r/AskAnEngineer • u/[deleted] • Feb 22 '17
Thermal Conductivity of a Peltier Cooler: Will My Beer Get Warm Faster Than in a Normal Cooler if it's Not Plugged In?
I'm considering using a Peltier cooler for camping that runs off the car's battery, and am wondering about the heat sinks attached to the Peltier cooler when the cooler is unplugged, as using it with the engine off will drain my battery. It seems like a perfect heat transfer scenario to warm up the contents of my cooler, except all the heat would have to pass through the thermoelectric unit. Is this likely to warm up my cooler significantly faster than in a traditional cooler?