Answers to some of the common questions relating to travelling with temperature sensitive medications and the LifeinaBox mini intelligent medication fridge
The cavity exact measurements are 180 mm wide x 64 mm deep x 40 mm high, so a whopping 468 cm2. You should be able to fit 8 standard insulin pens inside.
The LifeinaBox battery needs to be fully charged before you start using the device
Connect it to the power and fully charge the battery (see above)
Switch on LifeinaBox by either:
LifeinaBox measures 20 cm wide, 10 cm high and 10 cm deep, and weighs about 1200 gm.
LifeinaBox is made for any medication that needs to be kept at a temperature between 2 and 8°C (35,6 to 46,4°F).
This includes insulins, adrenaline, growth hormones, arthritis medication and many more. The LifeinaBox cavity fits prefilled pens, needles or flacons. We also use it sometimes to keep miniature flasks of whisky… Basically, if it fits in the cavity, it will be kept at the right temperature.
The environment where LifeinaBox is used has some influence on how much cooling it will do. Just like the refrigerator in your house, it will be less efficient when exposed to extreme conditions. However, LifeinaBox will always ensure that your medications is kept between the temperatures of 2 and 8 °C (35,6 to 46,4°F)
LifeinaBox comes equipped with a 6-hour battery, which will give you ample time to get from your house to your car (unless you walk really really really slowly). We have also developed separate battery packs (LifeinaPower) of 6 hours each. These batteries will give you more flexibility and can be recharged with your mobile phone cables. Generally, we think that our isothermal bags ( LifeinaBag12 and LifeinaBag24) are easier to use when taking a plane, but there is really no problem at all if you want to use LifeinaBox on a plane
An alarm will start to beep when the battery is down to a 20% charge. To turn off this alarm, simply click the O/I button on the right of the device. When the battery drops to a 10% charge, the alarm will start again and it will not be possible to turn it off until you plug in the device to a power source.
LifeinaBox is like any electrical device. So no, LifeinaBox is not waterproof and should be kept in a dry environment.
It really just depends on the size of the cupboard. Just like a normal refrigerator, LifeinaBox cools by removing heat. Heat needs to dissipate. So do not use LifeinaBox in an area where there is little or no air exchange as there will be nowhere for the heat to go.
LifeinaBox uses a technology called the Peltier Effect (thermo-electric cooling). This was originally discovered by a French man with the wonderfully arcane name of Jean Atanase Peltier in 1834. He discovered that if you weld together many cubes of different metals and then pass an electrical current through them, the friction caused by the different metal densities causes super-heat on one side, and super-cold on the other.
So we get rid of the heat using fans, and have attached the cold part of the Peltier directly under an aluminum sink to spread the cold evenly. And presto, it's magic...
We have stabilised the Peltier Effect by producing it under vacuum to give it more stability, and are now at over 9700 hours of continuous use of this technology.
Yes, LifeinaBox is guaranteed. We make great products and devote a lot of attention to detail to make absolutely perfect products. According to the law, we must give a one-year warranty on LifeinaBox, but LifeinaBox will last much longer if you use it properly. It's obvious that if you crush it with your car, throw it in the bath while it's plugged, we will not fix it. However, if there is a real problem, we will always be there to help you fix it.
Will it drain my car battery?
LifeinaBox uses 4.5 amperes at 12V DC, just about the same as a single headlight. LifeinaBox should not drain or damage a fully charged battery when used while the engine is running. Each vehicle and each battery is unique. Ask your dealer or mechanic to check the quality of your battery before plugging in a device that may drain it.
Yes absolutely. LifeinaBox is delivered with a cable connector for the cigarette lighter of your car.
A pre-setting of the device stops your medication from going below 2°C to ensure that your medication never gets frozen. However, the LifeinaBox must be used in “normal” temperatures. If you keep your LifeinaBox at sub-zero degree temperatures it will not stop your medication from freezing.
You should anyway keep your medicine with you at all times, whatever the means of transport;
NEVER STORE YOUR MEDICINES IN LUGGAGE THAT WILL BE CHECKED INTO THE AIRPLANE CARGO STORAGE!
If your baggage is lost, or your flight is delayed, it might ruin your holiday.
Even if it is possible to use LifeinaBox in an airplane, we generally think that it is easier for plane travel to use one of our isothermal bags (LifeinaBag12 or LifeinaBag 24, that will also keep your medication between 2 and 8°C). The bags are just easier to stick in your handbag than a portable fridge. We tend to use LifeinaBox more in a car, hotel, home than on a plane.
But if you want to take your LifeinaBox on a trip with you on the plane, there is really no problem at all to do this. However, you will need the LifeinaTravel bag to transport your fridge, and you might want to get an extra battery (LifeinaPower) as well.
We tested LifeinaBox up to an ambient temperature of 36 ° C. At this temperature, everything in LifeinaBox stays between 2 and 8 ° C. On the other hand, if you use LifeinaBox at this temperature, the batteries will not last as long. But anyway, most people do not stay permanently at a temperature of 36 ° C and have access to air conditioning, whether in a house or in the car.
When we created the Lifeina application we thought we were doing the right thing by creating a super complete application. But user feedback was that it was way too complicated, and we therefore completely redid it, as simple as possible, to give only two things, temperature and battery life.
The most complete application is the Web application, which you can use on any computer or mobile phone. Just open www.lifeina.org from Google Chrome. You can then control LifeinaBox directly from the site.
Android : For Android, you can get the app on Google Play, but we strongly recommend that you just use the web app (as above), as it is much more complete.
iOS (Apple) : Go to the App store, and simply look for the Lifeina app. It is available everywhere.
Inside the LifeinaBox packaging there is
A magnificient little portable fridge measuring about 20 x 10 x 10 cm
An ACDC adaptor 110/220V with 4 different plugs for the USA, China, Europe, Switzerland and the UK
A cable to plug LifeinaBox in the cigarette lighter of your car
You might find that the logo in front of LifeinaBox is a bit bright, especially if you are in a hotel room. On the latest generation of LifeinaBox (2020) you can switch off the logo by simply double-clicking the O/I button on right of device.