I start construction on my barndominium in May, and I am thinking about doing an 8' x 8' x 8' walk-in cooler in the corner of my shop, next to the laundry room.

Have any of my fellow OB'ers bought a D.I.Y. kit and built one of these? Looking for places to order from, tips and pointers on making the building process as smooth as possible and anything else you might have to say about these things.

I will use this cooler to hang deer for myself and family members, plus day hunters, store meat before we make sausage every year and might even skip a fridge in my living area altogether and keep all of my groceries in it as well.

T.I.A.

Have you considered making one out of a small shipping container? I have had several built at work and it is really simple. The contractor used spray on foam on the interior and attached the refrigeration to the rear of the container.

I can ask my brother about which ones we use for work.

Do you have help/a machine to lift things? A penthouse style unit works well.

Even the refrigerated shipping containers don't work that well and are expensive to run

I am torn on this. I cook outside more than inside and I would have it situated right by the roll up door next to my back patio.

I got the idea from a buddies ranch I stayed at and it wasn't bad for the 4 days we were there, but it might get really old after a while.

For what my opinion is worth, I'd dedicate the walk in to hanging meat.

At one time, that was oak racks and oak sawdust. (Pretty long ago)

Hooks and cheesecloth bags may make sense as well.

It would also let you mess with temp and humidity - somewhere I found an A&M article about dry aging meat and that aging it at 55 or so, greatly accelerated the dry aging process.

Yeah, the more I think about it, the more I want to be able to get a glass of ice water from my refrigerator with an ice maker and not have to go out in the shop for a bottle of water. I will probably still do a walk in cooler, but I am most definitely getting a fridge for the kitchen. That was dumb to even think about not having one. This is why I participate in the great OB group think, you guys are way smarter than I am.

Dirty-8-thirty Ag said:

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ought1ag said:

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walk in cooler + barndominium = jealous

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This is not going to be a weekend get away. This will actually be my home for the time being. I am sick of paying rent and living in town, so I am borrowing money against the land I own and building a barndominium at the back of it to live in, then, if I ever find a woman that will put up with my **** and have a family, I will be able to build a nice home in front of it. Whilst having a place to live during construction and also have a guest house/M.I.L. suite when it is all said and done.

I wish I could say that I already have my life together and that this is a weekend get away but it isn't. Haha

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It sounds like you've got a pretty good plan and that your life is together already!

Dirty-8-thirty Ag said:

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ought1ag said:

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walk in cooler + barndominium = jealous

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This is not going to be a weekend get away. This will actually be my home for the time being. I am sick of paying rent and living in town, so I am borrowing money against the land I own and building a barndominium at the back of it to live in, then, if I ever find a woman that will put up with my **** and have a family, I will be able to build a nice home in front of it. Whilst having a place to live during construction and also have a guest house/M.I.L. suite when it is all said and done.

I wish I could say that I already have my life together and that this is a weekend get away but it isn't. Haha

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i think we are on the same path...it appears that i am just a couple years behind you. please post some pics when you break ground

We have two, one in a barn, the other in a container under shade. Both are framed with 2x4s, have spray foam in the walls and ceiling and insulated board (forgot what you call it) for the inside walls. We use one window unit in each with a device called a cool bot (www.storeitcold.com) Have run the one in the barn for a month in June continuously at 36 degrees for less than $100 dollars, and being a barn on a second meter it has a higher electrical rate. Ours are used for fruits and vegetables and didn't want to spend big money on the units on the market. I was very skeptical that the cool bot device would work, but the one in the barn has been going for 8 years now, although we typically only use off and on from March to June. The one in the container is a couple years old.

I have a walk in freezer that was shipped in panels along with the refrigeration components. DIY Manufacturer is BUSH Refrigeration. Used to keep it a freeze temp, now just use it for refrigeration. Shipped to me from heck if I know where. Needed one, found supplier and bought it. I'm not much on "shopping" Good at buying when I want or need something. Had it for nearly 15 yrs with a couple of fairly minor maintenance calls. Was neighbor hood of 4 K . Not sure on that one. Probably 6x6x8. If BUSH is still around, I have been pleased.

My dad just retired after 40+ years in the refrigeration business. During my lifetime I have helped him build quite a few from budget builds to fridg /freezer combos in restaurants.

Here's what I have picked up from him:

For temporary use _ hanfing animals at camp for a week or so, any insulated box with a cooling unit will work. The split systems made for walk ins are more efficient to run but the cool bot units coupled with a window unit are often cheaper to install.

We ha e framed them with wood framing filled with batt insulation, insulation board, or spray in. Each is a give and tak on up front cost vs efficiency cost.

We have also assembled commercial cooler panels and installed "one piece" coolers. These tend to be easier to build and to sanitize but are not necessarrily more efficient. I would only recommend the "one piece" design if skid or trailer mounted and you intend to move it, otherwise panels are probably cheaper. A unit with an insulated floor is more efficient than one that uses the slab for the floor.

One of the best home built ones we did was cinderblock room. blocks were filled with perilite. Inside room we used construction adhesive to attach galvanized sheets to walls. It was cooled with a split system made for walk ins. That sucker was very efficient but takes up a LOT of space since each wall is 8" thick...

Married an Aggie Lady and ought1ag: I will be posting progress pics as it comes along. I am kinda doing this thing by the seat of my pants. I feel great about the structure because my mother sells metal buildings for a living. It's the inside that I'm worried about. Also, it's insane how much appliances cost when you add them all up!

Call Hohmann Commercial Refrigeration

They know their stuff.

Go to the Cool-Bot website. I built a refrigerated trailer based on their information. I regularly cool the trailer to 34 degrees using a cheap window unit. We used closed cell foam insulation on all walls, ceilings and floor.