My DIY Coldroom

wexfordman

I had been planning on building a small coldroom over the last while, and am almost completed, so thought it might interest a few stalkers here if I posted up a few pic etc. As well as the stalking, we also raise a few turkeys every year for firends etc, and have done the odd pig too, so between that and the pheasant etc, it seemed like a good idea to have a dedicated cold room/prep room if I had some spare space out the back.

As it happens, I did have some spare room, thanks to a previous DIY frenzy I had about 5 or 6 years ago, and built an outdoor sauna. It got great usefor about 6 months, then was excellent as a cobweb store for the last 5 years. Seeing as I dont need cobwebs, I got permission from herself to dismantle the sauna and turn a hot room into a cold room :-)

The building it is housed in is a bout 8ft by 5ft internal diamater, built of 4inc block, with a flat roof. It has and exterior shiplap timber panelling also for aesthitics, which also is insulated, so helps in the overall design. The interior is/was split into two parts, the sauna (now to be the cold room) and a shower room (now to be the prep/skinning/butchering room).

The sauna/coldroom part will have fit into the back of the building, meaning that three walls are already present, and the fourth wall will be a dividing wall between it and the prep room, this division being madeup primarily of the cold room door and frame.

So, some pictures before:-

The outdoor building which will house the prep and cold room




The existing sauna









Suana Dismantled and removed



Cold room door, courtesy of done deal





Raised floor



Cold room door mounted







Battoning for insulation and pannelling
3 X 2 inch battons used to allow for 3 inch insualtion




Insulation up (3 inch insulation used)




Pannelling (1/2 inch ply)
All joints sealed with silicone sealer



All joints sealed with silicone sealer


Panelling covered using pvc coriboard (obtained from local centra for free, from old signboards).

And floor tiled!








Rail system for hanging (made from galvanised farm gate mounting and rail).






Thats the cold room construction finished, I still need to get a compressor/evaporator fitted. Had a guy lined up to do it, but he called me this morning and said he wont be able to, so a bit stranded now,will have to look at alternatives.

Anyone know of someone who can help out with this bit in the east cork area, would really appreciate it, or even some advice if it is diyable

Plan to kit out the room that had the shower room in it now, into a skinning and prep room. Have water, power and drainage already, and loads of corriboard left, so should be a runner.

Anyway, next plan is to get something to hang in it :-)

daithi55

tasty job mate

oats 2

top job ..your handy.

Boiled-egg

Super Job, well done.
Keep us informed on how it turns out.

Cass

Some tasty work there.

You say you got permission from herself. What's it going to cost you really?:D

wexfordman

Ezridax wrote: »

Some tasty work there.

You say you got permission from herself. What's it going to cost you really?:D

An iphone 5 and a greenhouse

Cass

There it is. :D:D

clivej

Would a freezer unit off a truck/van from a scrap yard do the the cooling unit. Some will run off a mains 240volt connection as well as 12volts????

wexfordman

clivej wrote: »

Would a freezer unit off a truck/van from a scrap yard do the the cooling unit. Some will run off a mains 240volt connection as well as 12volts????

It might be something I have to look into. Based on the size of my room, I reckon something off a hiace or even a combo would probably do me. Hard to come by though.

nowwerehurlin

Thats an impressive bit of work there wexfordman !.. theres a lad selling a cold roo set up in the for sale section of this atm .. he might have the fan youre looking for .. atb

wexfordman

Well,

Got a cooler installed yesterday, by a gent who came all the way from dublin to do it, brilliant job, running since last night now at between 1 and 3 deg, delighted with it. Been admiring it all morning, now Im feckin frozen!!



Will post some more pics later, must do some work now!

wexfordman

Right,

Finally got round to taking some pics of the finished cooler with the compressor etc installed (was waiting to see if I could bag a deer to hang in it first :-)


Quick plan view, had to do this up for the guy installing the compressor etc so he could measure up etc



So here are the pics of the completed cold room

Overall, reckon the entire cold room, including insulation, panneling, door, compressor, cooling fans, compressor installation, lighting, hanging rails, tiles, silicone sealer, thing cost between 800 to 900 euro! Thats inclduing 500 euro for the compressor unit and install etc with the guy travelling from dublin to cork to do it!


Wet/Prep/Skinning room

Not quite finished, tiled and drainage in, need to fit a sink and fill panneling gaps etc, but completely waterfproof for hanging, skinning and washing down carcass before throwing in the cooler!





Internal Fan and cooler unit.



External fan and compressor



Cold room door and control panel




Control Panel Close Up



Last evenings (and first ever visitor to the completed unit) doe, just chillin :-)

daithi55

very nice mate
what are these like on electricity does anybody no

wexfordman

daithi55 wrote: »

very nice mate
what are these like on electricity does anybody no

Cheers. I have an electricity monitor on it at the moment! Normal running is 60w and every now and again the external compressor kicks in for a few minutes at 800w.

The monitor is showing me usage of about 3kwh per day, and haven't worked out what that is money wise yet but think prob about 15 to 20 per month if it's running for the full month which it won't be.

The guy who installed it reckoned it should cost about the same as a standard fridge. Said it would be higher in the summer but I don't plan on using it during the summer.

Will post more on usage once I get a pattern. Anyone know what a coca cola fridge is like power wise?

Regaeds
Eamon