Refrigerator options
Alright, so I just had a complete systems check done on my '78 Chevy Itasca and the results were overall what I expected. Motor, tranny, brakes, all mechanical is great. Body, furnace, AC, water lines...
Forum Discussion
The 12V coolers (and some dorm fridges) are thermoelectric units. These are quite inefficient and don't cool all that well; avoid them in general.
A compressor-based fridge can work fine. If you'll be boondocking much, you'll want a reasonably big battery bank and an inverter capable of powering it. (For travel down the road, just the inverter would be sufficient as the engine alternator should be capable of supplying the extra 12V power for the inverter.) Note that many of the smaller full-sized residential fridges don't use much if any more power than a dorm fridge; the dorm-sized ones are not all that well insulated or designed for the utmost of efficiency.
A final option if you won't be RVing for particularly long periods of time may be the old-fashioned approach of having a good quality cooler and keeping it cold with ice. The ice can get a bit expensive, but then again you can buy quite a bit of ice for the cost of a fridge.
A compressor-based fridge can work fine. If you'll be boondocking much, you'll want a reasonably big battery bank and an inverter capable of powering it. (For travel down the road, just the inverter would be sufficient as the engine alternator should be capable of supplying the extra 12V power for the inverter.) Note that many of the smaller full-sized residential fridges don't use much if any more power than a dorm fridge; the dorm-sized ones are not all that well insulated or designed for the utmost of efficiency.
A final option if you won't be RVing for particularly long periods of time may be the old-fashioned approach of having a good quality cooler and keeping it cold with ice. The ice can get a bit expensive, but then again you can buy quite a bit of ice for the cost of a fridge.
