Walk in Cooler !!

[Muley Crazy]

Looking to build a walk in cooler in my storage shed this summer any do's or dont's and what would you say is the smallest you would build Also looking into useing a coolbot to cool it. Any input on those would be great also!

 

[the nikster]

I'd love for you to do all of the groundwork and then send me your findings!!!
I, too, would like to do this at some point in the future. Best of luck.

 

[DRAFTSTUD]

There are alot of Articles on the web on "How To Build" Walking Coolers. Also don't forget E-Bay. John

 

[pointingdogsrule]

A friend had two of hem that he picked up a restaurant "going out of business sale" so you might want to look in that direction.

They worked really well and he let he use them in the early bow season when temps were warm. The one big complaint was how much energy it took to operate them. My advice... build the smallest one possible (not too small) to keep cooling costs down.

good luck to all
the dog

 

[warmer]

I have never heard of a coolbot till now. 28 years in the refrigeration business tells me to be very cautious. Air conditioning compressors are different than refrigeration compressors, in that they are made to operate at specific suction pressures(back pressure). In order to maintain 38F with an air conditioning compressor you need to maintain a 20F coil. That means a typical R22 machine would have to run at 43psig. When it would have been designed to run at 62-68psig. Oil return to the compressor would be a huge concern for me. But hey, its on the internet so it must work!

 

[KRasmussen]

There are alot of Articles on the web on "How To Build" Walking Coolers. Also don't forget E-Bay. John

A couple of other places to keep an eye on would be publicsurplus.com and interschola.com. Interschola is school surplus and they sell through ebay. Public Surplus is a private internet auction that has schools, municipalities as well as private individuals/businesses as sellers. I have purchased from both and have had good experiences. If possible inspect the items before bidding as the people listing the items are always familiar with the products.

 

[wingman1]

I have never heard of a coolbot till now. 28 years in the refrigeration business tells me to be very cautious. Air conditioning compressors are different than refrigeration compressors, in that they are made to operate at specific suction pressures(back pressure). In order to maintain 38F with an air conditioning compressor you need to maintain a 20F coil. That means a typical R22 machine would have to run at 43psig. When it would have been designed to run at 62-68psig. Oil return to the compressor would be a huge concern for me. But hey, its on the internet so it must work!

Should work OK if you keep your saturated evap pressure above freezing. Otherwise you might have to put a defrost cycle on it. Air to air heat pumps run great down to 0 F.

 

[warmer]

But they still run with a high back pressure. Just sayin! Dont know if the coolbot does defrost or not, not familiar with them. Just know what 28 years tells me. You can't get 400 horsepower out of a 200 horsepower motor.