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It depends on how you intend to use your Arctic Ice®. Keep in mind that the two series were designed for specific purposes. The Alaskan series is ideal for keeping your chilled goods cold. The Tundra Series is ideal for keeping frozen items frozen.

Arctic Ice® and other phase change materials (PCM) are designed to hold a very specific freezing point while absorbing “heat” from the surrounding area. When Arctic Ice® Tundra Series is exposed to temperatures greater than its freezing/melting point, it begins to absorb that difference in temperature or “heat”. The greater the difference in your payload temperature and the phase change material, the quicker it will change phase from solid to liquid, or melt.

What makes Arctic Ice® so much more efficient than other PCM’s is its ability to absorb greater amounts of heat without greatly increasing its temperature.

Example: When you place your chilled food and beverages in a cooler from a refrigerator, they are cooled to around 35-36º F. The Alaskan Series is designed to hold a constant 32°F while absorbing the “heat” around it. Since only a couple of degrees separate your food and beverages (35-36º F) and our Alaskan Series blocks (32°F), they are ideal for keeping these items at a refrigerated temperature for a long time.

Using Tundra Series blocks in the above situation would cause them to absorb a lot of “heat”. The difference in temperature of your chilled items (35-36F ) and the Alaskan Series blocks (5 F) is 30 degrees of “heat”. Therefore the Tundra series would melt more quickly and could possibly freeze some of the items it comes in contact with for prolonged periods.

You should choose close to the same weight of Arctic Ice®Alaskan Series as you would regular ice. Arctic Ice™ comes in 4 convenient sizes – Small (.75 lbs.), Medium (1.5 lbs.) Large (2.5 lbs) and XLarge (5 lbs.) The difference is Arctic Ice™ will last longer, leaves no wet mess, is dishwasher safe, and is re-usable for years!

Keeping items frozen for an extended period of time depends on several factors. Make sure that you use the smallest insulated container needed to hold your cargo and the Tundra Series blocks. Use at least one block to cover the bottom of the container and one to cover the top of the frozen goods. The more blocks you use, the longer your frozen goods will stay frozen. You’ll also find that the less you open the container, the longer it will hold frozen temperatures. Remember, if you're peeking, you’re not freezing!

Arctic Ice® Tundra Series has a specific cooling point of -15º C or 5º F. Make sure your freezer is turned down below this point or to its lowest setting. Most, if not all consumer freezers will get this cold or even colder. Some will cool down to -10º F! The Tundra Series (also a dry ice alternative) works best when cooled for at least 36 hours at the lowest setting available on consumer freezers.(What takes longer to thaw, takes longer to freeze.)