Future Keezer Build Question

I'm looking for a freezer around 7 cu ft. that I don't have to add a collar to. I would like to have 3 ball-lock kegs with picnic taps for the time being and eventually add a tower on top. I know that adding a collar means more kegs, but I don't have the time to have more than 2 or 3 kegs full at a time. I'm looking at the GE 7.0, but does anyone know if the top will close and have enough room for the all the lines? Thanks.

BigRigg120 said:

I'm looking for a freezer around 7 cu ft. that I don't have to add a collar to. I would like to have 3 ball-lock kegs with picnic taps for the time being and eventually add a tower on top. I know that adding a collar means more kegs, but I don't have the time to have more than 2 or 3 kegs full at a time. I'm looking at the GE 7.0, but does anyone know if the top will close and have enough room for the all the lines? Thanks.

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You should have plenty of room for the kegs and the taps. Most 7.5 cu ft freezers will hold four kegs. It's a snug fit with no room to spare, but they will fit. This may not be true for all of them, but it is for the one I have. I think it is made by Woods and has the small compressor hump in the corner.

how much does it usually cost to build a keezer collar? This is without tap costs. Just wood I guess and hinges.

JoeBuch said:

how much does it usually cost to build a keezer collar? This is without tap costs. Just wood I guess and hinges.

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As usual, it all depends. The cost of the wood depends on the size of the boards and the type of wood. The low end would be 2 x 4 softwood (pine etc) and the high end would be the various hardwoods. You may not need to buy hinges as often the originals can be used, but that depends on the configuration. I built a 2 x 6 pine collar for my freezer and simply reattached the original hinges to the collar instead of to the back of the freezer. The collar is held in place with rope type weatherstripping caulk. I gave the collar a whitewash stain and sealed it with clear satin polyurethane. The entire cost was probably about $30 and most of that was for the paint. Insulation for the inside of the collar was cheap at about $5 or so. I used the cheap 3/4" rigid foam stuff.

The big bucks come in when you buy the taps, shanks etc. The cost of the collar itself is trivial relative to the rest.