Insulate Keezer Collar, or Not?

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KCBigDog

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I'm planning on building my collar for a Fridgadare 7.2 this weekend out of 2x8 wood. I know most of you have done something similar.

Do you think that insulating the collar is necessary, or will the stained wood suffice?

This will be in my garage, which gets pretty hot during the summer months.

Thanks, any advice will be greatly appreciated!
 
well... why not? I'd be most concerned about the air gaps, but then insulation is next and you'll save a significant amount of electricity.
 
I would recommend insulating, especially in a high-temp garage. It never gets too hot up here where I live, but I bet I'm still saving a few pennies every year with the rigid board insulation I installed. No actual evidence of that, of course.....but it make me feel better!
 
I used 3/4 inch styrofoam from Home Depot. Cutting and Gluing it into place took just under 20 minutes. Vacuuming up the Styrofoam took another 10. It was time well spent in my opinion.

Not half-assing this and the fan step will set you up for a keezer that doesn't cycle off and on all the time.
 
old_townie said:
I used 3/4 inch styrofoam from Home Depot. Cutting and Gluing it into place took just under 20 minutes. Vacuuming up the Styrofoam took another 10. It was time well spent in my opinion.

Not half-assing this and the fan step will set you up for a keezer that doesn't cycle off and on all the time.
Click to expand...

I did this same setup with mine, works great!!! Good luck on the build, I love mine!!! :mug:
 
I recently added 3/4" foam to the inside of my 2 X 6 collar. I monitored the power consumption before and after with ambient at about 72*F. I run a muffin fan in the freezer continuously. The power consumption dropped by about 40% after I installed the insulation. It was much more than I expected. I think it would be much less without the fan. The fan accelerates the heat gain somewhat, but the power consumption is so low that it's of little consequence and the benefit is much more uniform temps throughout the freezer. Cooler lines, shanks and taps too.
 
OK, I'll try to find an insulation that will fit onto the 2x8. I'm not sure I can cut down the width of the wood.

Also, give me some easy fan examples? I'm thinking a small battery opperated one would be easiest, but not sure where to start.
 
KCBigDog said:
OK, I'll try to find an insulation that will fit onto the 2x8. I'm not sure I can cut down the width of the wood.

Also, give me some easy fan examples? I'm thinking a small battery opperated one would be easiest, but not sure where to start.
Click to expand...

Buy a six pack of 16 X 48 3/4" foam insulation at Home Depot or Lowes. It's dirt cheap at about $6 a pack or so. It's easy to cut with a sharp utility knife. I cut mine with one of those Harbor Freight multi-tool things. Worked great with the saw blade attachment. I used 3M 77 spray adhesive to hold it in place.

I bought a 120 mm AC muffin fan from Radio Shack. You can find them cheaper elsewhere if you shop around. A 12v fan would work as well. A muffin fan will deplete a battery in no time. I would avoid going that way. You can run power to the fan through the collar very easily.
 
KCBigDog said:
OK, I'll try to find an insulation that will fit onto the 2x8. I'm not sure I can cut down the width of the wood.

Also, give me some easy fan examples? I'm thinking a small battery opperated one would be easiest, but not sure where to start.
Click to expand...

I bought a sheet of 1" foam board ... R5, I think ... right now it's just pressure fit, and I'm going to seal all of the gaps with silicone to lock it in place and minimize the chance of air/moisture entering.

I bought a standard 80mm case fan (like you'd buy for a PC case), which will typically be a 12VDC fan ... I have a bunch of old wall-warts hanging around, including 12VDC and 9VDC ... the fan is pretty quiet at 12VDC, but it's really quiet at 9VDC ... so I will try it first at 9VDC and see if that works well enough ... and in that small space (7.2 cu ft), I'm guessing it will be fine at the lower speed.
 
Definitely insulate. While not required, if you're going to build the Keezer, why not take the extra step and insulate it. Plus it will pay for itself (eventually) with less cooling loss and electricity.
 
2puttbird said:
I bought a sheet of 1" foam board ... R5, I think ... right now it's just pressure fit, and I'm going to seal all of the gaps with silicone to lock it in place and minimize the chance of air/moisture entering.

I bought a standard 80mm case fan (like you'd buy for a PC case), which will typically be a 12VDC fan ... I have a bunch of old wall-warts hanging around, including 12VDC and 9VDC ... the fan is pretty quiet at 12VDC, but it's really quiet at 9VDC ... so I will try it first at 9VDC and see if that works well enough ... and in that small space (7.2 cu ft), I'm guessing it will be fine at the lower speed.
Click to expand...

Let me know how the 9vdc works. I have the same size freezer and want to put in a fan
 
Just insulated my fermentation chamber collar, it was super easy. I've had my keezer for a year and a half and never bothered to insulate it. I guess I'll go back and do it now, certainly wouldn't hurt.
 
h22lude said:
Let me know how the 9vdc works. I have the same size freezer and want to put in a fan
Click to expand...

Will do ... I'm pretty sure that someone else in here (sorry, can't recall who ... I've read too many threads) used a 9vdc supply on a 12vdc fan ... I'm hoping to get it running this weekend.
 
if you've got a temp controller built into the collar, just buy a 120v AC fan off ebay. then you don't need to worry about a wall-wart. my tsx3 love controller has 2 outputs so 1 is for the compressor and the other for the fan, but you could just as easily power both off the same relay so the fan is on whenever the compressor is on.
 

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