cyntdon2010 wrote:
Save your money. our camper is plugged in and drinks loaded 24 hour before.
We freeze water bottles in outdoor kitchen mini frig. freeze area. Never had an issue defrosting.
While all the answers are good, I think this is the best one. As long as you stock a couple days prior to leaving and everything is down to proper temp, if your only traveling 2-8 hours, you will be fine. Fridges today are insulated very well and if you don't open them and they are not having to cool warm items, they will stay acceptably cold for 8 hours easily. For drinks, condiments, etc, if you have everything mid-high 30's before leaving, it won't rise above mid to high 40's after 8 hours in 90 degree heat. If you have anything frozen you can put in it that you need to thaw, that helps also. I've put frozen steaks, burgers, hot dogs, chops, etc in mine and not turned it on because I was out of propane until I got to the campground 4-5 hours away and got my tanks swapped out. Stuff was still frozen and just starting to thaw.
What gets people in trouble is stopping on the way and going grocery shopping and opening the door and putting in a bunch of stuff that isn't down to temp and then expecting the camper fridge to bring the temp down 20 degree's.
All that said, the inverter and a couple extra batteries is a great safe guard and will be a benefit if you take a longer trip or have an emergency that requires the trip be be longer than planned before you can plug in.
