You can count us as ones that have had great luck, success with traditional, absorption refrigerators.
Been camping for 14 years now, and in those 14 years, have owned 4 different RVs, all of which had absorption refrigerators. The one we kept the longest (a 34' TT), we kept 9 years before trading to the rig we have now. NEVER, have we had any issues with our refrigerators. Ever. They've always kept our food just as cold as we needed it to be. And, obviously, we've never had a fire issue, either.
Maybe its 'cause we don't put our RVs in storage and forget about them for months allowing critters to build nests where they shouldn't. Ours stays in the driveway, and I always keep a close eye on the cooling unit, vent, etc. and keep it clean. Don't know if thats why or not, but do know that absorption refrigerators has been one component on our RVs that have never, ever been an issue.
I may be in the minority, but I have always liked having a refrigerator that can run on A/C when its available, or LP gas when A/C is not available. And, we don't even really boondock, either. 99.9% of our camping is done at places where I have A/C hookups.
All that said, if one day our refrigerator ever quits or becomes a problem, would I switch to a residential style refrigerator? Maybe. It would just depend on cost and whether or not I could find one that would fit OK without too much difficulty. I could handle setting up the batteries and an inverter to handle the load, thats not a big concern.
I do know that the new Georgetown models like ours (351DS model), many of the new ones are coming with residential refrigerators. However, that comes at a price - you lose the pantry to the side that we have. I've asked DW a few times if she'd be willing to give up that pantry for a larger residential style refrigerator, and the answer is always an emphatic NO. Sooo, not sure if we'd go to a residential one or not. :)
