Why convert freezers & not just buy refrigerators?

[Centexbear]

Why does everyone buy, rewire and convert freezers rather than just buying freezerless refrigerators?

Size, cost?

I'm guessing you can get more in and they are cheaper. Shape so you can convert into keezer?

I've got 3 extract brews under my belt (2 are fermenting now) and I'm just starting to spread my wings and research AG and other equipment such as kegging, coolers, keezers, kegerators, burners, larger pots, etc. Built both my MLT and HLT already out of the 10 Gallon rubbermaid orange cooler.

I'm on the verge of buying a first time keg setup. Thinking about a 2.5 and a 5 gallon ball head corny with a 5 lb CO2 tank. I've been thinking alot about how I'm going to chill these kegs. Thinking it may be easiest to buy a cheap arse older frig off craigs list and stick it in the garage and just throw my stuff in there..no faucets or conversions, just as cold storage. That could easily handle that initial setup.

The next project would then be to build a keezer with a collar similar to Coastarine's here on the forum.

Also, want to build a portable keg cooler for camping, pool parties, football tailgates so I'll also get the CO2 cartridge setup rather than the 20 oz paintball route.

 

[JetSmooth]

In general, I think you can fit more kegs per "cubit foot" because a fridge in meant to stack things on top of each other. you may get one or two in the bottom "footprint" of a fridge. Can't get two cornies on top of each other in a general fridge. However, a freezer chest's "footprint" is much larger and you might fit four or five in that space. Given the same size unit, but placed on it's "side" like a freezer, it just works out to be more suited, I think. Basically, it's magic.

Plus, they make great bases for bartops if you use a tower and make a fancy top for it.

 

[jezter6]

It's floor dimensions.

A fridge, no matter how big, is only x wide by y deep.

A freezer is generally x+z wide, by y deep.

Width and depth are the key for more kegs...and since a fridge's floor footprint only gets nominally bigger as it increases (2 kegs for something like a Sanyo dorm fridge, to 4-5 in something like a standard house fridge) it's not ideal. With freezers, you go from 2-3 in a 5-ish cu foot freezer to things like (I think it was EdWort) who has a freezer that holds 12+ kegs.

Collar is only so that you can add taps without drilling any parts of the freezer, and also allows you to increase floor space by using the compressor hump to hold a keg or 2.

 

[JetSmooth]

Yeah. Math is hard, though. I like to say it's magic.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Because the bottom end on a freezer is well below zero while the bottom end of most fridges is 40*F with the compressor cycling constantly. And most fridges are cooled by drawing air from the freezer section.

Lots of people do still use fridges tho'.

 

[abracadabra]

Because the bottom end on a freezer is well below zero while the bottom end of most fridges is 40*F with the compressor cycling constantly. And most fridges are cooled by drawing air from the freezer section.

Lots of people do still use fridges tho'.

The reason mentioned by Gila are also critical if you ever intend to do a lager as he said most fridges struggle to get close to 32*f if they can do it at all and if you open the door they lose all the cold air inside instantly whereas a chest freezer will retain the cold air if the lid is opened

So a chest freezer is more efficient if you are going to be opening the unit up frequently

 

[IrregularPulse]

What Gila and abracadabra said.

+, they're easier to build to look nice which is a common requirement of our better halves. Once you graduate college, it's hard to convince that ladies to have an upright fridge with a beer faucet displayed in the house

 

[shortyjacobs]

I like my fridge better than I think I'd like a keezer.

1) It was only $50 on CL.

2) No need for a temp controller.

3) Fits 6 kegs easy

4) no need to build a collar, no need for a tower

5) hops and glasses in the freezer

Biggest downside is that some kegs are BEHIND others, so if a keg in back kicks you have to move still serving kegs around to get at it. A keezer allows equal access to all kegs.

Also, mine is in my garage, so I don't care about looks.

 

[jmkratt]

Made the switch from fridge to freezer for several reasons:

1. Wasted space in fridge
2. Can fit more kegs in keezer
3. Keezer is more efficient, costs less to run
4. Easily to maneuver kegs
5. Takes up much less space than fridge
6. Ability to build into cabinetry and have draft beer in the middle of my basement without the eyesore.

 

[abracadabra]

I have to admit I'm using my old fridge, but it was free! (or at least no additional money), it is very efficient electricity wise, and it can get all the way down to 30*F (if I keep the door closed) and sits in the basement where it's looks are unimportant. But if I had to buy something new or used I'd buy a freezer. I found a 7 cu. ft. freezer at wal-mart this spring for $159.

 

[jkreuze]

I run a fridge because it's nice having a secondary top-freezer, I can stock up on pizza. Keezer would be better because it's dedicated and you can get it a lot colder if you need to. Plus it should be better insulated, in theory, but I guess I could construction-adhesive R-14 extruded foam insulation all over my fridge if I was really gung-ho about the whole insulation thing (which would give me much better insulation than any fridge or keezer, but would look totally f-ed up and that is an understatement--I am thinking about it though)

 

[schweaty]

Because I can fit more kegs in it

 

[bsdx]

I can fit 6 cornies or 5+co2 in my old fridge I moved to the basement, just using party taps for now. I use the freezer portion for bags of ice for wort chilling. If I didn't need the room for ice I would probably move my hop collection there. Making do with the fridge for now so I can use my money on brewing equipment or ingredients. I have a small chest freezer I inherited that could fit 2 cornies or 4 if I made a large collar for the lid, but for now I think I want to use that for making lagers.

 

[SankePankey]

I have a 7.2 chest freezer that I use as a ferm chamber. I fit a 15 gal corny and 4 X 5 gal cornies in it with a 1" X 10" collar. That's 35 gallons of beer in 2' X 3' floor space. Yikes.!

 

[SweetSounds]

OP, it's really personal preference.

I have a keezer in the bar - It holds 4 5-gallon cornys and a 5# CO2 tank. I added the collar to get wires and hoses in and out of it, though I didn't need it for the added room inside.

Fridges work just as well too - Especially if they are cheap or free! But your usable space is a little less efficient (Or at the least a little more PITA)

As far as I can tell, here's the differences:
Fridge Pros:

• Free to cheap
• Take up less floor space per cubic foot of volume (Because they are tall!)
• Easier to load (Don't have to lift the kegs much)
• You can have the freezer for mugs/hops/etc, depending on the fridge and your design
• No need for an external temperature controller - A fridge probably won't freeze your fermenting beer...

Fridge Cons:

• Less efficient space utilization - You can have a foot or more of dead space over your kegs, and no way to use it.
• Freezer door can open your taps in the fridge door, if you serve from it.
• You have to take out front kegs to get to rear kegs

Keezer Pros:

• Free to cheap
• Hold more beer per cubic foot of volume - Due to the "Horizontal" layout.
• Easy to get to any keg - Nothing is in front of anything else.
• You can build a bar around it!

Keezer Cons:

• You have to lift full kegs at least 4 feet off the ground. Kegs are heavy.
• You may need to add a collar to get lines in and out, or gain more vertical space (Not sure if this is really a con..)
• You have to add an external temperature controller to keep it from freezing your beer

Or, combine both - Make your chest freezer 7 feet tall!

 

[wilceaser]

I have a keezer because it was free
But like other have said, more room, more kegs and lagering space.

 

[SankePankey]

Another con for keezers with a collar attached to the lid (even tho that's what I prefer)
You can't have it up against the wall and open it. I put mine on casters so I don't have to lift any full kegs. I just roll it over to the boil kettle to fill.

 

[Centexbear]

Tons of great replies and info. Thanks everyone for the input.

It really helps me with forming the criteria upon which to base a decision. Several things here I didn't think about.

Jeff

 

[HenryHill]

A chest freezer is the preferred vehicle for fermenting chambers, multi-tap kegerators, lagering, etc., but there is the "Run whatcha brung" situation, too, where there's the "how you should do it, and how you're gonna do it, because you've already got it".

 

[Whut]

FWIW (& my $0.02), I prefer my converted fridge (kegerator) because it's easier to get kegs in and out (and we already had it). That and it’s in the laundry room so SWMBO doesn’t have to look at it all the time. And on occasion I'll buy a commercial 15.5g keg like now when it’s to hot to brew. Try lifting that in to a chest freezer. As previously stated by SweetSounds:

Kegs are heavy.

On the other hand, I have two 8.8cf freezers in the garage which I use to control ferment temps and to store kegs when my pipeline is full. Without a collar they each can hold either two carboys or two buckets. Or four 5g cornies and two 2.5g cornies on the hump.

 

[abracadabra]

I have to take issue with a couple of SweetSounds fridge cons:

the first is "Less efficient space utilization - You can have a foot or more of dead space over your kegs, and no way to use it."

the space above the kegs is not wasted in my case as I use it to store bottles of commercial and home brew, wine, even mini kegs, I also use it store yeast. Same goes for the fridge door that's full of commecial brews and hard-cider. Plus I use it to hold over flow from the main fridge. You'll usually have one or 2 Bud-lite die hards at any social gathering so the extra space comes in quite handy for storing swills for those poor folks who like BMC products. Additionally the extra freezer space has come in handy on more than 1 occasion. I imagine the extra ice maker will too.

the other is "Freezer door can open your taps in the fridge door, if you serve from it." ???

Measure the tap height or better yet put the taps on one side of the fridge instead of in the door.
Putting taps in the door never made much sense to me but whatever floats your boat..

But I do agree that if budget and building a collar areof no concern it really is a matter or personal preference

 

[malkore]

5) hops and glasses in the freezer

whoa...you're doing frozen mugs for homebrew?

Oh the huge manitee....

Ice cold is for BMC...stuff that has flavor needs the right serving temperature, which a frosty mug is too cold to provide.

 

[Yooper]

I have a fridge that has faucets out the door. Pros:

1. Freezer space above for hops
2. Easy to move kegs in and out. I'm short and weigh 135 pounds. No WAY I'm lifting a glass carboy or a keg up and down into a freezer. Or worse, getting it out.


Cons:
1. Not very attractive
2. Kegs get behind others, so when one is empty, you have to move at least two kegs to get the kicked keg out


Since I'm a weakling, I can't imagine I'll move to a chest freezer.

 

[jezter6]

Since I'm a weakling, I can't imagine I'll move to a chest freezer.

Pulley system.over the keezer FTW.

 

[shortyjacobs]

whoa...you're doing frozen mugs for homebrew?

Oh the huge manitee....

Ice cold is for BMC...stuff that has flavor needs the right serving temperature, which a frosty mug is too cold to provide.

Yeah, knew I'd catch **** for that. I do frozen *glasses*, which don't chill the beer quite as much as mugs, but I still like my beer cold. My fridge is at a frosty 37°F, and I use frozen glasses. I know, it's not the way you're *supposed* to do it, but I don't really care...it's the way I like it. I can drink anything from 32°F beer up to 70°F beer....and still enjoy it, but I enjoy it most COLD.

 

[lumpher]

i've got 3 kegs in my beerfrigerator, and that's fine with me. 3 taps in it too, and i'm set

 

[zymurgy101]

yeah. Math is hard, though. I like to say it's magic.

lmao

 

[Zacharomyces]

I like frozen mugs! Sometimes its 95+ degrees outside and you want to play darts, play with the dogs...whatever. Beer gets warm FAST in those conditions, and I'm no even a slow drinker! While they're not my first choice to drink from, they are a nice option to have.