Advice on Buying a Kegerator

I want to get a kegerator.

Here are my two choices (I'm open to other options):

1) Converted Chest freezer
Benefits: lots of room, holds carboys and kegs, etc.
Drawbacks: more expensive, have to buy temp regulator, have store tap inside freezer unless I buy more equipment.

2) Standard Store Kegerator
This is the one that holds a 15 gallon stainless keg.
Benefits: ready to go and pretty cheap.
Drawbacks: not much space.

For those of you that have these systems, what do you think? Any regrets about your cooling system. In an ideal world, what would you purchase?

I want to lager so I want something that will hold a 5 gal korny (or 2) and a primary for lagering.

chest freezer by far. If you get one off craigslist its cheap. Convert and then you can always lager with kegs on gas. I have apfelwein and a munich dunkel in there (apfel on tap and dunkel lagering) and it works fine. This is also with the co2 tank inside. The temp controller can be used for many things and i would deffinitly recomend getting one.

Can't say about the two options, but why not convert a mini fridge?

I bought a Sanyo mini fridge and converted it for a 2-tap system using cornie kegs. The kit was expensive, but the fridge was only $60. It was really easy to do and cheap for a home setup.

If you're stuck between the chest and store bought, definately go with the chest IMHO.

Sk84BeeR said:

Can't say about the two options, but why not convert a mini fridge?

I bought a Sanyo mini fridge and converted it for a 2-tap system using cornie kegs. The kit was expensive, but the fridge was only $60. It was really easy to do and cheap for a home setup.

If you're stuck between the chest and store bought, definately go with the chest IMHO.

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Sanyo 4912 got discontinued and they are hard to find. I saw one on craigslist for 60 bones and emailed the owner instantly. She replied the following day (while I was brewing, ofcourse) and gave me her address. By the time I got done brewing she sent another email saying it was already sold People are using osters now but the conversion doesn't look nearly as easy/clean as with the Sanyo.

For a chest freezer, how many cubic square feet do you recommend.

Thanks for the Craigslist tip!!!

Cistercian said:

For a chest freezer, how many cubic square feet do you recommend.

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Depends on how many kegs you want it to hold. You can fit 2-3 into a 5cf freezer. I can fit 5 corny kegs into my 8.9cf. Check out this link.

I took a mini fridge that i got for free on craigslist and converted it. It was not that hard.

1. Undo any conectors or brackets or anything attached to the "Freezer section" in the fridge. Basically you want it to be held by the pipe that comes from the back of the fridge only. Oh and the thermostat is sometimes attached too.
2. Carefully, but firmly, bend the freezer part back as far as it can go. Do this first because if you mess it up then you broke the fridge. If you hear a hiss or smell something, you broke it. Do this in a ventilated area I guess.
3. Take off the plastic on the inside of the door.
4. Remove all insulation from the inside of the door. You want to see metal.
5. At this point you can play with it to see if you can fit 2 cornys in there. It worked for me. It is very tight.
6. Duct tape a cardboard box to the front of the door leaving enough room to fill with "Great Stuff" insulation.
7. Use Great stuff to insulate the door.
8. Install latches on the door so it will stay shut.

Only do this on a mini fridge that will fit a corny in it after the freezer is out of the way. Also use a free mini fridge so you are not out any money if you break it when bending back the freezer part.

This will look very bootleg. But it was cheap.

Fridge -Free
Latches -$5
Great Stuff -$5
CO2 tank and regulator $100
Picnic faucets and hoses and quick connects- $32 (if you have the money buy real faucets, they do make a difference.)
2 cornys -$50
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$192