How does a thermo bag( portable refrigerator) work

work? To keep food fresh, chilled or even frozen outside the home and without a stationary refrigerator, you can easily and simply use a thermo bag. For those who have not yet acquired such a useful accessory, it will certainly be interesting to know how the cooler bag works and what its effectiveness depends on. Let's figure it out!

The types and operation of the cooler bags

Refrigerator bags on store shelves are now invisible. They come in many shapes, colors and sizes. However, these accessories are functionally divided into:

• thermo bags;
• bags with cold batteries;
• car coolers that can cool the air inside.

Let's take a closer look at these varieties.

Thermo-bag, can only keep cold. It is arranged according to the principle of a regular thermos, and this accessory can not only maintain low temperatures, but also keep food hot. That is, you can always enjoy ice cream on the beach or treat your friends with warm pizza at a picnic outside the city.

Thermo-bag is very simple - it has an insulating foil layer inside, for example, polyurethane foam or folgoizolon. This bag is tightly closed and can maintain the same temperature inside the chamber for 2-3 hours. This bag is very convenient to use if you lead an active lifestyle and spend a lot of time on the road and on your feet. Bag can be worn on the shoulder. There are models made in the form of backpacks, and after using such an accessory is twisted and does not take up much space. There are also thermo-boxes. They have a rigid structure, and polystyrene can act as an insulating material.

If you buy fruits or drinks on the market on a hot summer day, put them in a regular thermos bag and go out into the countryside - then you will have to feast on warm fruits and drink warm drinks.

But a bag with cold batteries can help you in this situation and cool the products you bought a little. In fact, this is a regular thermos bag with a thick insulating layer inside. But complete with such a purchase and sold batteries cold - sealed flask with saline or a special gel inside. Such a battery is pre-subject to freezing. If the frozen container is placed in a thermo bag, then the salt solution will thaw very slowly, giving the cold to the food inside. The use of batteries increases the storage time of products inside a thermos bag - approximately 10-12 hours.

However, there are bags-containers that can actively and continuously cool the air and the products inside. Such devices receive power from the outlet or car cigarette lighter. Due to this, the auto-refrigerator can work for how many days. As a rule, such containers are distinguished by the greatest volume and are created for autotourists, travelers and those who are going to rest on the nature by a large company.

What determines the time to maintain the temperature inside the thermo bag?

Of course, buying a cooler bag, we all want our purchase to prove itself as efficiently as possible and serve us as long as possible. That is why, choosing this or that model, be guided by the thickness of the insulating layer, ergonomics and the device of your purchase, the presence or absence of cold batteries, etc.

Remember that a bag of dense material, with a reliable fastener and a protective flap, having a thick insulating layer, is able to maintain a temperature that is 15 ° lower than the environment. However, without cold accumulators, this effect will be short-lived - about 3 hours.

By the way, we strongly do not recommend buying a cooler bag if you are not sure that the thermal layer in it is more than 0.8 cm. The smaller thickness of polyurethane or folgoizolon is simply not able to retain cold or heat inside itself longer than 1-15 hours

If you get cold accumulators or do it yourself, the shelf life of food in the thermo-bag chamber increases by at least 6 hours. And the temperature can be 20-25 ° lower than outside the bag. With proper placement of products in the middle and a sufficient number of cold accumulators( for 1 liter of products - 50 g of cooler), the time to maintain the temperature inside the bag is from 12 to 24 hours. Depends, again, on the thickness of the thermal layer.

Batteries cold, you can buy ready-made. And you can use the tools at hand - ice packs, bottles of frozen water or a simple saline solution( 3-4 tablespoons of salt per half liter of water).You can use granular filler from clean baby diapers. It must be wetted, removed from the torn diaper and frozen in a package.

Before laying out the products, try to cool the bag itself. For example, place it in the refrigerator compartment, and put something very cold inside. All products to be frozen, it is better not just to cool, but to freeze well. Well, it is better to pack each product in a newspaper or food foil. When packing products, try to evenly place the cold batteries - purchased or manufactured at home. Leave a couple of batteries at the bottom of the bag and just under the cover of the bag. Remember, competent styling products - plus 1-2 hours to keep the cold inside!

By the way, the frequency of opening the bag, and even its location, also affects the time the temperature is saved. If you put the most dense and reliable bag in the sun or you will often look inside - you will not receive long-term cooling and maintaining the desired temperature. The thermobag should be kept in the shade or in a cool room; it can also be covered with a blanket or other things that will interfere with the heat transfer. To open the bag less often, get yourself a model with quick-access valves — small side clasps that allow you to get a small product or bottle of water out of the bag without opening it and not letting warm air through the middle.

By the way, all the same rules apply in case you need to keep food warm. Only cold batteries do not freeze, but warm in hot water.

What is the need for an

cooler bag? The use of an insulated bag is extremely wide. Think for yourself:

• You can make large purchases of products without worrying about their safety. Even walking the market on a hot July day for half a day, you can be absolutely sure about the freshness of purchased meat or dairy products, if you carry them in a thermal bag with cold batteries;
• You can take cold drinks, ice cream and other products to the beach;
• You can store the necessary cosmetics and medicines in a thermo bag that cannot be kept outside the refrigerator;
• You can take with you perishable products on a long trip( to nature, to the sea, to the country, to the hike);
• You can keep pastries or other dishes; drinks are warm, even if you have a raid or a country picnic;
• You can take your lunch in a small thermo-container to work, study, or train;
• You can safely wait for an unexpected power outage, repair or defrost the refrigerator without loss of products from the freezer;
• You can store your catch in a thermal bag while fishing or hunting meat.

Some prudent housewives acquire several thermo bags of different sizes for different needs. In short, it is enough to buy or make a cooler bag with your own hands, and, believe me, you will not be standing idle!

Real mini fridge - how

worksThese are rigid plastic or plywood boxes with a very thick isothermal layer of foam or foam, as well as a foiled inner chamber. In addition, when connected to electricity or a car battery, such an appliance begins to generate cold, acting on the principle of a conventional domestic refrigerator. The mini-refrigerators also have a small amount of refrigerant, a compressor and a system of pipes. When the power is connected, the compressor starts chasing the refrigerant through the capillary tubes of the device, the air inside the mini-fridge chamber starts to cool.

Cylinder gas is sometimes used instead of electricity. However, keep in mind that a 5 l bottle is enough for a week, not more. And still, such installation cannot be transported from place to place - it can function only stationary.

More advanced devices operate on the basis of the phenomenon of heat absorption at the junction of two semiconductor materials. This phenomenon is known as the Peltier effect. This mini-fridge can receive energy from a simple outlet, cigarette lighter in the car or from a built-in generator. Such a model will be completely autonomous - you can put it in the country or carry a car in the trunk.

As you can see, technologies continue to stride forward, making the daily life of a person as comfortable as possible even where there is no question of civilization. Now, you have the opportunity to sip a cool drink while sunbathing on the beach, even if there are no stores nearby. Now you can go on long picnics and eat fresh food, without the risk of gastric upset. You can safely defrost and disinfect the refrigerator without breaking your head where to put a mountain of frost products.

In addition, knowing the working principle of the cooler bag, you can choose a truly practical and efficient model, as well as use its full potential. Be always in step with the times and live comfortably!