How long does ice stay in a cooler?

For ice to have stayed in a cooler, it needs to be still present in that same cooler at the time when the ice is being checked up on. For simplicity’s sake, we’ll relabel “the time the ice is being checked up on” as The ice in the cooler event period marker nodule 2. Got that? OK, here’s the guide.

There are currently three known factors that will affect how long ice stays in a cooler. These are:

1. The amount of ice (water) placed in the cooler;
2. The position of the cooler door;
3. The operational state of the cooler;
4. The third-party forces exerted upon the ice (water).

NB: You will notice that it says ‘water’ in brackets after each mention of ice above. That’s because ice is in fact frozen water and you should note this fact as part of your calculations.

1. The amount of ice placed in the cooler is important.

Let’s imagine, for a moment, a cooler with 0g of ice left in it. We can instantly see, without needing calculation, that the amount of time that amount of ice will stay in the cooler for is infinity seconds.

Conversely, if we imagine a cooler stuffed with about 15kg of ice, we can envisage the ice staying in the cooler for approximately an hour. We say ‘envisage’ because we haven’t taken into account the other factors yet.

2. The closure of the cooler door will have a tremendous effect on the amount of time you can expect ice to stay in your cooler. If you can’t close your cooler door, or won’t, that’s fine. The formula below can be used to calculate how long your ice will remain in your cooler at any door angle.

Where:
N2 = The ice in the cooler event period marker nodule 2 (in milliseconds)
W = The amount of ice (water) in the cooler
D = The angle at which you plan on leaving the door open (closed = 0)

Where possible, you should complete this calculation at least 25 hours prior to placing the ice in the cooler.

3. The operational state of the cooler is an important factor. This basically refers to whether the cooler is switched to ‘on’ or ‘off’. There are many subtle levels found between the ‘on’ and the ‘off’ setting, but for the purposes we’re outlining here, we shall assume there are not.

If F1 is the formula we showed you above, the calculation required if you wish to build in the fact the cooler is switched to ‘on’ is thus:

Likewise, the formula you deploy if the cooler is switched to ‘off’ is:

4. Third-party forces exerted on anything can affect anything. That’s why the above calculations should only be accepted as correct on the condition that there are no third-party forces likely to upset the balance. Upset balances lead to non-staying ice.

For instance, ice is not going to remain in the cooler very long if your four-year-old is planning on removing it with its grubby little fingers after only five minutes. This is due to the minute salts found in toddler-grub acting to melt the ice and turn it back into its natural state of water.

In fact, if any person of any age removes the ice from the cooler, The ice in the cooler event period marker nodule 2 has been shown to be less.

As you can see there is still a margin of error found when calculating the amount of time ice plans on sticking around in the cooler. It is still a developing science with many thousands of studies being carried out year-round in an effort to get the best answer to you.

Had an experience with ice staying in a cooler? Know someone who has found something new on the topic? Let us know!

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1: to overcome or kill with smoke or fumes
2 a: to kill by depriving of air b: to overcome or discomfit through or as if through lack of air c: to suppress (a fire) by excluding oxygen
3 a: to cause to smolder b: to suppress expression or knowledge of <smothered his rage> c: to stop or prevent the growth or activity of <smother a child with too much care> ; also : overwhelm d: to cover thickly : blanket <snow smothered the trails> e: to overcome or vanquish quickly or decisively4: to cook in a covered pan or pot with little liquid over low heat Source

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As smothering effectively involves inhibiting the ability for air to reach places that it needs to, for example your lungs, not smothering is simply a matter of making sure that there is still a way for air to reach it’s needed destination.

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