What is a dry ice and how to use it with coolers?
Dry ice is cooler than Solid Ice and the Ice packs you get from Cooler manufacturing companies. For your knowledge, not every cooler is dry ice compatible. Moreover, dry Ice is a chemical composition, basically a solid CO2 gas at minus 109 degrees Fahrenheit and it needs to be handled carefully as a concentrated chemical and it transfers its heat (cold) with the surface that it comes in contact with.
It is worth mention that, everyone needs to check if the cooler you are buying is a Dry ice compatible cooler or not.
We have done our study and made a list of dry ice compatible coolers. If you scroll down, you can see the brand names and their models which come under the dry ice compatible cooler’s category.
It is obviously clear that Soft cooler bags will not be counted as a dry ice compatible cooler and hence, you will not find a single soft cooler bag in the list below.
Basically, every plastic cooler is not Dry ice compatible because, if dry ice comes in direct contact with Plastic, temperature of a dry ice will be too cold for the plastic, and plastic will crack. Hence, dry ice is always wrapped in the newspaper before it is stored or used in a cooler.
Dry Ice Compatible Coolers
**We have enlisted few from each brand, that means other coolers from the same brand made of plastic resins are also Dry Ice compatible coolers.
Coleman - Dry Ice compatible coolers
Yeti - DRY ICE COMPATIBLE COOLERS
Grizzly - DRY ICE COMPATIBLE COOLERS
ORCA - DRY ICE COMPATIBLE COOLERS
RTIC - DRY ICE COMPATIBLE COOLERS
Igloo - DRY ICE COMPATIBLE COOLERS
Can coolers from Yeti, RTIC, Orca, Grizzly, Coleman, Igloo be used with Dry Ice?
This is a frequently asked question on the internet when it comes to Dry Ice and Coolers. Answer is simple, if cooler is made from Plastic resins, Yes, It can be used with Dry Ice. Provided, certain precautions are taken.
Dry Ice can be used with almost every cooler brand that produces plastic coolers. major precaution that the user will have to take is, never get dry ice and cooler surface directly in contact.
Use of newspaper, Styrofoam or cardboards is required when you put dry ice in the cooler. Direct contact of dry ice with cooler surface should be avoided.
How NOT to handle Dry Ice - Do's and Dont's
- Do not Touch Dry Ice, Always use protective gloves.
- Do not Eat Dry Ice.
- Dry Ice melts to Co2 Gas, which causes low Oxygen in Air. Always keep it in a ventilated area.
- Always use newspaper to wrap Dry Ice and place it in the cooler.
- Add a Styrofoam or Cardboard if available.
- Half open the drainage cap for ventilation.
- To dispose off the Dry Ice, put it on a cardboard or a wooden block and keep it in the open Air, it will melt into Co2 gas.
- Try not to deal with frozen Carbon Dioxide with uncovered hands.
- Use gloves or dry ice utensils and handle cautiously to avoid dropping.
- Do not store dry ice in a standard fridge, cooler, or cooler intended for food stockpiling, purchase it when you are actually going to use it.
- Coolers containing Dry Ice should be stored in dry, well-ventilated areas away from sources of heat, ignition and direct sunlight.
- Do not store Dry Ice in a air sealed containers.
- Dry Ice burns should be treated similar to normal fire or heat burns. You should see a doctor only if it is a severe burn and it forms a blister. Normally, burn will heal naturally as normal burns do. Apply normal first aid treatments as we do for the normal burns.