far out of their wheelhouse… Innovation is good… Jumping head-first into Infomercial territory is BAD.
firefly
I think it can be a good product as long as the user understand the limitation.
Steve
Agreed…I don’t think it’s BAD…but you need to know what you’re getting into before buying it…for $200 it seems like an ice holder that drains your batteries for you. Probably better to run a mini fridge or actual a/c unit off a properly sized inverter.
Larry
Stirling based coolers are more energy efficient than Peltier Junction based coolers. Coleman used to make one that draws 4 amps at 12 volts and can cool down to below freezing. I believe there’s another company currently making one but I was unable to locate them.
Pete
Im a huge ryobi guy, live where it gets +116 degrees and always need an ice chest. This looks pretty cool. If i saw it demoed i might have to have it… i would like to feel how effective it is- how cool the air is and how hard the fan blows. The humid air wouldnt bother me as its usually -10% humidity during summer.
I do believe ryobi missed one HUGE thing- in the battery compartment it needs usb charging ports! Then if it had like tie off points to carry extra cargo to the beach or something, thatd be cool.
john
I wonder if a 2 stage pelletier based cooler would cool down further than the initial 36 degerees.
One would assume it could get somewhat lower at least.
dave
You don’t need multiple stages to go colder, unless the application has some inherent space (area) limitation to the interface.
In fact it is easier to design with multiple single stage peltiers spread over a larger surface area interface and heatsink, and more efficient.
The problem with even one peltier is the amount of power it would take to keep that volume cold enough. It would make more sense to create a tiny compressor/refrigerant based system instead… just because you don’t see them, doesn’t mean there’s anything about the tech that prevents it from happening.
It’s just that ice, isn’t particularly rare and one can just pick a slightly larger cooler and put enough ice in it to last for long enough. Even a far more power efficient compressor based design would go through multiple batteries in the same amount of time that 1/4 cu ft of ice would last, though a gasoline powered compressor would be an interesting design for camping, yet would cost enough to put it in a niche market, raising the price even more.
Brian
I just picked this up yesterday. Just happened to walk by it in Home Depot. I was planning on building my own diy off a you tube video, but then there it was all done for me. I plan on driving cross country with my dog and was looking for a way to keep him comfortable during the summer heat inside a Dodge Caravan. These will be brief time periods, maybe an hour at most, for times when I’m in a restaurant or a little sight seeing. Don’t get me wrong, I will be testing this out before the trip to make sure the interior maintains a decent temperature, i.e. no panting. I “think” it should perform pretty well in an enclosed area, we’ll see. I also bought the 4.0 Ah battery that say it will run this thing for 11 hrs. Not too shabby.
sarah
I’m curious to see how it works for you and doggie in a vehicle. I’ve been looking for a solution to cool the cab of my 89 chevy s10 which never had air con amd is with me in the nevada dessert in summer. I see some cooler solutions that have radiators and evaporative coolers but not sure if any of them work better then the simple fan with ice version like this seems to be. They cost about 2x the fan ice type that this one is. And all the fan ice types cost about this ones price…i could figure out how to make one maybe but i have a baby so no time or focus at present and it still ends up costing a bunch to make diy..sometimes ready made and ul approved is a better route with electricity and water. This one sucks air instead of blowing which i dont know which would be better and this one has a metal chimney which i wonder if it works as a heat sink of sorts. while 12v would work in the cigarette lighter, i already have back up batteries for royobi cordless tools and with a totally cordless, i could put this in a tent or back work area too..if it works…otherwise i have an expensive cooler. Also curious if it works better then the ones that are supposed to have some kind of radiator action..like the one in the instructables or the prefab icy breese or the ice n plug or the go cool brands that look tempting but make no more promises then the home depot bucket and fan and ice version to make a space cooler.
Wondering if anyone has any experience with any of these? Is one signifigantly more cooling…because my option is a different truck…which is not an option. $$$$ vs $ or $$
And to those that like other brands of tools…great! Glad you like them. RYOBI tools work too. They are a great solution for people with a budget even if something else is more hp or lasts linger ir survives a higher fall…I’ve had mine since i bought my house 4 years ago useful. And for me, if this works this will be incredibly useful, gimmicky or trendy or not. Its going to be 115 next week. 5° will make a difference.
Deb
Brian, how did it work for you while traveling with your dog? I’ve thought about using it for the same thing. Also, did it create a problem as far as humidity?
DensityDuck
This seems like it would be great if you already have a bunch of Ryobi batteries and have a very specific need (cooling a small enclosed area, or providing a cool breeze to a lawn chair). I wouldn’t expect this to replace an actual air conditioner, or to both keep drinks cold *and* blow cool air over a long hot day.