Freezer question

[Doug-Iowa]

Could I take a freezer and put a 34 degree thermostat in the power circuit and use it as a refrigerator? My beer fridge at the shop is failing and I have a good freezer that we dont use, and a thermostat is only $20. I think we did that to a chest freezer back in high school to make a keg cooler but I cant remember how well it worked.

 

[wore out]

Sure you can. Only issue MAY be some accumulation of condensate depending upon if it has a drain or not.

 

[Turkeyfoot]

Home brewers do that all the time. Look up 'keezer. There are some tried and true components from the Homebrew folks. They use this method for both keg dispensers and for doing lagering.

 

[Charles in Aus.]

There are simple kits available on e bay that will do what you want . The advantage is that they plug into the existing power cord and control the compressor that way . A temperature probe is the only thing you have to fit by either drilling a small hole in the freezer cabinet or feeding it through the door seal .

 

[Fred Werring]

Wanted to keep the option to use mine as a freezer, so bought the thermostat linked below.

Use it during deer season.
I'll de-bone the deer, put it in the freezer with this thermostat to keep it above freezing, and then grind in a few days.
Then remove the temporary thermostat and run it as a freezer.

As wore out said, there is condensation, but unlike deer meat beer bottles are sealed , so don't know how much of an issue it would be for you.

BN LINK Digital Temperature Controller Heating Cooling

 

[Check Break]

(quoted from post at 12:40:05 07/28/22) Could I take a freezer and put a 34 degree thermostat in the power circuit and use it as a refrigerator? My beer fridge at the shop is failing and I have a good freezer that we dont use, and a thermostat is only $20. I think we did that to a chest freezer back in high school to make a keg cooler but I cant remember how well it worked.

https://www.amazon.com/Johnson-Controls-A421ABG-02C-Electronic-Temperature/dp/B01IWIZJHA/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=a419+johnson+controls&qid=1659150796&sr=8-1

I have a couple A419-s. Looks like the new model is A421. They work great. Plug your freezer into the control. Put the probe in the freezer. Set temp and your freezer becomes a fridge.

 

[buickanddeere]

Not so great if the freezer has an auto defrost system .

 

[Check Break]

(quoted from post at 21:23:20 07/29/22)
Not so great if the freezer has an auto defrost system .

The whole "turn your freezer into a fridge" fad stemmed from living off grid on as little power as possible. The chest freezer was the vehicle of choice because it consumed the least amount of electricity. I've never seen one with auto defrost so the issue never came up. I turned an upright into a root cellar because it's what I had and it takes up less room. It is also cheap and reliable and is manual defrost. I don't think most folks ponder manual or auto defrost when buying a stand alone freezer and the appliance dealers push the lowest price point so it works out without ever understanding why. Very good point though. I'll keep it in mind.