I used to think that but the Coleman cooler people did a lot of research
on this controversy. The new Xtreme coole I bought for the trip came
with a little booklet about how to stock a cooler. They are saying that
as long as there is a little ice remaining before restocking to leave
the water in the box. The other thing is that water does not escape
when the lid is opened the way cold air will so the total heat gain will
be less.

BTW, the new Coleman Ultra Xtreme coolers do work. We used about 2/3rds
the ice this year over 10 days in the BVI as we did last year in a week.
As to whether they keep ice for 7 days as advertised, maybe in
Minnesota but not in the Virgin Islands. :-)

Doug Dotson wrote:

If cooling the drinks fast is your goal thaen this approach will work.
But once the ice has melted, then the refrigeration will be working
much harder than usual to keep both the drinks and the large volume
of water cold. Better to turn on the fridge, add the drinks and ice
but let the water drain off as it melts.

Doug
s/v Callista

--
Glenn Ashmore

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