Did you buy new or used frig and/or freezer?

Used frig or freezer too pricey in my area. Live in the St Louis area and check CL every day. People still want $150+ on average for a frig 9+ years old. Freezers are not much better.

May be time to look new and pay the premium.

I wonder how many brewers buy new rather than used frig or freezer?

I bought new. GE 7cu.ft. Chest freezer on sale at HD for $178 delivered. You can usually catch some good sales. Used can be worth it, but for the right price. Also depends on how big, as well.

my kegerator was a wedding present from the groomsmen.
my lagering/carbing freezer was 40 bucks on craigslist

My first kegger was built from a used fridge, it is now my fermentation cabinet. The second and third were purchased new. Much better insulation means more stable temperatures for less power.

Used freezer. Sometimes they are free on freecycle.org.

I have a chest freezer I picked up off CL that I use as a fermentation chamber. That's getting replaced with a new unit though. It's circa 1978 and is less than efficient.

For a kegerator, I bought new. It's in our dining room, so we weren't having some scratch and dent job in there.

I picked up both used from my father's friend who was going through a divorce and downsizing. Complete score: $250 for a one zone upright fridge and a one zone upright freezer. Over $1400 brand new and they were like a year old each.

Bought new. Unless youre getting it for free I don't think it's worth it to go used. Those old units eat up electricity.

I bought the 7cf GE from Home Depot for about 180. Down here finding a used chest freezer for a decent price is almost unheard of. $150 for a used 5cf freezer when a new one can be bough for 159-170? Occasionally I see good deals on 20+cf models for 2-300 but that's a lot of freezer.

iijakii said:

Bought new. Unless youre getting it for free I don't think it's worth it to go used. Those old units eat up electricity.

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Depends on how old. Used in my case was about 1 year old. If we're worried about one year technological advances, we're gonna be spending a ton of money on new appliances every year.

Freezer for the keezer I bought new from Lowes. But, I bought my two fridges in the basement (one for fermentation and one for a man cave fridge), from co-workers. Put a sign up at work. I know I paid less than 50 buxs for each.

I live in St. Louis and recently bought a fridge on Craigslist. I got a side by side in very good condition for $75 back in January. If you're patient you'll be able to find a good fridge at a good price.

iijakii said:

Bought new. Unless youre getting it for free I don't think it's worth it to go used. Those old units eat up electricity.

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That's how I think also.
Somebody was going to give me a working 18 cu ft chest freezer from the 60's. It's a beautiful old machine but I figured the electricity costs would kill me, and if it failed I would have a hard time finding parts.
Keep an eye on the spring sales at the big box stores and get something that will last for years. Keep in mind that cheap used one may only last a couple of years or even months.

I also bought the 7 from hd. Gonna look on Craigslist for a smaller one for lagering. I refuse to pay more then 50 for a used chest freezer . I can wait for the good deal. I bought the new one cuz I got tired trying to weed through people trying to get,200 for a used freezer

iijakii said:

Those old units eat up electricity.

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As long as the unit is in good shape and the seals are tight the old units are just as efficient and will last longer. The newer units tend to run more often and longer than the old ones.
I guess it may depend on what your definition of old is.... Really old units were designed to run on electric wiring that couldn't handle what today wiring does.

(Edit)..also if you are using a freezer as fridge it is apparently harder on it and will not last as long.

Airborneguy said:

Depends on how old. Used in my case was about 1 year old. If we're worried about one year technological advances, we're gonna be spending a ton of money on new appliances every year.

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Well usually people don't sell one year old appliances

My keezer was a new GE 7 CU... didn't want to risk used. My first fermentation chamber was a used off of CL that I refurbished... reinsulated and sealed the lid, resealed the inside and primed over all the rust. It lasted about a year then crapped out on me so I got a new one to replace it.

Used 9 cu ft. $40 @ a yard sale. No perceptible change in the power bill (I've had it almost 3 years now). I will buy another used in a heartbeat, hopefully larger.

bought new. I stalked the scratch and dent section at lowes. It has a dent in the lid, but I covered it with a wood top. Saved about $100.

iijakii said:

Well usually people don't sell one year old appliances

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True. But there are certainly exceptions.

My first Craig's List beer fridge was actually a brand new/never used 17cf top freezer and I got it for $100. A pair of yuppies bought a house that had just had a full kitchen reno - but the sellers installed white ware and the yuppies wanted stainless. Before they moved in they had the new SS stuff deliver, so the fridge still had all of the blue shipping tapes and styrofoam inserts in it. I was stunned but I kept my mouth closed 'til they took the cash and I wheeled it to my truck.

My second CL beer fridge - another 17cf top freezer, this one only two years old - I scored from a rather sad situation: a rooming house owner was losing her mortgage and had to empty the house and all the apartments in a hurry. She was only asking $100 but I gave her an extra $20 just 'cuz I felt kinda bad about the whole thing.

Finally, the 10 cf chest freezer I picked up on my last CL raid was four years old but looked nearly new, and cost me $125. The owner had brought it with him from Colorado when he was relocated to the town just west of me, only to find out two years later he was being relocated back. It would cost more to transport it than he figured it was worth.

All three are e-star rated, are still working perfectly and filled in my brewing needs nicely The freezer is now a 6 faucet keezer, the older fridge is used for fermentation, and the new fridge is kept cold for crashing, forced carbonation (with its own bottle and reg), and holding kegs ready for the keezer, along with the wife's white wine and cases of soda and my yeasts, and I keep my hops in the freezer section.

So I've found if you're patient and diligent wrt Craig's List, eventually some really good scores will come your way...

Cheers!

I bought a used beer fridge, maybe 8-10 years old that lasted 3 months. Luckily it died in the middle of winter so I was able to keep my beer cold.
My primary beer fridge was my kitchen fridge for 10 years, it's been a kegerator/beer fridge for probably 12 years now so I don't knock the old stuff completely. But I have had Delbert the appliance guy out here 2 or 3 times to repair it already so the next time it dies it gets buried.

Got some great ideas. Thanks all. Will be a little more patient for a good deal, but looking like a HD freezer which is always on sale seems to be the way to go. We also have a Sears outlet near by that sells dent and scratched appliances at decent prices, thanks to the person who suggested that.

Love this site to think out loud and you get some great help here. Thanks again.

I say go new if you can, but their is nothing wrong with old. I would kill for a 1950's retro kegerator.
I bought a Kenmore Elite 27cf Fridge w/freezer drawer from sears on clearance for $500, normally $1800. The front stainless had a few scratches from where someone scraped off a label. If you keep your eyes open, sears has good clearance stuff. I got a Kenmore Elite 6 bottle wine fridge from them for $20.

I run into the same thing in Utah, people think their used equipment is worth 90% of what they originally paid for it. I even saw one yahoo trying to sell a non-functioning chest freezer for $75.

After much searching, I finally found a used chest freezer for $50 that I used for my ferm chamber. The fridge for my kegerator was used and free from an old neighbor. I want to build a keezer at some point and I'll probably buy new for that.

If you're looking for smaller refrigerators that are suitable for kegerator builds, you may start seeing deals pop up on CL in the next month or two as college students are graduating and cleaning out their dorm rooms. I got a good deal on one like that last May.