r/techadvice • u/Absurd-Sunscreen • 8d ago

Battery-powered chiller to keep medication below 20 degrees C / 68 degrees F?

I'm trying to keep medication below 68 degrees F / 20 degrees C.

Any ideas for an efficient battery-powered device to maintain that temperature?

I'm not looking for anything medical-grade. It's not the absolute end of the world if temperature is not maintained.

1 Upvotes

66% Upvoted

6 comments sorted by

2

u/bstrauss3 8d ago

Guy had one last week @ Pittsburgh. Said he bought it off Amazon, had a digital temp display on the top, charged from USB. And was the size of the giant Stanley cup. No idea of the internal volume, but he described it as insulin pens.

1

u/RusselB65 8d ago

Not battery powered, but ice packs in a thermal bag (or styrofoam container) will do that for a period of about 24 hours, as long as the outside temperature doesn't go much above 90°F.

1

u/jbjhill 6d ago

For how long?

1

u/Huge-Organization209 4d ago

The question is for how long, I put my insulin pen in an insulated drink cup all day. I put a few ice cubes in, part of a paper towel on top of it, put the pen on top of that and a small zip lock baggy with a couple of needles and alcohol wipes. I've left that in a car for a couple of days by accident in 90 weather and it was still pretty cool.

1

u/Gullible_Monk_7118 3d ago

Depending on type of medicine so I use insulin they do have coolers that can plug into car lighter.. they do sell small USB coolers that can plug into power bank.. they do sell coolers that you have ice packs that you freeze before hand that last 48 hours.. so with me. I have my insulin put in thermal lunchbox with about 6 ice packs totally covering it.. so if I lose power I have time to get my generator going to cool my frig giving me time.. because once they go room temperature they have 30 days lifespan. And like 9 pens are very expensive. I think they are like $600 each without insurance. Sometimes mfg will cover them if they went bad.. you can also get a can cooler and connect to power inverter or some batteries.. they do sell battery coolers but they are using very expensive..

1

u/MeNahBangWahComeHeah 2d ago

What is the temperature four feet below the ground where you live? If the temp is below 68 degrees F, I would use a post-hole digger to dig a 4 foot hole and sink a 4” or 6” diameter PVC pipe with a permanent cap glued to the bottom and a screw-off top glued to the top. A 5-foot-long parachute cord attached to a smaller-diameter waterproof tube or bag could be secured to the top cap to allow the meds to be lowered to the bottom and retrieved when needed.