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By now, I’m sure you’ve seen the IcyBreeze portable air conditioner and cooler somewhere on the internet. I for one, haven’t had a YouTube browsing session without Deion Sanders screaming at me to buy one for months. In case you haven’t, the name tells you everything you need to know; It’s a cooler with an air conditioning unit built into it.
On paper, the IcyBreeze is the ultimate gadget to beat the heat. The marketing behind it clearly targets campers and athletes. I’m sure they had something with a tent in mind when they sent it my way. But this is The Drive. So, I immediately stuck it in my hot rod to see if it’d be a way around setting it up with an actual AC system. I also used it to keep me cool while slinging wrenches.
I’ll cut right to the chase, the uninsulated cabin of my ‘69 Charger proved to be a bit much for it. Looks like I’ll still need to hit up Vintage Air if I want to cool that thing down. It did prove to be pretty solid in other occasions, though. While it’s no portable ductless mini split, it can offer some relief from the beating sun.
Here’s Why It’s Not a Swamp Cooler
No, it’s not a swamp cooler. The IcyBreeze cooler is an actual air conditioning unit. A swamp cooler works by pushing or pulling air over cool water. The result is cool, damp air. They work, but the IcyBreeze is different in that it uses an actual heat exchanger. Only, rather than using refrigerant, it uses the same ice water that’s keeping your snacks and drinks cold.
The way it works is simple. You fill the cooler to the water fill mark, then add ice—it holds roughly 30 pounds for those of you who are wondering. As air passes through, the heat exchanger cools it down. The result is cool, dry air. Though, it does have a mist function if you want that extra razzle-dazzle. It also has an articulating hose, allowing you to direct that cool air wherever you want it to go.
The IcyBreeze portable cooler and air conditioner operates on a variety of power supplies. The model I was sent came with a rechargeable 6Ah 12-volt battery and 12-volt AC adapter. It can also include a wall adapter for an additional cost.
As for AC functions, you have a few settings to play with. The fan can be set to low, medium, and high, with an additional Extreme Cool mode. It also doubles as a giant power bank thanks to the USB port and has two cup holders built into the lid. IcyBreeze states it has about a 2.5-hour run-time as an AC unit. Because it uses a heat exchanger, it will melt ice as it runs. After 2.5 hours, you will need to replenish it.
Speaking of drinks, the literature declares the IcyBreeze has a 38-quart capacity. Again, it’ll hold 30 pounds of ice, but that’ll change as you load it up with drinks and snacks. It is a bit chunky as a cooler due to the additional functions built into it, but not so much that it’s absurdly large for the capacity. Overall, it’s only slightly bigger than average.
This is the IcyBreeze Ultimate, which has a starting price of $499.99. The 12-volt adapter comes standard. The wall adapter is an additional $35.00, a 6Ah battery is another $69.99, and a 10Ah battery an additional $99.99. If that’s too expensive, you can opt for the IcyBreeze V2 Pro, which brings the base price down to $299.99. Capacity remains the same, but features like the USB port, all-terrain wheels, Extreme Cool mode, and lid latches are lost.
So, Does it Actually Work?
There are many promotional clips out there that make the IcyBreeze seem like it can compete with the performance of a room air conditioner. The Charger’s uninsulated, unsealed cabin would have given it a run for its money, even if it were that powerful. It’s not, and there’s no way it could be. I knew that after looking everything over for the first time. Still, I loaded it up with ice and tossed it in the car.
I’m not shocked it didn’t do so well. Again, that car’s cockpit is pretty extreme, with heat radiating off the floorboards and firewall. If I position it on the passenger’s seat and point the hose directly at me, it will keep me cool, but it’s doing nothing to bring down overall temperatures. Thankfully, those old-school vent windows are still working their magic.
It turns out the Charger’s brakes needed some work, and I’m always messing with the tune. Knowing this thing wouldn’t cool the entire shop down, I set up in the shaded part of my driveway and let it rip while I worked. At least this way, I have a little more breathing room. This time, I was actually pleasantly surprised at how well it did. With a little bit of distance, it could actually blow cool air over a decent portion of my body while in the wheel well. It works really well for this, and having cool drinks within arm’s reach was an awesome bonus.
Out of curiosity, I bought a vent thermometer to verify temps with the highest fan speed, and Extreme Cool mode activated. I got a reading of 60 degrees on an 80-degree day. It’s not ice cold, but it is a pleasant breeze when you’re baking on the blacktop like I was.
It performs well as a cooler, too. I’ve read a lot of comments complaining that it doesn’t hold ice for days like the literature states it will. However, those complaints are in regards to how fast it consumes ice when functioning as an AC unit. As I write this, it has been holding ice for over 24 hours, despite running the AC function on and off throughout. To me, that’s a win.
The Verdict
Overall, I get the appeal of the IcyBreeze portable air conditioner and cooler. It’s a fun device that will keep you cool on hot days. I think it’d be awesome to keep a contained personal space, like a tent, cool. It’s definitely worth reading into if you’ve got summer camping, overlanding, or sporting events on the agenda. It would have been awesome to have it keep the Charger’s cabin cool so I’d never have to sacrifice horsepower for comfort, but what can you do?
Is it worth the money, though? I’ll leave that up to you. Quality, performance, and versatility all get solid scores, but I think value lands somewhere in the middle. It is a great cooler, and it works as a small AC unit. However, $499.99 is a lot of money, no matter how you look at it. Yes, there are basic coolers that sell for the same price, and this does have a lot of the same features and then some. Still, you can also build a swamp cooler for way less money. This definitely functions better than a makeshift swamp cooler, but the price is still something to be considerate of.
| | IcyBreeze Portable Air Conditioner and Cooler |
|---|---|
| Value | 5/10 |
| Versatility | 10/10 |
| Quality | 8/10 |
| Performance | 7/10 |
| Overall | 7/10 |