Ice Usage and          Retention Tips

 

There are many factors that affect ice retention when using any cooler. While Survivor Coolers are designed to prolong the life of any ice it holds, there are many things you can do to achieve the results you’re looking for and reduce the number of trips to the ice machine. Here are some helpful tips:

 

• Survivor Coolers are very well insulated, which means that they will retain heat as well as coolness. Therefore, try to keep the cooler stored in a cool place prior to filling it with ice. If the cooler is warm when you load it with ice, a large amount of the ice will be melted in order to cool the walls of the cooler.

 

• When you get ready to load your cooler, load it up with items that are already cold. If you load it with things that are warm or room temperature, ice will be used to cool down whatever you put in before really getting it cold, therefore decreasing ice retention. This simple technique will easily add an additional day or day and a half to how long your cooler retains the ice. To absolutely maximize the length of time your cooler retains ice, use dry ice along with regular ice...the dry ice "super chills" the inside of the cooler to the point that the regular ice does not begin to melt for a couple of days, actually adding as much as two days to how long your cooler retains ice.

 

• Smaller ice cools faster; larger ice cools longer. Use the type of ice that best fits your needs. If you are icing down drinks for the day that you want as cold as possible, use smaller ice (like what you would get at a gas station). If you need to chill something for a longer period of time but aren’t as concerned about it being as cold as possible, use larger ice or blocks of ice. Of course, you can use a combination of smaller and larger ice in order to achieve great ice retention and chill. One idea is freezing a milk jug (or something similar) filled with ice and then dropping that in the cooler before you ice everything down. It will greatly improve ice retention!

 

• Try to fill every open space with ice, and fill the cooler to the top. The more ice, the better. The less air, the better. So, always try to fill all air pockets or open spaces in the cooler with ice. In addition, always try to fill the cooler up when you ice it down. Remember, the less air the better…so fill it all the way up.

 

• Use the coldest ice possible. Ice that is well below zero in temperature will last longer than ice that is just barely hovering around 32°F. The colder the ice, the longer it will last.

 

• Once you load up your Survivor Cooler and start using it, don’t feel the need to empty all the water as you refill with ice. We understand that you may not want the contents floating around in a pool of water, but not draining all the water can be helpful. The water at the bottom is usually almost as cold as the ice in the cooler, and it will help to insulate whatever new ice you refill with.

 

• Remember that there are many factors that will affect ice retention once the cooler is in use. In order to maximize ice retention, limit the amount of times the lid is opened (remember, air is BAD!!!!), try to keep the cooler out of the heat or direct sunlight, and keep it full of ice. Doing all these things will help significantly extend the life of your ice!