My Latest Project - Walk-in Cooler

ya... this definitly rocks....

Absolutely unreal. Wow! Thanks for sharing, looking forward to the johnbeere.com info.

This thread inspired me.

As a result I have been a busy beaver gathering my supplies for my upcoming fridge project.

This is what I have so far;

I spoke to the foreman on a project and, for the price of some 22 oz homebrews, he gave me 300 square feet of 2 3/8 inch foam insulation. They were shorts and end pieces for a job that they were completing. As a result, I have my insulation, delivered and waiting.

Price - 2 22oz homebrews and a 12 oz special IPA I bottled a few months ago.

During a conversation with another guy I know, I mentioned my project. being an HVAC guy, he went into improvement mode and ended up giving me a precision controller he had demo-ed (sp) out of a rehab project. Plus or minus 2 degrees, 15 amps capacity.

Price - 1 22oz homebrew.

Yet another buddy, who was very enthusiastic about the whole thing gave me a call to let me know about a restaurant walk in cooler, compressor, fans and coils in the free section of Craigslist.

I was emailing the Cragslist guy as soon as he said it and scored a professional walk in cooler system, complete, for FREE !

SCORE !

Price - Nada

I am still getting my supplies together and will post a similar thread as this when I get started.

Cheers,

knewshound

Friggin A, that's awesome, dude.

Thanks to all those who have commented in this thread. I can honestly say that a good portion of how the project turned out is due to posting its progress as often as I could as its very different when you put it out there for all to critique.

I've taken a break from the project these last few days... still have the outside to finish up and paint. I'm pleased to report that the unit is holding steady at 33 degrees without even breaking a sweat. Now its time to start filling it with beer which might take awhile as big as it is... heh.

FYI, I put the "Kill A Watt" on my little dorm fridge for a few days just to see how much power it eats. I'm very pleased to report that the walkin cooler uses almost exactly the same amount of power (just a touch more) as the dorm fridge! Nuts...

I'll post some more photos in a few days when I consider it finished as well as progress reports as problems / milestones occur.

Thanks again

Well, John, I think we all feel that this project is a little bit "ours" as well, so if you find a couple dozen drunks rummaging through your walk-in cooler - remember, we mean no harm.

Very cool! I was in Fry's Electronics today and they sell a device called Watts Up?

It looks pretty cool in that it will measure electricity usage. I'm guessing it is similar to your Kill A Watt.



This puppy tracks useage and hooks up to a PC for all sorts of graphing and stuff.

JB,

Any new progress lately? I'm dying to see the finished product!!

drost said:

JB,

Any new progress lately? I'm dying to see the finished product!!

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I was just about to revive this thread... The cooler is finished and is maintaining 33 degrees with no trouble at all - now I'm on to the harder task of actually trying to fill this bad boy up...

My wife hit me up to finish the rest of the utility room which has taken up a lot of my free time lately, but I should have it finished up either tonight or tomorrow night.

Also, something really cool has happened that I haven't brought up... AHA, through my contact with Jamil Z. (aka mr. malty), has contacted me about writing the process up into an article for their next edition of Zymurgy! The article will pretty much reflect this thread and I fully plan on thanking HomeBrewtalk.com and everyone on the board for all the guidance during the project.

That's awesome!

Good for you, definately have to grab a copy of that. Be great to see the finished product in print.

That's really cool! Congrats!

Be sure to post pictures of the finished project soon. I don't think we've seen the outside yet.

Are you going to be putting taps outside the wall?

Will do... I'm trying my best to get our logo finished up in the next day or two. I'm going to have it made into a large sign for the outside of the cooler to put in the photos for the article. If you haven't seen it: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=13374

That's going to look incredible outside of the cooler!

Couple more photos from tonight. FYI, the cooler is rocking along at 33 degrees without any problems so far. I did a longer test with the "kill-a-watt" after filling the cooler with as much stuff as I could find and it averages out to .17 KWPH - which translates into about $12.50 in electicity per month...

I bow to you... You walk in GOD you

Your house will sell for so much more now.... Seriously, should put the resale value up at least a little bit!

Wanted to revive this thread to let everyone know hows its been going. The article for Zymurgy is finished and they seem happy with how it turned out. It is going to be in the January/February issue which will ship in mid-November. I was only given 2,500 words maximum for the article and there was a lot to cover. It turned out really good but a lot of the personal stuff had to be removed to keep it under the limit. It kind of comes off like I'm some sort of expert at building walk-in coolers which I'm not and is not how I wanted it to read... hopefully no one who helped by posting information during the project will take offense.

The cooler is holding steady at 36 degrees at an average .14 KWPH (roughly $.014 an hour based on a cost of $.10 KWPH).

I noticed the first real problem about two weeks ago. The weatherstripping around the door had several small gaps where the 2x4s weren't exactly straight and the seal wasn't air tight. I knew the door was leaking as there was condensation build-up all around it as well as considerable ice buildup on the AC coils - although it technically wasn't "froze up" and was still running just fine.

I decided to remove all the existing weatherstripping and start over with a 2" wide insulated foam tape. Its 1/8" thick and needed two layers installed where the weatherstripping originally was. I then ran a ring of duct tape (looks better than it sounds) on the inside of the door in the exact pattern of the insulated tape. Had to experiment some with this as there were places that needed several layers of duct tape to properly seal the imperfections of the 2x4s. It only took about an hour to get it as air tight as I could make it and still close and lock the door. After doing this, there have been no signs of condesation build up around the door but there was still ice buildup on the AC.

The ice build up is somewhat coming from moisture in the cooler (cardboard, condensation, etc) but mainly is coming in through the AC itself and there isn't much that can be done about it at this point as that is the nature of a window AC.

To combat the ice buildup and hopefully improve efficiency, I've placed a small desk fan inside the cooler that runs 24/7 to stir the air. I'm still experimenting with efficiency but it has kept all signs of ice from forming on the AC coils. I'm trying to determine now if the fan needs to be pointed directly on the AC coils or just stir the air to combat the moisture - will report back on this once I better understand.

Overall, good and bad, I really couldn't be happier with how it turned out...

Hey, I was just wondering when the issue was coming out, I'll definately be grabbing that issue.

Did you manage to squeeze homebrewtalk.com into your limit? That's only one word, you know...

Thx for the update! I find it very cool that you are getting the write-up done. Personally, my keyboard has drool on it from looking at the cooler pics-very nicely done. while I won't be able to fit one into my basement plans, your efforts have given me some ideas for a scaled down cold chamber for storage and eventually lagering.

the_bird said:

Hey, I was just wondering when the issue was coming out, I'll definately be grabbing that issue.

Did you manage to squeeze homebrewtalk.com into your limit? That's only one word, you know...

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I dunno if it was the plug for the website or if it was keeping the article on track as a "how-to", but that whole paragraph was cut. Believe me that I tried to fit it in somewhere else but it just didn't make sense on its own...

I was able to keep ownership of the article and plan on posting it and further information on my website. I will post the whole article there without all the edits to keep it under 2,500 words.

Truble said:

Thx for the update! I find it very cool that you are getting the write-up done. Personally, my keyboard has drool on it from looking at the cooler pics-very nicely done. while I won't be able to fit one into my basement plans, your efforts have given me some ideas for a scaled down cold chamber for storage and eventually lagering.

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I've already started the initial work on a stand-alone fermentation chamber that will be powered by a 6,000 BTU AC using very similar construction techniques. ;-)

You might try putting some Damp-Rid in there. This may help prevent the ice build-up on the coils. You can buy it just about anywhere and comes in buckets, and hanging pouches. It's basically a silica compound to absorb moisture. Not sure the price, or how long it would last before needing replacement in that cooler.

Jester4176 said:

You might try putting some Damp-Rid in there. This may help prevent the ice build-up on the coils. You can buy it just about anywhere and comes in buckets, and hanging pouches. It's basically a silica compound to absorb moisture. Not sure the price, or how long it would last before needing replacement in that cooler.

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Thanks for the info... I had a canister of DampRid in there until about last week but the AC seems to be overpowering it to the point where no moisture really ever gets absorbed by it.

Where in Houston are you from? I'm originally from Conroe - miss the area and friends a lot...

John Beere said:

I dunno if it was the plug for the website or if it was keeping the article on track as a "how-to", but that whole paragraph was cut. Believe me that I tried to fit it in somewhere else but it just didn't make sense on its own...

I was able to keep ownership of the article and plan on posting it and further information on my website. I will post the whole article there without all the edits to keep it under 2,500 words.

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I had the opportunity to make one final edit to the article and just put another plug for HomeBrewTalk.com back in the article... we'll see if it makes it!

Yea! I guilted you into it!

Now about those t-shirts you promised us......

John Beere said:

Where in Houston are you from? I'm originally from Conroe - miss the area and friends a lot...

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lol...Conroe, Texas. I was actually born there and spent the first 13 years or so of my life living out between Grangerland and Cut-and-Shoot. Actually live in Tomball now. Miss Conroe though. Was real solitary out near us. Very peaceful and quiet. Still was as of a year or so ago when I drove by the old place.

I'd say you could try a whole room dehumidifier, but most of those only work down to 40 degrees or so.

john, I had to register to tell you this project kicks butt! You did a great job! I have one question, have you come up with an estimate for the cost of the project?

Great job!!

medtech said:

john, I had to register to tell you this project kicks butt! You did a great job! I have one question, have you come up with an estimate for the cost of the project?

Great job!!

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Thanks. I forgot to ever figure up and post my cost estimates. I know I went way over as I cared more about doing it right that doing it on a budget.

I'll try to figure the costs up when I have a few minutes and post the info.

I'm interested as well at the cost. Thanks!


:cross:

any updates?

Very nice work! Have you figured out what you have into the project total?

Sorry I went AWOL. In my absense, I modified the AC to include seven small (40mm) 12v fans in the front grill which constantly draw "warmer than freezing" air over the AC coils. Right now I have the fans running 24x7 but will probably start experimenting with different cycles soon.

The fans have completely solved all moisture problems by keeping ice from building up on the coils. Notice in the second picture the ice buildup on the AC coils. This ice is now completely gone.

Here is my best guess at the materials used. Remember that I built it with quaility in mind rather than a fixed budget... although I had guessed it would cost around $1,000 total.

$250.00 (1) 12k BTU AC
$50.00 (1) Ranco Controller
$300.00 (30) R5 insulated board
$160.00 (4) R30 Insulation
$70.00 (14) 2x4x10
$20.00 (1) 5/8" MDF
$30.00 (1) 24" Door
$240.00 (8) 4'x8' wall board
$180.00 (60) Tube adhesive
=========
$1,300.00

you used 60 tubes of adhesive??

medtech said:

you used 60 tubes of adhesive??

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Yeah, a tube was only about enough for one 4x8 sheet of insulation - and I used all 30 sheets plus then glued the wall board on top. I also had to build the door, etc... There are no screws or nails holding the inside of the cooler together beyond the very first layer of insulation - only glue - so I used a lot...

This is pretty hardcore brew-love to do a project this big. I read the whole thread and was beyond impressed. How has this played out on your electric bill? I read the post where you calculated about $12.50 in electricity per month. Has that seemed to be the case though? The initial investment and all the work is a bit, but not bad. But the most impressive part is it seems to be incredibly inexpensive to maintain.

This is amazing. I have ideas for this type of project when we finally get our own place.

I'm curious if you had thought about a slotted plastic sheet (rather thick sheet of vynl or the like) in the doorway to keep as much air in as possible when going in/out.

Nice job! Cheers!

Congratulations! I just received my latest issue of Zymurgy and have read the article on your walk-in cooler. Very cool!

had the opportunity to make one final edit to the article and just put another plug for HomeBrewTalk.com back in the article... we'll see if it makes it!

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And your plug for HBT made it!

Sorry I haven't replied... work and the holidays have kept me away. The cooler is doing great and I haven't really noticed any increase in my electric bill what-so-ever.

Brewtopia said:

Congratulations! I just received my latest issue of Zymurgy and have read the article on your walk-in cooler. Very cool!



And your plug for HBT made it!

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Its out already? Sheesh - I don't even have a copy yet!

I'm really nervous to see how much it was edited for print...