Looking to build/have made shallow fridge/freezer to house Cornelius Kegs

[kitr]

Hello there! This is my first post but I have to admit I have been a lurker for years. I recently moved into a small apartment and am in negotiations with my wife on where my home built kegerator (Danby conversion) can live. It houses two kegs right now but I have to admit there is a ton of wasted space in it. I was hoping to build, or have made a small shallow kegerator that houses 3 corny kegs side by side (Ill attach a rough photo). Most kegerators come out roughly 24 inches but given that the corny kegs are only 9 inches there has got to be a better solution so it can be shallow up against the wall. Has anyone come across any shallow solutions? Does anyone know of a company making custom size small fridge/freezers that I could also convert or have made? Im happy to do the work myself but id also pay for good looking solution. Eventually she was hoping it could go into a nice wood cabinet. Ive gone through countless posts, blogs and there are some really nice solutions out there that look "classy" but none of them seem to take advantage of being shallow.

I really appreciate anyone that can point me in the right direction.

 

[kitr]

I cant imagine with all the companies now making kegerators, and custom solutions that something has to be 24 inches deep to house a 9 inch keg. I get the insultation and all....but there is just so much extra depth in these solutions that I keep seeing. And before someone suggests it... mounting an AC unit on the side of a wooden plywood box that I insulate is not going to work in a small apartment!

 

[CA_Mouse]

The main reason for the depth of most small fridges is the condenser unit in the bottom rear of the unit. If you look at the inside of a chest freezer, they all have a 'step' over the condenser. If anyone did build one that was short front to back, it would have extra width to it to compensate.

 

[kitr]

Completely understood and....acceptable! Thats precisely what I was actually looking for/hoping for. I dont mind the unit wider to accomidate depth. I just have never seen any units like that.

 

[CA_Mouse]

Completely understood and....acceptable! Thats precisely what I was actually looking for/hoping for. I dont mind the unit wider to accomidate depth. I just have never seen any units like that.

Unfortunately, there is no real market for that configuration, so no one makes any thing like it.

 

[kitr]

I suspected as much which brings me to the second part of my question - custom builders. Now I know there are plenty of "walk-in" style freezers that have custom builders since almost all of them are custom built but there has got to be a custom maker of fridge/freezers out there as well. I am thinking that boats and RVs must have some tight/odd spaces as well as specialty bars in places.... does anyone know of a custom fridge/freezer producer for smaller units?

 

[CA_Mouse]

I'm sure that you can contact a refrigeration company, but I would presume that something that small would either be extremely expensive or refused to build outright.

Good Luck

 

[BiteMeElmo]

I've heard of people building refrigeration compartments into cabinetry using foam insulation and the guts from a fridge. You could consider doing that using whatever dimensions you need.

 

[MrFoodScientist]

Will something like this help you?
http://www.kollmann-marine.com

 

[crane]

I've heard of people building refrigeration compartments into cabinetry using foam insulation and the guts from a fridge. You could consider doing that using whatever dimensions you need.

Check out the link in my signature to my mini fridge fermentation chamber build. I bought a mini fridge off Craigslist and gutted it to build a bigger box.

You would probably want to go with more/thicker insulation for serving temperatures. Also you don't want to make it too much bigger than the original size otherwise the compressor will struggle to keep it cold.

 

[BiteMeElmo]

Also you don't want to make it too much bigger than the original size otherwise the compressor will struggle to keep it cold.

Good advice. You could just calculate the volume of the space you want to use, and then use the components from a similar sized fridge or freezer.

 

[Firewalker11]

Hello there! This is my first post but I have to admit I have been a lurker for years. I recently moved into a small apartment and am in negotiations with my wife on where my home built kegerator (Danby conversion) can live. It houses two kegs right now but I have to admit there is a ton of wasted space in it. I was hoping to build, or have made a small shallow kegerator that houses 3 corny kegs side by side (Ill attach a rough photo). Most kegerators come out roughly 24 inches but given that the corny kegs are only 9 inches there has got to be a better solution so it can be shallow up against the wall. Has anyone come across any shallow solutions? Does anyone know of a company making custom size small fridge/freezers that I could also convert or have made? Im happy to do the work myself but id also pay for good looking solution. Eventually she was hoping it could go into a nice wood cabinet. Ive gone through countless posts, blogs and there are some really nice solutions out there that look "classy" but none of them seem to take advantage of being shallow.

I really appreciate anyone that can point me in the right direction.

Where do you live (no address) ? I have a couple refrigerators (working) that I am de-commissioning (I do that as a side job as I am licensed to do so). They are both Energy-star rated so they are not hogs on power. I can pull the evaporator, compressor and condenser out and reinstall them in a cabinet of your or others making.

One word of warning: Wood makes for mold, use plastic/fiberglass sheets available at the local home store for lining the interior and look for a magnetic door gasket for the door. You can get a cheap on online.

The spray insulation that is used for walls, cavities and such makes for fantastic insulated panels as well.

Good luck!

P.S. This is also a good page to research: http://forum.brewpi.com/discussion/116/diy-fermentation-chamber-from-used-fridge

 

[YinzerTimes]

@kitr were you able to figure something out? I'm in the same exact boat and blown away by the fact there are no shallow kegerators generally available. I'm in the process of building my own bar in a room with limited space and would really prefer the base to be 18" or less. If I go with a standard sized, having a kegerator stick out 6" might be doable but far from ideal. Thanks!

 

[Gonefishin]

Just a thought here. Chest freezers usually have the compressor under a step at one end in the bottom of the unit. Do you think you could cut the unit so the kegs would fit in front of the compressor (may have to stagger them), cut the opposite end and re-attach it? Then turn it 90-deg. to run along side the wall? It would probably be a lot of work but it may give you what you need. These kinds of projects always intrigue me. Good luck. I'll be watching to see how it is solved.

 

[kitr]

@kitr were you able to figure something out? I'm in the same exact boat and blown away by the fact there are no shallow kegerators generally available. I'm in the process of building my own bar in a room with limited space and would really prefer the base to be 18" or less. If I go with a standard sized, having a kegerator stick out 6" might be doable but far from ideal. Thanks!

I did not..... I wound up getting a canon ball keg, a 3.5 and a full size so I could cram 3 into a regular fridge. im not happy about it at all

 

[MaryB]

All the coils in a chest freezer are in the walls so won't work...

Just a thought here. Chest freezers usually have the compressor under a step at one end in the bottom of the unit. Do you think you could cut the unit so the kegs would fit in front of the compressor (may have to stagger them), cut the opposite end and re-attach it? Then turn it 90-deg. to run along side the wall? It would probably be a lot of work but it may give you what you need. These kinds of projects always intrigue me. Good luck. I'll be watching to see how it is solved.