James Sweet wrote:


Where did I ever say that the cold water didn't absorb heat to cool the air?
Of course it does dimbulb.




So long as it has ice in it, the temperature will remain quite constant.
The energy is absorbed by the state change from solid to liquid water.
As soon as all the ice is gone, the temperature will start to rise
pretty quickly, but it will never go over ambient air temperature.

Go turn on your A/C for awhile, feel the return line. It will be quite
a bit warmer than ambient temperature. And again, if you are pumping
warm water back into the ice chest, let's just say AT ambient
temperature, the insulation of the chest will do no good.