ChillTest: Esky Ice TestSupport
Had a measurement refuse to resolve, or a result you were not expecting? The answers below cover what most people ask, and you can write to us about anything they miss.
FAQ
Why do I have to pre-chill the esky for an hour first?
An esky at room temperature spends its first ice cooling its own walls. On an 8 kg esky that is around 720 g of extra melt, against maybe 97 g of real melt in an hour — enough to throw the result out by several times. The hour of pre-chilling, with that water tipped out, keeps the walls out of the numbers.
Why does it need to run for three hours or more?
Weighing error stays the same size however long you wait, so a short run blows it up. Over one hour, a ±20 g slip spreads the prediction across 1.8 to 2.7 days. Over three hours the same slip tightens it to about 0.15 days, which is why three hours is the practical minimum.
Can I test with ice bricks instead of ice?
No, and the app will say so rather than hand you a figure. The method depends on the contents holding at exactly 0°C as they thaw. Gel bricks are made to change phase at a different temperature, so the sums stop working. Plain water ice only.
Do I need a thermometer?
No. Kitchen scales are enough, or a measuring jug if you would rather read millilitres. You do need the outside air temperature, which you can type in or let the app fetch for your area.
Will it tell me whether the food inside is still safe?
No. ChillTest answers one question — how long ice lasts in your esky — and says nothing about food safety. It is not a food-safety device, it has no idea what is inside or how warm it got, and it makes no claim about whether anything is fit to eat. Follow proper food handling advice for that.