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DIY Beer Fridge


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Probably being silly again but...

 

In Sainsburys and was tempted by a 5L keg (a toss up between Hobgoblin and Old Speckled Hen). Reality hit and I realised that I'd want it constantly cold so it'd need to live in the fridge. There's no way madam would entertain this as it would take up so much space.

 

Now I've recently been given a Bosch integrated fridge. I remember in the old days you could get window kits for the side of your van. Can you get say a DG window that could be set into a 'normal" fridge door.

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44 minutes ago, Construction Channel said:

as far as i am aware you can get DG units in whatever size you want.

 

but why do you need to be able to see into the fridge? 

 

DG unit is no problem. Would it be insulated enough compared to the original fridge door? 

 

It's the "frame" I'd need to inset the unit into the door I'm struggling to figure how.

 

  • Ian Malcolm: Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.

:)

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2 minutes ago, Onoff said:

 

 Would it be insulated enough compared to the original fridge door? 

 

 

probably not, but im sure it would be "good enough"

 

4 minutes ago, Onoff said:

 

 

the "frame" I'd need to inset the unit into the door I'm struggling to figure how.

 

plenty of foam ;)

 

4 minutes ago, Onoff said:
  • Ian Malcolm: Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.
 

 

Mr Malcolm probably had a finished bathroom  :P 

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Hmmm, @Nickfromwales, the bathroom issue...... it would be a shame to get it finished: we'd have no other miscreant to whom we could point as being worse than we are. Can't you just hear it......

 

"Well yer lucky @Onoff's not doing [...] aren't ya!"

No, his procrastination is, to all of us, a valuable asset. Long may it last. Second thoughts, Much Longer May It Last

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That £108 fails the Occam test. That is a lot of beer, at which point beer goggles will make the fridge irrelevant.

 

Why a window?

 

Just use a security cam and a display on the outside.

Edited by Ferdinand
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1 hour ago, recoveringacademic said:

This is cheaper still

water.jpg.9199d55fef176a715648bedfd9db07f6.jpg
and passes Occam's test

 

 

 

Reminds me of lying in a bed in Northwick Park Hospital, during very hot weather in late summer 1972.  It was an orthopaedic ward (all five of us in it were victims of our own stupidity on motorcycles) so we were allowed alcohol.  Friends used to bring in cans of beer (and Fosters for the one Australian) and to cool it down we used to fill the sink at the end of the ward with cold water and stack it full of cans.

 

The fun bit I remember was trying to open a Party 7 (remember those?).  It took three of us to get enough working limbs to open it, all in wheelchairs.  One wedged the can against his wheelchair, one held a spare pin (that had been through his ankle when he was in traction) against the top of the can and the third hit the pin with the base of a drip stand.  The banging alerted the sister, who was not amused when she came in and saw a fountain of beer foam erupting towards the ceiling..............

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All the linked fridges are too small!

 

I envisage a 5L keg as the centrepiece (says drink within 4 days) surrounded by other bottles and cans.

 

As for why a glass front I just like the idea of coming home to see that as I walk in the door. (Years ago it was SWMBO! :)

 

Favouring @Construction Channel's idea of "foam". 4 Starrett cut holes in the door to get nice round corners then join them up with the nibbler. File the edges and paint. Inlay a DG panel and weight it down from behind. Then foam the gap. Will have to look at the door construction.

 

I know as soon as I start she's going to say "It's too good to cut up!" Tbh it really is.

 

Btw I've just discovered "Trooper" developed by Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden. :)

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The two big challenges of trying to keep any DIY beer fridge cold are air leaks and insulation effectiveness, so if fitting a glass panel I'd keep it as small as possible and ideally the lowest U value you can get.  Also, if the glazing has a low e coating, fit it so that the face that's supposed to go outside is facing inside the fridge, so that more radiant heat from outside is reflected back out.

 

I made a cool box, using a Peltier heat pump, around 20 years ago, and although it's fairly well-insulated (50mm of PIR all around) and pretty well sealed (over-centre catches pulling the lid down on to a neoprene seal), it takes a lot of power to stay cool, and warms up fairly quickly when the power is turned off.  I recently bought a small PC water cooling kit, with a pump and radiator, to re-build this cool box, to try and overcome the problem of heat soaking back from the outer heat sink to the inner heat sink as soon as the power is turned off, but have decided to build a complete new cool box, slightly bigger, with around 100mm of PIR all the way around.   I have a small beer fridge here in the study, but it's an ex-hotel one, and is old and getting a bit noisy, so I'd like to see if I can make a quieter one, that can run from 12V and double up as a big portable cool box.

Edited by JSHarris
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