Using keg fridge as keg box? – Could this be done?

[joedp]

I don’t see why not. I’m thinking of getting something like this: Wal-Mart Keg Fridge and using the kegger bar plans to build around this. Does anyone know if I’ll be able to “modify” a fridge like this to have the keg handle above the bar top?

[hindy33]

Why would you spend that kind of money for that! Wow… $650 is way too much.

You can go and buy a normal chest frezer and an seperate thermostat controller for it and turn a chest freezer into a keg box if you want for way less than that.

Do a seach for “chest freezer keg” and you’ll turn up a ton of links. You can get a 7.0 cuft. unit, an thermostat controller, and modify the top (so you can use it as a chest freezer still if you want) and be around $300. Now.. it won’t fit under your bar and if that’s a requirement then this doesn’t help.

If you have the space, do the above and build your back bar around the chest freezer so you can slide the freezer out from underneath the back bar to load and unload it and have storage.

[joedp]

Actually, that was just an example. I have a wine cooler/fridge that was given to me as a gift (still in box) that I was gonna return to Home Depot and get store credit towards a keg fridge like the one I linked to. The kegerator at Home Depot is $500 and the fridge I’ll be returning is $150…so for $350 I can pull it off. Worth it to me. I don’t know anything about cooling/refrigeration and would rather not mess with the insulating/cooling fans method, and the fridge definitely has to be under the bar.

[jeffrey_23]

A friend of mine did exactly as you suggested. The bar turned out very nice and the keg tap was easily removed from the refrigerator and placed on top of the bar. The only problem I spotted is that he ran the beer line through the hole in the frig, foamed all around it and didn’t insulate the beer line that is exposed to the air (about 6″) running up to the tap. As a result, his beer taps with a lot of head. I told him to run a PVC pipe from the frig all the way up through the tower and surround it with another pipe where it’s exposed to the air but he’s not convinced that is the right thing to do.

He bought his kegerator at Best Buy for $449 but that was their last one. I tried to order one but they seem to be out (they are still advertising them on their web site – Haier unit). Since I’m not much of a carpenter and a refrigerator with exposed coils it almost impossible to find, I’m really considering taking this option for my bar.

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