I've always used an ice chest while camping.
While considering to build a teardrop to get away from tent camping with my kids... The galley, with it's instant outdoor kitchen is what put me over the top.
So... in that killer kitchen, I thought that a refridgerator just had to be included. Early on, I learned from reading posts that the inexpensive units hooked only to shore power were being employed.... Just too many dead batteries running those through an inverter.
I found what I thought was a nice portable unit that opperates on 12/24 volt dc and 110 ac... It's called a Coolmatic CF-35.
A bit spendy at $665.00.
After talking with my brother-in-law who works for Kenworth, he told me, "Oh Yaa... A lot of truck drivers are using them and they seem to work great."
Well, come to find out... His company can't get the CF-35 but... They carry two larger built-in units, the smaller of which I can make room for in my galley. It's called a Coolmatic RPD-150 which goes for $689.00, but his cost is 564.00.
That's a good buy for that unit, but it's a pretty spendy item for a teardrop and I don't understand the power consuption charts.
The Coolmatics are shown at this website: http://www.waecousa.com/
If someone who knows how to convert watts used to what that would be in amps and what that means in demands placed on my battery source, I'd sure appreciate their input. (I'm planning on going with two Blue Top Optima batteries)
If the Coolmatic won't suck my battery power dry, I'd really like to go with it, even at that price.
On the other hand...I see that there are ice chests out there now that are listed as 5 day ice chests. I've camped for extended periods throughout the Summer, leaving my kids at the campground with my sister during the weekdays and commuting to my jobesites and I have replenished everyone's ice chests on the evening return trips, so getting more ice isn't such a big deal. (I think ice lasts about 2-3 days in my current ice chest)
If an electric refridgerator is just going to end up giving me a dead battery, a 5 day ice chest looks like the way to go.