chest vs stand-up freezer

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kappclark

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Would it be a waste of time to consider a standup freezer for kegs (maybe 2 or 3 ) ?

I know someone at work who wants to sell cheap... seema like a chest freezer wld be easier to do taps with, after outfitting the collar)
 
It would be no different from using a fridge. The door is perfectly safe to drill.
 
homebrewer_99 said:
Cons: Cold air falls out when door is open...

But if you work relatively quickly, the other cold mass in the freezer will bring it back up to temp fairly quickly. You would have to leave the door wide open for quite a while for everything to warm up. Not saying that your not loosing a lot of cold air, but you aren't necessarily warming things up very much either. It will cool back down within a few minutes.
 
Like David_42 said, you can drill through the door of an upright freezer, so you don't have to worry about making a collar. That said, I prefer a chest freezer.
 
If it was Sankes I had to be lifting I would be looking at an upright. For Corny's I would be happy with a chest type freezer, but it is your lower back that you have to live with.
 
whoa.....

it MUST be a frostless upright freezer. if its not frost free, then the shelves are fixed and the refridgerant runs through them. so then you're faced with bending shelves out of the way but not damaging/kinking the coolant lines.

if its frost free, you're golden.
 
I agree with all that has been posted here. I'd go with whichever setup is the most convenient to purchase and install in your area. Efficiency is also a bit of a concern, but I think with a kegerator setup you mitigate that a bit. You aren't opening the door several times every day like you would with a regular fridge, so generally and old kegerator is going to be more electrically efficient than the newest Energy Star fridge that is used for everyday food storage. It's still a concern though.
 
I have an upright fridge that has been converted, but if I were purchasing new (or used) in the future, I would definitely go chest freezer. Based on what has been said about hot air rising and cold air sinking, you could theoretically leave your chest freezer open for an hour and waste less cold air and electricity than opening your upright for 20 seconds.

Think about it like it's full of water almost. chest full of water would evaporate eventually, but an upright full of water that had the door opened would drain immediately. Of course that's an extreme example, but it's not that far off the mark.

Of course, as has also been stated, for as often as you should be opening either type, it should be a big issue.
 
malkore said:
whoa.....

it MUST be a frostless upright freezer. if its not frost free, then the shelves are fixed and the refridgerant runs through them. so then you're faced with bending shelves out of the way but not damaging/kinking the coolant lines.

if its frost free, you're golden.

+1 on the fixed shelving.

BTW: Welcome to the club malkore.
 
There was an upright freezer that came with my house when I purchased it. It has been sitting in the basement with little use for the last nine years, but running strong the whole time. I just threw a Lux Programmable Outlet Thermostat on their today. This outlet is designed for running a window air conditioning unit, or an electric heater. I have it setup inside the freezer, and am going to use the freezer for a temp controlled fermenting environment.

My wife is sick of looking at carboys on the counters in the kitchen, but the basement is too cold to just leave them sitting on the counter down there, so now I can keep the freezer at what ever temp I want, just by throwing a small heat source into the freezer.

As to a keg freezer, I want to get a chest type, as they seem to hold far more than my upright can.
 
I really like some of the chest freezers i've seen on here. They seem to be the better setup. But there is also the consideration of where you're going to put it and if you have a sig. other... what they might say.

"hey honey, doesn't this chest freezer look GREAT in the living room!"

:mug:
 
experiment626 said:
I really like some of the chest freezers i've seen on here. They seem to be the better setup. But there is also the consideration of where you're going to put it and if you have a sig. other... what they might say.

"hey honey, doesn't this chest freezer look GREAT in the living room!"

:mug:

I agree 100%.

And if you are going purchase a new one, might as well build this!

DSC00028.jpg


DSC00001.jpg
 
Gentlemen ! I have hit a gold mine of great ideas... great feedback !

I didn't even consider the back issue, but liftingh a full corny into a chest freezer is more difficult than nudging into a standup .. my back is strong, but not like it used to be (I am pretty sore after a day shovelling - who isn't !)

I do not know if it is frostless, but if it is not, then a no-go (THX for pointing that one out)

It looks like I can get 2-3 cornies in there - right ? 2 would make me a happy guy ..

I cld start off with cobra taps, then graduate to "real" taps

I might also be able to use this to explore lagering ... HMMMM..
 
I'm reclaiming a plain ol' side-by-side fridge/freezer at tax time for my kegs. I've already measured and I can fit 3 cornies in it with LOTS of room to spare for a 5lb cyl plus all the cans I want, and still keep my hops in the freezer. Probably still get a 20lb cyl though and mount it outside..

I would assume at LEAST 3 cornies would fit in your stand-up freezer.
 
I built a kegerator about a year ago and I faced the same dilema as you. When all was said and done, I chose to convert a chest freezer for all the same reasons listed in the other posts. Although I 'only' have 4 taps (including a dedicated stout faucet dispensed with beer gas), my kegerator holds 6 cornys - 4 tapped and 2 fully carbed on 10 psi waiting their turn to be plugged in.

I have no regrets with my decision.

- GL63

PS - Here 'she' is:

IMGP0029.jpg
 
kappclark said:
Gentlemen ! I have hit a gold mine of great ideas... great feedback !...................


(Be careful, not all of the posters are gentlemen....;) )
 
GrantLee63 said:
I built a kegerator about a year ago and I faced the same dilema as you. When all was said and done, I chose to convert a chest freezer for all the same reasons listed in the other posts. Although I 'only' have 4 taps (including a dedicated stout faucet dispensed with beer gas), my kegerator holds 6 cornys - 4 tapped and 2 fully carbed on 10 psi waiting their turn to be plugged in.

I have no regrets with my decision.

- GL63

PS - Here 'she' is:

IMGP0029.jpg

What size is your chest freezer?
 
mykegerator.jpg
[/IMG]

In the middle of doing it now. This has the coils in the shelves, so I used bolt cutters to cut the wires to the coils, and bended them up when the freezer was warm. This freezer was free, and they look, great in a kitchen where a chest freezer would look out of place. i'm going to have 5 beers on tap. As you can see there is alot of room in there. For anyone wondering if this can be done, it can, and you can't beat the 1 door construction, and all the room for the price.
 
heres my modest little setup I just put together. nothing fancy, just a small fridge I already had in the basement from my old house. it only fits 2 kegs, some bottles, yeast, hops, turtle food ect.. does have a nice temp control and a freezer though. I'd like to go bigger but thats all swmbo will allow :eek:

IMG_1510-2.jpg
 
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