DIY Walk in coolers?

[Davoh]

Wanting to build out a cooler, and wondering if anyone has a handy guide on it, or any type of advice....

also...

http://www.storeitcold.com/index.php

aside from the obnoxious website.... this device intrigues me...

Thoughts? Advice?

[tex4k]

I didn't check out the website, but I will tell how I did mine. took a 8x8 portable building, insulated the walls well, put in a ceiling and insulated it even better, put some styroboard under the floor for insulation. Installed a simple window refrigeration a/c unit with a changed out thermostat I purchased at a resturant supply place. Keeps the inside 40 deg. or lower even in the summertime.

[txfireguy2003]

I was wondering if you could just build a smallish building with thick walls, put the spray in foam in there (the commercially applied kind, not the stuff in the cans), do the same for the floor and ceiling. I'm talking about 2x6 or 2x8" walls, so a THICK layer of foam insulation on all sides, top and bottom. Maybe elevate it off the gound as well so the heat from the ground doesn't hurt you, but who knows, maybe the ground is better than the hot air in summer time. Anyway, insulate it well, seal it well, then have a large AC unit on it in recirculate mode so it's pulling inside air, cooling it, then pumping it back in. Say it drops th temp 20 degrees on each pass and it's 80 degrees outside. First pass, it's 60 degrees inside, second pass it's 40 degrees, any more passes and you're down into the freezing range. Not sure if this will work or not, but just a thought.

[Sharpe Eye]

watching this

[Richard]

A friend of mine bought the cool bot and works great. I want to make the unit myself but can't find any info & neither could he so he just purchased one.

Sent from my HTC EVO.

[jetlag887]

A friend bought an older Wells Cargo trailer, I would guess about 6x10. He insulated the inside with foam board and mounted a 110V A/C unit in the front so he can hook it to a generator in the back of him truck while driving.
It works good!

[blackjack]

We used this same control unit along with the same LG window unit they recommended for an 8 x 12 room and it works like a champ! This is the 3rd year using it and I wouldn't do it any other way! Heavy duty FRP insulated panels on the walls and ceiling and we have no trouble keeping the room in the 40's even in the summer. Obviously, the higher the humidity outside, the harder the AC unit has to work to bring the temperature down, but it is nothing for it to be 100+ outside with 80%+ humidity (our ranch is right on the bay) in the summer and the unit will top out at 47-48 degrees during the heat of the day and drop back down to 43-44 degrees in the evening/night. I have set the temp at 38 before and started developing ice at the base of the fins on the AC unit...now that is cold! I typically keep ours set on 43-44 and it works extremely well.

That thing is very simple to set up and use.

In researching it before we built ours, if you have some comfort working with electricity and don't mind modifying a brand new window unit AC, you can wire an AC so that it will be "fooled" into leaving the compressor on...I didn't want the unit to freeze up and wasn't comfortable with doing the mod to the new AC myself, so I just went the CoolBot route.

One word of advice...I would certainly build your room with a concrete slab and a drain in the center of the floor...it makes cleanup at the end of a hunt so much easier!

[q-all]

I have been wanting to do this. So if you change out the thermostat u can use any window unit to keep the temps down below the 40s?


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I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=33.722406,-96.601327

[Richard]

I have been wanting to do this. So if you change out the thermostat u can use any window unit to keep the temps down below the 40s?


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I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=33.722406,-96.601327

Yes, but you have to use the coolbot. If you just use a regular t-stat your coils will freeze up on the window unit.

Sent from my HTC EVO.