Kegerator or Keezer?

Today I ordered my keg system from kegconnection.com, so I need to get started on making a new home for it. I'm trying to decide between using a mini fridge or a freezer. Either way I want to use a tower on top. It will also be placed in my kitchen, so I am leaning towards the mini fridge as they are easier to find in darker colors that will go better with my kitchen cabinets.

Will a keezer keep colder temps than a mini fridge? So far freezers seem to be more easily found on my local Craigslist for cheap, but they all come in white. Would it look too ghetto if I painted a white freezer? The wife will balk at the idea if it looks crappy.

The mini fridge seems to be a better choice looks wise, but trying to find a used one for cheap that will accommodate 2 corny kegs seems to be the challenge. Any brands or models besides the Sanyo 4912 that will be easy to convert?


My question to you is: kegerator or keezer and why?

It comes down to personal preference. I painted my keezer black (originally white) no problem.

That looks nice! Does it have a collar on it? I've been looking at some other keezer threads and it seems that everyone makes a collar for them...why? Are the freezers not deep/tall enough to hold the kegs?

You get more for your money with a chest freezer but they are louder and don't look as good. A mini fridge w/ stainless door looks pretty nice.

Unless you're set up to do automotive body work I don't think painting with spray bombs will look good, especially not for something that's going to be in your living area. However you can buy black chest freezers but you probably won't find the super cheap Craig's List deals on them.

Collar is for more room . Without the collar on mine I could only fit two (5 CF) with a collar I can get three in it . Also the collar requires no drilling into the lid for the tower as the taps usually are place in the collar. If I get a bigger freezer in time I can just put this one back to it original function by simply removing the collar.


I don't see me getting a bigger one since I have two and fermentation fridge already.


The mini fridge is a great option and there are some that can fit two corny's off hand I don't know which but someone will post theirs soon enough

Freezers are more efficient (they work less to get you to the same temperature, assuming you use a thermostat on them). They need collars so that you can drill holes through the sides without hitting the coolant lines (for taps, electrical, air lines, etc.). The coolant lines in freezers generally run around their side-walls. Hit one drilling and it's toast. Same goes with minifridges, although some of them have lines on their tops too. There are threads that will show you how to find the lines while drilling, but it's a risk. Some freezers need collars to get the height for kegs/lines/etc., but I think that's going to be a freezer-specific issue too.

EDIT: What springer said...

Munsoned said:

Freezers are more efficient (they work less to get you to the same temperature, assuming you use a thermostat on them). They need collars so that you can drill holes through the sides without hitting the coolant lines (for taps, electrical, air lines, etc.). The coolant lines in freezers generally run around their side-walls. Hit one drilling and it's toast. Same goes with minifridges, although some of them have lines on their tops too. There are threads that will show you how to find the lines while drilling, but it's a risk. Some freezers need collars to get the height for kegs/lines/etc., but I think that's going to be a freezer-specific issue too.

EDIT: What springer said...

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Actually they do not *need* a collar, it is just a *nice* thing to have. You can cut a hole in the top of a freezer. The tops have no refrigeration lines. Then mount a tower on top of that. As for the temperature probe just drop it into the freezer and let the rubber seal from the top cover it.

Aside from parts the only real hard part is cutting a hole in the top.

As for how it looks, well it is in the garage with the rest of my tools (my wife's wood workshop is there too). It is white with a few rust spots. It sits next to the other freezer that has meat. Sitting next to that is a freezer converted to a lager space. Putting a nice, pretty keg freezer there would look odd an out of place.

IMHO, A keezer looks best in a man cave or poolside and the kegerator looks good in a living room or kitchen or just about anywhere. I happen to have both but for different reasons.

Torg said:

Actually they do not *need* a collar, it is just a *nice* thing to have. You can cut a hole in the top of a freezer. The tops have no refrigeration lines. Then mount a tower on top of that. As for the temperature probe just drop it into the freezer and let the rubber seal from the top cover it.

Aside from parts the only real hard part is cutting a hole in the top.

As for how it looks, well it is in the garage with the rest of my tools (my wife's wood workshop is there too). It is white with a few rust spots. It sits next to the other freezer that has meat. Sitting next to that is a freezer converted to a lager space. Putting a nice, pretty keg freezer there would look odd an out of place.

Click to expand...

Right. I thought I was clear, but reading it back, maybe not so much. They only need a collar if you want to drill through a SIDE where there might be coolant lines. No coolant lines in the lids, at least for most newer models that I'm aware of. Thus, no collar needed to drop a tower on top, or if you just want to use picnic taps for that matter...

Munsoned said:

Right. I thought I was clear, but reading it back, maybe not so much. They only need a collar if you want to drill through a SIDE where there might be coolant lines. No coolant lines in the lids, at least for most newer models that I'm aware of. Thus, no collar needed to drop a tower on top, or if you just want to use picnic taps for that matter...

Click to expand...

I would agree... I only added a collar to get my bar to a proper sitting bar height in my "original kegerator/keezer/bar/freezer" build...

Though I went through the top of my bar, I wanted a new dinner table. It worked to where I needed a 2" X 4" collar to get it to bar height. We still eat there every night!

Lonnie I like your setup



Cheers,
ClaudiusB

if you want a minni fridge search frigidaire and you will find some threads... i just converted mine this week

Lonnie Mac said:

I would agree... I only added a collar to get my bar to a proper sitting bar height in my "original kegerator/keezer/bar/freezer" build...

Though I went through the top of my bar, I wanted a new dinner table. It worked to where I needed a 2" X 4" collar to get it to bar height. We still eat there every night!

Click to expand...

Lonnie Mac, love your design. I would like to do a similar project. Are you willing to share any tips on how to emulate your creative genius.