Chest Freezer Vs. Full-sized Fridge??

[hokieengr]

I'm in the market for a new kegerator. I noticed that most people are using chest freezers with temp controllers instead of a full sized fridge. Does anyone have any strong opinions about either way? Why the freezer/controller approach and not an old fridge from Craigslist?

 

[deezy]

I'm in the same spot and plan to go with the freezer. It's just that they are easier to move, can hold more kegs depending on the size, no shelving to build to stack things etc. For me personally it's having a low profile kegerator more than anything. You'll have to build a collar for most freezers as opposed to drilling through doors on a fridge but well worth it IMO.

 

[ChshreCat]

You can often hold more kegs with a smaller unit using a freezer. Plus, you can set up a bartop on it and make it look nicer than an old fridge with taps sticking out of it. Plus, it's more efficient.

 

[jmkratt]

Agreed, I used to have a full-sized fridge when I only had commercial 15.5 gal Sanke's on draft.

As soon as I went to homebrew it was apparent a chest freezer was a better option.

You have so many more options with a chest freezer depending on how many cornies you want. There is a lot of wasted space in a fridge, at least for me.

 

[shortyjacobs]

I like my fridge. It cost me $50 on craigslist, holds 6 kegs, needs no temp controller, and it's far easier to put kegs into than a freezer. Also, you can thru-mount taps instead of building a tower, (although you can thru-mount on a collar too). I also store glasses and hops in the freezer, (yes, I like my glasses cold, hush).


Disadvantages: While it's easier to get kegs into, it's tougher to get kegs out of. If a keg at the back of my fridge kicks, I have to pull out the keg(s) in front of it to get it out, whereas they are all equally accessible in a freezer. This is the only downside I can see.