Jackery Battery Pack & T60 Portable Fridge Review

I've driven 6,300 miles on a cross-country road trip and used the Jackery Battery Pack and Alpicool portable fridge almost daily.

I didn't want to spend $1000 on an Iceco cooler, so I chose the Alpicool cooler at $379 instead.

In this post, I share my observations and learnings on the road. If you want to purchase a battery pack or portable cooler, I hope this post will be helpful for you.

Equipment

Battery Pack

• Jackery Explorer 1000 Portable Power Station ($1300)

Portable Fridge

• Alpicool T60 Dual Temperature Control 12 Volt Refrigerator 63 Quart Portable Car Fridge Freezer ($379)

Cooker

• Dezin Electric Cooker ($27.99)

(Scroll to the bottom of the post for a breakdown of equipment tech specs)

Packing the Battery Pack and Cooler

This was the first road trip on which I packed a battery pack and a portable fridge. I quickly learned I could not pack as much stuff or as densely as before.

I couldn't use the car adapter because I was too far back in the vehicle. As a result, the portable fridge had to be plugged into the Jackery battery pack at all times.

Also, I kept the vents clear of the battery pack and the portable fridge. The vents sometimes expel quite a bit of heat, especially when driving in hot climates.

Lessons learned

• The battery pack and T60 cooler together take up more room than anticipated.
• The Jackery battery pack has to be close to the portable fridge to plug it in.
• I should have brought my Alpicool car adapter with me.

On the Road, Bathroom Breaks Dictate Stops

Once on the road, you guys know the drill. I have small kids, and when they get restless, or it's time to eat, I try to locate a playground or green space for them to stretch their legs.

We drive around 300 ish miles daily (on rare occasions, 600 miles). We pull over every two hours or so. I am the type of guy who likes to keep driving, but that's just not happening.

God is teaching me patience as I pull over four times daily while on the road.

Jackery Battery Pack and Cooking

My wife brought her Dezin electric cooker and plugged it into the Jackery. She would add the canned roast, which took around four to five minutes to heat.

For some meals, we would add rice or pasta to the canned roast if the kids were extra hungry. In less than ten minutes, the kids would have bowls of hot and tasty protein.

Lessons

• Having a battery pack, you can pull out during rest stops is incredibly handy.
• Cooking with a battery pack is super simple. Plug in your electric cooker, and your food is ready within 10 minutes. This is super helpful if your kids are hungry and need to be fed pronto.

Jackery Battery Pack & T60 Portable Fridge

Running this combo is super easy. Just throw your cooler in the back of your car or pickup, hook it up to the battery pack, and you are set.

The longest day in the car was around 10 hours in 85°F heat. Including four stops that lasted 30-60 minutes with no AC, the battery pack was down to 84% at the end of the day.

We had no water or ice at the bottom of our cooler, which was a huge plus. None of our food was spoiled or soaked in water, which made this aspect of your road trip much better.

Lessons

• Plug in your T60 cooler car adapter into the Jackery battery pack. Don't be like me and forget it at home. (It runs 10-15% more efficiently with car adapter)
• Make sure the vents are not blocked. If they are, excess heat can impact your compressor, causing problems.
• Lock that LCD panel to keep your temperature locked and prevent people from accidentally changing the settings.

Jackery Explorer 1000 Portable Power Station Specs

Review

Let's be realistic: battery packs cost a lot of money, are heavy, and can break ten different ways.

1. I don't like the fact that it weighs 22 lbs. It's heavy and annoying to move around a lot.
2. I've left it in the car in Charleston, SC with temps reaching 100°F inside the vehicle. The battery pack didn't blink, and nothing happened. (Maybe long term, there are effects, but it charged fine, no problem for me)
3. I have been driving on the interstate and many back roads over 3,600 miles, and nothing has rattled loose on the battery pack. With so many ports, you always worry something is going to break. Right now, all ports are working 100%.
4. Is there a tan version? Something that doesn't stick out so much? I kid, but that would be nice.

Capacity

• 1002Wh

Ports

Weight

• This battery pack weighs 22 lbs. That's a lot of weight to haul around.
• I don't see anybody throwing this in their backpack and taking it on hikes.
• I recommend transporting the battery pack in a vehicle.

Temperature

• The operating temperature is between 14°F and 104°F.
• I left it in the car with temps at 91°F outside and inside reaching 100°F. (I don't recommend this, but I had no choice that day)

Alpicool T60 Portable Fridge Specs

Review

Usually, three things will break on a portable plugin cooler.

1. Handles (Guaranteed with heavy use).
2. Cheap compressor breaks from long-term use.
3. The LCD display can fail for many reasons.

After three weeks on the road, traveling 3,600 miles, the only thing that happened was that the pulling handle popped out once. That's not bad for a middle-of-the-road plugin cooler.

Capacity

• 63 quarts/15.75 gallons
• 78 Soda cans

Features

• A feature of this cooler is that you can run it as a split fridge/freezer.
• Baskets are removable, which is excellent when you pack a lot of food in your cooler.

Weight

• The T60 Alpicool 63 quart cooler weighs 37 lbs empty.
• I load and unload the cooler daily. Once, the left side of the pull handle popped out. I pushed it back into its previous position and have not had any issues since.

LCD Panel

• You can lock the LCD panel by pressing the "gear" icon for 3 seconds.
• Don't be like me and figure this out halfway through your trip after your kids have pressed the display about a million times.

Conclusion

I recommend the Dezin electric cooker. It's a simple cooker that can heat meals for the family. It's affordable at $28 and will last a long time.

The Jackery battery pack is $1300, which is pricey, especially in this economy with very high inflation. However, over the past 3,000 miles, it has done a great job of powering our cooler in hot and cold weather with no problems. I've also used it on day trips, which has never failed me. If you can afford it, I recommend you buy it with the solar panels if you are in the market for a solid, dependable battery pack.

The Alpicool T60 cooler/fridge has survived the first 3,000 miles of our road trip. With a price tag of $379, I think you will get your money's worth out of this cooler; I recommend this cooler if you are in the market for one.

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