can you make yout own fridge

Mac Tire

hey guys, just wondering if it is possible to make your own fridge for hanging game....if you had a small shed and lined the walls......would a refridgerator unit be enuf to do the job.....thanks

hillybilly

I bought a crashed transit that was used to drlever meat products (chilled poultry) and have it set up at the back of the shed .It plugs into the mains to charge the battery and it works fine . Mabey you should call to a scrap yard and see what they have.

fathersymes

try to get an old Coke/Drinks fridge.

kerryman12

i am trying to get one of those fridges (Coke) but not so easy at the moment. but a lot of guys use them to get success.

Trojan911

Not being an expert in fridges, but if you had a sealed container, could you run an air conditioner in it? I believe they run off the same principle.

Double Barrel

Mac Tire,
No expert, just trial and thankfully not much error.

I have a cold room that works for one "hot" deer and any birds that may fly into a pattern of shot, for more than that I use the local butcher's facilities in exchange for a haunch of venison. In cold weather deer can be hung outside in an airy spot to cool down an then moved into a cold room. Three 'hot' deer will overpower the the AC unit's capability to cool the room down to 3-4 degrees C. in a timely fashion.

I remodeled the milking machine room into a cold room using three (3), 25,000 BTU window air conditioning units salvaged - read- free- from a hotel that was being upgraded. I put timers on the AC units, (only one works at any given time) that way they do not ice up. There was a good drainage system in the room already and I used sheets of polystyrene on the ceiling and applied ceramic tile on the floor, walls and ceiling as the tile makes clean up easy. The floor & walls are 18+inches thick and not insulated. Expanded Polystyrene is the standard and most cost efficient insulation for walk-in coolers. Polystyrene also does not absorb moisture. I purchased a used heavy door from a commercial refrigeration company and it made the world of difference. The door is an in-fitting type, overlap's on frame and has a magnetic gasket.

The AC unit's run off the mains and can get costly if used a lot. I am currently looking for a conventional compressor / evaporator system to replace the window units.

I use a light bulb to fool the AC's temperature sensor which does not want to work when the outside temp gets below 10 Celsius.

Extra Reading:

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/AE096

http://whitetailcooling.com/index.htm

Mac Tire

thanks for the info guys....
I rang a mate of mines who is pretty handy with a welder and at servicing boilers....thinking that he would tell me that he hadn't heard of it being done,i wasnt holding out much hope...he told me that his neighbour had done just that! Converted a garden shed! Basically he cladded the exterior with an architectural cladding ( kingspan, euroclad, corgeatted metal with insulation on one side) and sheeted the interior with pvc cladding like that which you would use in a bathroom, say up the side of the bath. He then had a refridgeration unit installed...I hope to do something similar over the summer, so if anybody out there wants to try the same, il post pictures and construction details to try and help out....