A friend of mine is in the process of erecting a pole building on his farm in prep for the house build this summer. The pole building is essential for equipment storage during the build of the house and will essentially house a man-cave as well as other cool things. We've laid out some ground rules for the pole building, chief among them a full deer processing area with a i-beam mounted electric hoist with provisions and height required to skin deer using the hoist as well. We started talking about a walk-in cooler and what would be required to have a thermal exchange cooler using outside ambient temp to keep the cooler at 33-36 degrees provided the outside temp was low enough when memory hit me about a device that allows you to use a smaller window or wall mount A/C unit to adequately cool the walk-in. I came across some old plans in a Mother Earth Magazine and though i can't find the issue, much of it was committed to memory and you guys can research the remaining details to make use of this should you so desire.
first, the "hack" to allow a normal A/C unit to get a room below 60 degrees. It's called a Cool-Bot (http://www.amazon.com/CoolBot-Walk-In-Cooler-Controller-conditioner/dp/B003VSLTAI ) - do your own reading on this unit.
the rest of the cooler involves an insulated box making use of foil backed poly-iso foam board, double layer 1" thick with a 3-4" foam spray in application between the sandwiches for cost reduction. Total foam thickness fits in 2x6" wall studs, and the outside is clad in T1-11 siding for protection. Inside, the "cooler" is covered with something else to protect it...we are toying with using galvanized wire mesh or something more risiliant. You need to place insulation on all sides as well, and after a little math and some number crunching, we SHOULD be able to put in a full walk in cooler for right around 1500 including a commercial grade A/C unit. The unit will be 12'long, 10' high, and 8' wide with 4-6 gambrel mounts in the cieling to suspend deer after harvest and before processing.
Has anyone ever used the CoolBot and can lend some tips on this thing? Operating cost and initial build is WAY less than a commercial walk-in, and it would ideally MORE than suit our needs for a place to age/hang/store venison prior to final bagging and freezing, as well as serve a very nice little brew room for some beer crafting.
first, the "hack" to allow a normal A/C unit to get a room below 60 degrees. It's called a Cool-Bot (http://www.amazon.com/CoolBot-Walk-In-Cooler-Controller-conditioner/dp/B003VSLTAI ) - do your own reading on this unit.
the rest of the cooler involves an insulated box making use of foil backed poly-iso foam board, double layer 1" thick with a 3-4" foam spray in application between the sandwiches for cost reduction. Total foam thickness fits in 2x6" wall studs, and the outside is clad in T1-11 siding for protection. Inside, the "cooler" is covered with something else to protect it...we are toying with using galvanized wire mesh or something more risiliant. You need to place insulation on all sides as well, and after a little math and some number crunching, we SHOULD be able to put in a full walk in cooler for right around 1500 including a commercial grade A/C unit. The unit will be 12'long, 10' high, and 8' wide with 4-6 gambrel mounts in the cieling to suspend deer after harvest and before processing.
Has anyone ever used the CoolBot and can lend some tips on this thing? Operating cost and initial build is WAY less than a commercial walk-in, and it would ideally MORE than suit our needs for a place to age/hang/store venison prior to final bagging and freezing, as well as serve a very nice little brew room for some beer crafting.
