Has any one bought a new fride for kegerator construction?

I just had my basment flood and it got 19 inches up the walls. needles to say it got the keg fridge. my insurance company is paying for a new replacement fridge and i was wondering if anyone has any suggestions on what fridge i should get. The origional one was bought from craigs list for 50 bucks. but now I have the opp to get one that is brand new, energy efficiant and doesn't smell like rotting tacos. any suggestions?

I'm looking at 10-14 cu ft frost-free units to replace mine. You might laugh, but I've have extremely good luck over the last 35 years (60 if you count my parents) with Sears products. If you have a Sears outlet nearby, you can get new units that have cosmetic damage to 35-50 cents on the dollar.

When I've narrowed things down, I'll probably take 4 empty cornies along to check.

Recently I was looking at freezerless refrigerators for conversion to a kegerator. It makes sense to use a freezerless one, since the freezer is wasted space anyway.

This freezerless refrigerator would probably accomodate 8 to 10 cornies. Since it has no freezer, all of the space is usable for cornies.

The interior dimensions are not given, but estimating from the exterior dimensions of 66 3/4 H x 30 W x 30.5 D, I am guessing that the interior is 58 or 59 inches high by 25 wide by 24 deep. Take out the shelves and bins and build a single sturdy shelf halfway up, and you can fit maybe three cornies and a C02 bottle on the bottom and five on the shelf. Or so it seems, but I haven't seen one in person.

Anyway, when I get around to building a kegerator, it'll probably be based on something like this freezerless unit. It's true that you could fit more cornies in a large size chest freezer, but those have a really big footprint. I'd rather have the smaller footprint vertical orientation, since floorspace is at a premium in my house.

BTW, like david_42, I've had great luck with Sears appliances over the years. I wouldn't hesitate to buy something from Sears, but they don't have a suitable freezerless unit like the one above. They actually have a couple of them, but I just don't like them.

Sears is still as good as anybody for appliances. Every major appliance in my house is a Kenmore.

Make sure you check with your insurance company on requirements to process claims. Last homeowners claim we filed (lightning strike took out furnace, computers, tvs, garage door opener, etc), they cut us a check based on estimates of replacement value, but then we also had to turn in receipts to show that we actually bought suitible replacements and not just whatever we wanted to use the money for.

If they'll just cut a check and that's it, you're good to go, but if they want documentation on what you bought, you'll probably have to stick to a fridge that's similar to the destroyed one.

debtman7 said:

Make sure you check with your insurance company on requirements to process claims. Last homeowners claim we filed (lightning strike took out furnace, computers, tvs, garage door opener, etc), they cut us a check based on estimates of replacement value, but then we also had to turn in receipts to show that we actually bought suitible replacements and not just whatever we wanted to use the money for.

If they'll just cut a check and that's it, you're good to go, but if they want documentation on what you bought, you'll probably have to stick to a fridge that's similar to the destroyed one.

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Yes that is how they operate. Depreciated value up front, them you must send recipts for the new purchases to get reimbursed.

I get a huge discount on GE products because my fiance works for Equity Residential. I just got new washer and dryer at close to 60% off MSRP! Therefore i can get a decent fridge at a huge discount, im just not sure what to get. When i look at all the models they sell it give me a headache. Such a huge range of prices all in the same size catagory of the fridges, which one to pick?

Here is the one i got. Black 17.9 cub. foot freezer on top.

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?BV_UseBVCookie=Yes&vertical=APPL&cat=Refrigerators&subcat=Top+Freezer+Refrigerators&pid=04605129000

Now does any one have any ideas about decorating the outside of it? One of you had one w/ flames on it. Where would i get flame decals from? If I had any artistic talent i would paint it by hand, but I do not have any talent.

www.edecals.com has a bunch of flame graphics. For about $20 you can get a single decal that would be about right for a fridge door.