using electric powered cooler in 2023 4runner limited

Going to be undertaking a long road trip in my 2023 4Runnner Limited in a few weeks. Wife has a medication that has to be stored in a certain cool temperature range. So i am wondering about getting an electric powered cooler to plug into the electrical outlet in the cargo area for use while we are on the road. Don't need or want a large cooler. I was wondering if anyone recommendations as to a type of cooler to use? Would it be better to use one the operates on AC power or DC power?
Thank you in advance for any ideas you can share.

 

I heard decent things about Igloo's ICF and Dometic coolers, probably would look at the smallest Igloo one.

It takes both DC and AC input so you can get it started inside plugged into a household outlet then plug it into the 12V but these are pricey - albeit they're a "proper" compressor fridge/cooler.

You could also find much, much cheaper thermoelectric (Peltier) coolers but those can only cool a certain amount below ambient temperature, don't have a thermostat/finer temperature control and are much less energy efficient. (but if you're looking at 12v ones it probably won't matter much)

It might be worth testing one in temperatures you expect to see if it's good enough for medication especially since they're a fraction of the cost. (sidenote: but don't get those cheap ones for home use since the inefficiency really adds up!)

 

There are small coolers out there so hopefully someone running one that’s about a six-pack capacity will chime in. What I would like to say here is that I have a Dometic CFX3-35 which may be a bit larger than your needs, but hey you can keep cooled refreshments for the road!

Works fine plugged into the 12V outlet and sips around 12W to 30W at an ambient around 90°F to +100°F (cooler set to 25°F). I found that running off AC power tends to bring the cooler down from ambient up to 20% faster than running off DC power but once at temp it’s a wash. It’s a dual powered cooler (has two input plugs on the back) so that may be a feature to look for in a smaller unit…nice to not have to lug around an AC-DC power brick.

 

On my Engel 40qt (bigger then you're looking for) it's more efficient running on DC then on AC.

One other thing to keep in mind it's that all the outlets in the 4Runner are only powered when the truck is running. So when you stop for any length of time the fridge will not be running. I run my fridge through an EcoFlow power station so that it is always receiving power and then the power station charges while I drive.

 

We found the same with my gf's fridge, more efficient on DC than AC. We also run off a Bluetti which charges while we drive (that bluetti is great, we used it to run a crockpot during a storm when we had to go out and thought we might lose power, kept it plugged in so it would maintain charge (until the power went out) and the crockpot was still going when we got home (to no power).

 

I make a cross country trip from NM to Pennsylvania every year. This fridge has really worked well in the cargo area of the 4Runner. Plugs into the stock plug and has a freezer compartment and a cooler compartment. You can adjust the temp of the unit. Keeps stuff frozen overnight when we are in the hotel and the unit is not running.

 

I struggle using the plug in (house type cord) with my plug in cooler. Could be operator error, but I find the cigarette type plug works better. Also consider what happens when you have the vehicle shut off. All so pay attention to if the cooler only maintains a temperature at a certain number of degrees below the ambient temp or, if it will maintain a certain temp that you set it to.

all that being said I bought one from https://www.bougerv.com/