I don't know what you mean by solid state but its a peltier wrapped in insulation and plates which are then attached to the heatsinks.
The whole setup with fans draws 3.8 amps I believe it was. I never actually tested the draw, that's just from adding the three advertised draws together. The transformer was actually the hardest to find and most expensive part. Normal available transformers only went to 1000mA. This is a laptop power cord.
I don't have the wine cooler I'm going to use yet so I never mounted it. I've decided instead to use a readily available TEC fridge and mount this in my old (current) one and use it for my pipe tobaccos. What I'll do is cut a hole, drill some perimeter holes around that and in the mounting plate, caulk the opening, bolt the cooler on, and then foam seal the back.
I haven't tested the true operating temp but it should be close to 50 degrees cooler, so I have a thermostat to use. There was no condensation that I could see but I've only been able to test it in the open with both sides exposed.
No, there's no reason that I can see that this couldn't be used in an ice chest. However you'd be just as well off buying a TEC fridge. I spent over $100 all told on this and you can get a 28 bottle Avanti for under 200. It was a fun project though. Just got a little sick of the repetitive soldering and heat shrinking.
Justin
