Engel 20 vs 32 Ice Packs

If you’re looking to find a way to successfully cool your belongings in your cooler, one of the most popular choices is ice packs. However, depending on your cooler’s size, as well as what you’re actually wanting to accomplish (such as keeping things dry, storing drinks, etc.), then you may want to infuse a hybrid ice system into your cooler as well. Therefore, you’ll probably want to use solid ice packs. We’re not talking about the cheap ones that you can get for a dollar – while they’re good at freezing, they aren’t as good at keeping your food and cooler cold. We’re going to talk about the Engel 20 vs. the Engel 32 ice packs. 

Melting Points Matter

Both of these Engel packs are great, but the noticeable difference is that they have different melting points – which can make the difference between cooling your freezer and keeping your ice and food much colder at all times. Either way though, ice packs are often the better choice if you’re not going to use loose ice – but you’ll want to make sure that it’s a product such as the Engel 32, which is more similar to using water or regular ice.

Engel 20 packs are made with different chemicals and internal ingredients. The Engel 20 naturally has a 20-degree melting and freezing point, whereas the Engel 32 is more like regular ice from water – freezing at 32 degrees Fahrenheit. While they have different freezing points, it doesn’t mean that they won’t keep your food at that temperature. However, the Engel 20 will last longer. If you’re wanting to keep your food and drinks dry though, you’re still better off using the Engel 32 packs as compared to regular loose ice. Also, be sure that you know that just because your ice pack gets colder, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s going to keep your cooler colder – it simply means that it will stay cooler longer. The melting is what makes ice and your cooler colder. This means that you can use these to even keep ice frozen much longer than using ice alone!

How Melting Ice Matters Most

Both packs are able to provide the melting and cooling capabilities to help your Yeti or Pelican cooler. Having an ice pack that can start melting at a lower temperature means that it’s going to draw the heat into it so it will pull the heat out of anything surrounding it. That’s what makes them work so well. If you’re wanting to keep things like ice cream or frozen goods, the pack will work to take the heat out of the items, and thus, helping it stay cooler longer. The lower the temperature that the ice pack can start to melt and engage the scientific process of absorbing the surrounding heat, the better and colder it will stay for a longer period of time.

The Engel 32 model is good at keeping things cold, but if you don’t need to keep things frozen, it may not be a good idea. Unfortunately, the higher melting point means that while it will keep things that temperature for a good period of time, but you need your food and beverages below 45 degrees, the Engel 32 is a better choice. 

Why Use These Ice Packs?

Compared to using regular ice alone, there are many reasons why you’ll want to use these Engel 20 or Engel 32 ice packs. As mentioned above, it all depends on how cold you want to keep your stuff, and for how long. Either way, Engel ice packs are made with high grade durable materials, and here are some of the benefits you can get while using these:

• You can get various sizes (2 lbs. or 5lbs)
• You can choose these boxes and reuse them as needed for up to an entire five years!
• Ingredients are safe and non-toxic.
• Proven by numerous reviews to cool drinks alone.
• Engel 20s melt faster, while Engel 32s last a bit longer.
• Great for picnics, and even longer trips where you need to keep ice for extended periods of time.
• Helps your ice stay frozen.
• Engel 20s can help your food stay frozen too.

So, which is Better for Everyday Use?

Unfortunately, one of the biggest problems that people have complained about, is that the Engel 20 packs will start to heat up faster and while they still keep food frozen longer, they won’t keep food cool quite as long. The Engel 32 has a higher melting point, and they can actually get much cooler than that. For example, if you had a deep freezer that is 0-degrees Kelvin (-32 degrees Fahrenheit), and you cooled your ice down to that level, the ice is going to stay frozen in an Engel 32 longer than it would in the Engel 20. That means it’s going to keep your food cooler longer compared to the 20-degree counterpart that Engel can offer.

So, What Does This Mean?

These industrial ice packs aren’t your standard ice packs – they are built to last! Since they’re reusable, they’re better than the cheaper alternatives that you can find in local retail stores. However, they are cheaper than some brands, and ringing in at around sixteen up to about thirty bucks, they’re more than worth it. Depending on what you need, both ice packs are excellent, but they have different common uses. Whether you’re looking to go on a fishing trip, or camp for long periods of time with a cooler that can hold ice for up to 7-10 days, you can’t go wrong by having a higher-grade ice pack at your fingertips (and in your cooler).

Conclusion

While we can see that the Engel 32 is one of the better ice packs for staying colder longer, it still doesn’t mean that it can cool your food down quite as fast. We’re certain that if you need to flash-cool your ice chest, this is a great way to do it with an Engel 20 though!