Trap Door Keezer Build w/Cabinet

[DamnRedhead]

Just purchased a 7 cubic foot chest freezer from Sam's for $199, and now I'm working on building out a furniture quality keezer. Here's some of my early sketch-up models...

Overall it's about 62" long. I'm going to have 4 taps in it, so I'm building an 8 inch collar on the top (denoted in black). To the left, I'm going to have a couple of shelves, and the door for the cabinet will open from the side.

The condenser for the freezer is on the right, hence the extra space. I'm going to put the CO2 tank down there as well, and run the hose in through the collar

I still am debating on what to do with the sides... I'm thinking tongue in groove 3/4" pine and painting it, or eastern cedar and clear coating. That will dictate what the top is finished in, but it'll be butt joined 1.5" solid wood, with a 3/4" foam insulation underneath.

The hole which is missing here will be the removable trap door to change out the kegs. It will give me about 11 inches, so that should be decent for what I need. the tower will overhang a little.

In the tower I will have three pipes with two fans tied to a mini DC thermostat. Inside the housing of the cabinet, I will also have a couple more small fans tied to a separate DC thermostat to aid in circulation around the exterior of the freezer, as well as one or two through the compressor itself.

I greatly welcome any and all thoughts, questions, and tips from those who have done it before!

 

[OkanaganMike]

I'm designing one for myself now and found this as I'm researching proper air gap between cabinetry and face of the freezer. The issue I see with your design is possibly going to be with the seal of the lid and condensation if you don't get a 100% seal. Not sure how other trap door guys do after the build though, may not be an issue. I like the design tho!

 

[DamnRedhead]

Thanks for the feedback. Yeah I’m planning on a 1.5” foam weatherstripping between the moveable top and the collar and silicone between the collar and the freezer, then foam sheet insulation inside and weather seal tape the **** out of the inside, haha. You can’t see it well from this angle but there’s an inch between the freezer and the frame, then another inch and half of frame to the siding.