Nice setup, HDR.
I don't live year around in my cargo trailer camper, but I do sometimes camp for several months at a time. This summer I camped in the mountains for 3 and a half months straight as the western states were all covered in smoke. When it gets smoky in the valleys I camp in the high elevation mountain areas as my lungs react to the smoke lower down. I am usually above 7,000 ft.
If I wear a high grade filter mask I can go down to a town once in awhile for a quick supply run. I don't do that very often as it might require a 60 to 80 mile round trip on dirt roads and wearing the mask is a pain and doesn't always block it all.
I started out using an ice chest and it would keep up to 7 or 8 days of cold if I started with good hard ice from home. Obviously after the ice melts .. no more cooler foods. I have usually eaten them by then anyway.
The large water bottles that previously were ice I now put out in the back of my truck at night. Nighttime temperatures and "solar loss" of a clear night sky at high elevation will cool them into the 30 to 40 degree zone. They then kept my cooler at quite a nice temp through the day. No, I was not using it as a refrigerator then just as a cooler for water and juice packs etc.
A lot of things that we put in our home fridges don't need full refrigeration. Most of the condiments can either be left our or you can get the small one use travel packets such as from minimus.biz. I also have a small mesh hammock that hangs next to my kitchen cabinet. It holds a lot of salad stuff and fresh vegetables. I usually wrap a damp towel around it. That provides a cooler effect and increased the humidity for them. I have kept and used heads of lettuce, cabbage, celery, and carrots for several weeks this way. (also trim the bottom root lightly and place a damp, folded up paper towel folded up paper towel over it.) I also hang the hammock from cup hooks on the ceiling so it can swing free when I am traveling. That keeps the my fruits and veggies from getting bounced and bruised.
Here is the hammock in travel position with a bag of chips in it for illustration purposes.
Small cherry tomatoes and things like peppers and zucchini will also keep a long time on the counter. Green onions will stay alive and even grow if you put their roots in a cup with a little water on a paper towel in the bottom. Make your own vinegar and oil dressing or use the small packets of ranch etc. They don't need a fridge either. Milk can be the shelf stable, regular or non-dairy, or Nido brand pwd milk works well in many uses. Waxed cheeses (such as mini bells) also keep without refrigeration. I wax my own blocks. Eggs I get from a local farmer and leave on the counter. By putting a thin layer of Vaseline on store bought eggs they too will last. If you aren't sure check them in a pan of water. Mine have kept a very long time.
With no refrigeration choices of meats and some other foods is usually canned, dehydrated, or freeze dried. They all work well. When I am home I make my own dehydrated and canned, but there are lots of places to buy dehydrated and freeze dried products.
This last spring I bought the Engel MR040F from https://www.engelcoolers.com/12volt-fridge-freezers.html on their sale. It is cheaper there than on Amazon etc. I run it as a freezer only and don't do a fridge at all. Sometimes I may cool leftovers overnight with a frozen water bottle, but for the most part I have found that I don't really need a fridge or cooler. It is nice to have the freezer for individual packets of meats, leftovers, and frozen yogurt.
I ran it all summer as a freezer (more amps than as a fridge, but still not much) with a one hundred watt solar panel and a small 75 amp hour marine battery. The is probably the lower limit of watts and storage. The battery is too small and ageing so it will be replaced in a year or two with 2 deep cycle golf cart batteries. This fall I also got another 100 watt panel.
I love having the freezer. It is a nice luxury. I don't miss not having a fridge too.
So my opinion for the CosmickGold is use a 12v fridge with solar. Yes, cost is upfront, but I don't have to make propane runs either.
Propane fridges can work, but it is slow to cool and sometimes the temps inside can get into risky levels. At least the one in my mom's motor home did. It was a pain to get it to work right, so maybe I am soured on a bad one.
I hope that this is helpful to some.
I don't live year around in my cargo trailer camper, but I do sometimes camp for several months at a time. This summer I camped in the mountains for 3 and a half months straight as the western states were all covered in smoke. When it gets smoky in the valleys I camp in the high elevation mountain areas as my lungs react to the smoke lower down. I am usually above 7,000 ft.
If I wear a high grade filter mask I can go down to a town once in awhile for a quick supply run. I don't do that very often as it might require a 60 to 80 mile round trip on dirt roads and wearing the mask is a pain and doesn't always block it all.
I started out using an ice chest and it would keep up to 7 or 8 days of cold if I started with good hard ice from home. Obviously after the ice melts .. no more cooler foods. I have usually eaten them by then anyway.
The large water bottles that previously were ice I now put out in the back of my truck at night. Nighttime temperatures and "solar loss" of a clear night sky at high elevation will cool them into the 30 to 40 degree zone. They then kept my cooler at quite a nice temp through the day. No, I was not using it as a refrigerator then just as a cooler for water and juice packs etc.
A lot of things that we put in our home fridges don't need full refrigeration. Most of the condiments can either be left our or you can get the small one use travel packets such as from minimus.biz. I also have a small mesh hammock that hangs next to my kitchen cabinet. It holds a lot of salad stuff and fresh vegetables. I usually wrap a damp towel around it. That provides a cooler effect and increased the humidity for them. I have kept and used heads of lettuce, cabbage, celery, and carrots for several weeks this way. (also trim the bottom root lightly and place a damp, folded up paper towel folded up paper towel over it.) I also hang the hammock from cup hooks on the ceiling so it can swing free when I am traveling. That keeps the my fruits and veggies from getting bounced and bruised.
Here is the hammock in travel position with a bag of chips in it for illustration purposes.
Small cherry tomatoes and things like peppers and zucchini will also keep a long time on the counter. Green onions will stay alive and even grow if you put their roots in a cup with a little water on a paper towel in the bottom. Make your own vinegar and oil dressing or use the small packets of ranch etc. They don't need a fridge either. Milk can be the shelf stable, regular or non-dairy, or Nido brand pwd milk works well in many uses. Waxed cheeses (such as mini bells) also keep without refrigeration. I wax my own blocks. Eggs I get from a local farmer and leave on the counter. By putting a thin layer of Vaseline on store bought eggs they too will last. If you aren't sure check them in a pan of water. Mine have kept a very long time.
With no refrigeration choices of meats and some other foods is usually canned, dehydrated, or freeze dried. They all work well. When I am home I make my own dehydrated and canned, but there are lots of places to buy dehydrated and freeze dried products.
This last spring I bought the Engel MR040F from https://www.engelcoolers.com/12volt-fridge-freezers.html on their sale. It is cheaper there than on Amazon etc. I run it as a freezer only and don't do a fridge at all. Sometimes I may cool leftovers overnight with a frozen water bottle, but for the most part I have found that I don't really need a fridge or cooler. It is nice to have the freezer for individual packets of meats, leftovers, and frozen yogurt.
I ran it all summer as a freezer (more amps than as a fridge, but still not much) with a one hundred watt solar panel and a small 75 amp hour marine battery. The is probably the lower limit of watts and storage. The battery is too small and ageing so it will be replaced in a year or two with 2 deep cycle golf cart batteries. This fall I also got another 100 watt panel.
I love having the freezer. It is a nice luxury. I don't miss not having a fridge too.
So my opinion for the CosmickGold is use a 12v fridge with solar. Yes, cost is upfront, but I don't have to make propane runs either.
Propane fridges can work, but it is slow to cool and sometimes the temps inside can get into risky levels. At least the one in my mom's motor home did. It was a pain to get it to work right, so maybe I am soured on a bad one.
I hope that this is helpful to some.
