Help! Buying an antique Kelvinator fridge to convert into a kegerator!

[Beardsly]

The lady wants 150US buck for it its about 5'x3ish'x3ish'. I have found only one other fridge of that model being sold on the internet and its going for 180CAN but it has the cover for the ice box with it. Thoughts?

Also she claims the fridge works.

 

[Beardsly]

The one that is 180CAN looks like this.

Should I try to talk her down?

Has anyone who has restored something this old got any advice?

What about making it more efficient? I've heard that these old fridges eat electricity like its nothing. replacing the insulation perhaps? If I do what kind?

And lastly, what 50s era tap handles to throw on the front of this thing? Schlitz and Pabst for sure but what to do with the other 2 taps I plan to throw on it... Falstaff maybe? and I dunno what else.

 

[Beardsly]

One last thing! I found a discount restaurant supply store that has 2 of these for 50 bucks a pop with taps they are a little rough but doable for the price.

Anybody used these? They don't seem like they will leave much room for tap handles

Here is a site thats got them.
http://www.micromatic.com/draft-keg-beer/taps-faucets-pid-BE-DF8-3.html

 

[PLOVE]

Have a friend who converted a Kelvinator into a kegerator. Assuming it runs, 180CAN seems kinda spendy to to me unless this is about recreating a specific era look you're going for. Antique fridges are antique on the outside and ancient on the inside. They're solidly built, but who knows how long they'll last. Just be forewarned that when you install tap handles, if you nick a freezing coil it's a done deal. You'd basically be looking a whole new setup for $5-800. Freezer box is no problem and is a great place to store hops and frozen yeast.

If it's something you really want, I try to talk her down to $100. If not, and any old fridge will do, you shouldn't have to spend more than $40.

 

[Varmintman]

Seems to me that my first kegerator was a fridge like that and that the cooling coils went through the metal parts of the freezer. I worked but I had a hard time keeping the temp constant through out the entire fridge. Meaning up high where the beer lines were they would freeze because they were closer to the freezer.

It worked still though I just had to keep a blanket over the lines

 

[Beardsly]

Have a friend who converted a Kelvinator into a kegerator. Assuming it runs, 180CAN seems kinda spendy to to me unless this is about recreating a specific era look you're going for. Antique fridges are antique on the outside and ancient on the inside. They're solidly built, but who knows how long they'll last. Just be forewarned that when you install tap handles, if you nick a freezing coil it's a done deal. You'd basically be looking a whole new setup for $5-800. Freezer box is no problem and is a great place to store hops and frozen yeast.

If it's something you really want, I try to talk her down to $100. If not, and any old fridge will do, you shouldn't have to spend more than $40.

There shouldn't be any lines running through the door where I plan to drill

Seems to me that my first kegerator was a fridge like that and that the cooling coils went through the metal parts of the freezer. I worked but I had a hard time keeping the temp constant through out the entire fridge. Meaning up high where the beer lines were they would freeze because they were closer to the freezer.

It worked still though I just had to keep a blanket over the lines

Good thought with the blankets. A little fan and a Johnson Controls a419 thermostat should keep it more steady I would imagine. Are the thermostats in those old fridges just really clumsy?

 

[brewingmeister]

The second one looks to be in better shape and appears to be a higher end model. The freezer section looks to be bigger at least.
Efficiency is arguable...older fridges may use more power to run but run less. newer fridges may use less power but run more often. Having a good door seal is important for efficiency.
When the freezer box is an exposed cooling coil there will be more even temps the less you open it and the thermo will kick on less which makes them good for kegerator use.

 

[JRems]

These old fridges don't have any cooling lines in the sides or front. It's like a big mini fridge but the lines are on the back most likely. They actually don't use Too much electricity. The insulation is most likely wool or cardboard. You can put foam in it to be a bit more efficient. Here is my kelvinator kegerator https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/vintage-kegerator-282345/
I used vintage rheingold tap handles and used chalkboard paint on one side to keep with the theme.

 

[cas3439]

Too bad you don't live in Pittsburgh. I was looking at CL the other day and remembered seeing something like you wanted so I went back on and found these. There were a couple more but they started getting up there in price.

 

[bestbrewtap]

Old fridges are wildly inefficient. If you plan to keep this for more than a couple of years, you'll be money ahead buying an energy star modern fridge.

Here's a website with a good table showing how bad things can be...

http://michaelbluejay.com/electricity/refrigerators.html

John

 

[beardedirishman]

I disagree about the "wildly inefficient" comment.

Mine only added another couple dollars per month to our utility bill, and it sits outside.

I currently have 5 fridges/freezers in our house. 1 outside on the deck (covered), and 3 in the garage that isn't temp controlled. Our entire utility bill is about $100 per month.

It is probably less efficient than our fridge inside, but I think it's important to put it in perspective.

Forgot to mention, our kegerator outside is a 1949 GE fridge.

 

[JRems]

I disagree as well. The fridges they are talking about being not efficient do not include ones this old. Just look at the amp rating on the motor they are very small and only turn on every few hours, less than my regular fridge. Especially with such a large thermal mass inside( 3 kegs). It will use no more electric than a mini fridge. My electric bill was very steady and I didn't notice any increase in the bill with my vintage fridge.

 

[Beardsly]

I got the fridge! talked them down to 110 bucks too! I can fit two kegs in it if I get a 5lb tank or just on in there with the 20lb tank that I currently have.

I'm taking all the paint off and redoing that, and I've thrown away all of the crappy mucked up fibreglass insulation from the door, and will be replacing that with something a bit better at keeping the cold in. so that should help keep the power suckage a bit lower.

I might even make a thread about it since I've been taking lots of pictures. What color to paint it...

 

[Reno_Raines]

Old fridges are wildly inefficient. If you plan to keep this for more than a couple of years, you'll be money ahead buying an energy star modern fridge.

Here's a website with a good table showing how bad things can be...

http://michaelbluejay.com/electricity/refrigerators.html

John

I know this is an old thread but this is one of my pet peeves. I have a 1948 Kelvinator and a 47 Kelvinator that I use in my garage. These fridges perform great and can reach 27 degrees if I want them to. I have a Kil-A-Watt meter and have run both of them in the summer for a full month each and they were each cheaper to operate than my 90s kitchen fridge during a similar month. One Kelvinator cost $2.85 to run for the entire month the indoor fridge cost $3.25. The indoor fridge was opened more often but the garage fridge was operating in a much hotter environment. If you have a bad door seal on an old fridge then yes it will cost more but this applies to any fridge, this is what I can think of that may have started this myth. My fridges draw 2 amps when running and don't run often. The guy in the link you posted is obviously just trying to make a buck on advertising.

 

[TopherM]

These older fridges don't have auto-defrost, which is the real energy hog in 60s and 70s fridges. You can make these 40s and 50s fridges incredibly efficient by just replacing the insulation.

 

[kerber]

These older fridges don't have auto-defrost, which is the real energy hog in 60s and 70s fridges. You can make these 40s and 50s fridges incredibly efficient by just replacing the insulation.

Agreed! I've been monitoring my newly rebuilt kegerator and get great efficiency on it! It's received all new R-19 pink insulation and rubber foam weatherstripping gasket for the door.

Quoting one of my posts from my vintage kegerator thread...

...I'm happy to say that this 1950's fridge is incredibly efficient! Here's a 2 hour period of the temperature holding ~45 F


Here's the power consumption breakdown, for those interested in old fridges.

• 4 watts idling (webserver consumption)
• 170 watts cooling
• 2 min running time each cool cycle
• ~7 min running time per hour

 

[lebucheron]

Old fridges are SO SEXY. This looks pretty cool... I may have to try this one day.

 

[AluminumGerbil]

Where do you get weatherstripping for the doors? And with the freezer being where the cooling comes from would a small AC fan hooked in where the light bulb was help with a constant temp all around the fridge?

 

[kerber]

Where do you get weatherstripping for the doors?

The weather stripping was just 5/8" black rubber foam weatherstripping from Home Depot.

And with the freezer being where the cooling comes from would a small AC fan hooked in where the light bulb was help with a constant temp all around the fridge?

That would work as long as you bypass the door switch.
I used a 120mm pc fan mounted in the back of the freezer compartment. It's not overly high CFM, but it does a great job of keeping the temperature constant.

 

[Reno_Raines]

Where do you get weatherstripping for the doors? And with the freezer being where the cooling comes from would a small AC fan hooked in where the light bulb was help with a constant temp all around the fridge?

I've bought it from these guys before for another fridge but it is expensive. I recommend the softer material.

http://store.antiqueappliances.com/Door-Gaskets_c_8.html

The fridges I have had from this era have a relatively small volume inside so the temp is pretty even top to bottom so no need for a fan and the cold air sinks anyway. I have verified this with a cheap thermometer. Not to say that they don't have a useable volume as a beer fridge, I got 216 cans into one of them. To be clear there is no separate freezer on my old 40's fridges it is all one compartment.

 

[beaksnbeer]

A lot of the Energy hog fridges that are used in these comparisons are side by sides which are inefficient. Most use between 10.8 -14.8 amps. So Volts x Amps = Watts, and Watts x Hours run x Days = Total Watts, Total Watts divided by 1000 = Kw on electrical bill. This is how they are all calculated it doesn't take into account inside thermal mass, external temperature, open/close excesses, this is figured with fridge set at manufacturer's recommended setting. Just give you an idea of projected cost. That said my 20cubic foot kezzer at 115 volt and 4.3 amp with a run time of 2 hours total run time per day at 30 days per month at 13 cents per kilowatt cost $ 3.86 per month.

 

[beaksnbeer]

Agreed! I've been monitoring my newly rebuilt kegerator and get great efficiency on it! It's received all new R-19 pink insulation and rubber foam weatherstripping gasket for the door.

Quoting one of my posts from my vintage kegerator thread...

So based on the math and using national average cost per kw your cost to run is $2.27per month

 

[lumpy5oh]

OMG!! I love this site!
I have been battling my wife for years to let me keep my '68 Kelvinator fridge. Upto today I haven't even plugged it in for 10 years thinking it was going to suck up massive amounts of hydro. It is a 6.5 cubic foot model and the compressor plate reads 2.5amps @ 110V. Using the math used on this site I figure if the compressor runs for 3 hrs a day it will cost me $3 a month. For now I only plan on using it as a fridge. I would like to add a temp controller as well to control costs.

 

[kerber]

It is a 6.5 cubic foot model and the compressor plate reads 2.5amps @ 110V. .

If you really want to get a good idea of the energy consumption, pick up a kill-a-watt.

 

[beaksnbeer]

OMG!! I love this site!
I have been battling my wife for years to let me keep my '68 Kelvinator fridge. Upto today I haven't even plugged it in for 10 years thinking it was going to suck up massive amounts of hydro. It is a 6.5 cubic foot model and the compressor plate reads 2.5amps @ 110V. Using the math used on this site I figure if the compressor runs for 3 hrs a day it will cost me $3 a month. For now I only plan on using it as a fridge. I would like to add a temp controller as well to control costs.

To be fair it may be more/less depending on what YOU pay per Kw. It will list it on your summery on the electric bill.

 

[CoalCracker]

I replaced the door seal on mine with a new OEM and replaced the insulation with R30 Unbacked insulation. Mine should be pretty efficient. I have to get a killawatt to measure it.

 

[beaksnbeer]

Nope just do the math