Will Build a Walk in Cooler for Nuts & DCO Growing

[wbpdeer]

OK I know there are some great DIY guys on here. MattPatt, Timrod and others weigh in on this proposed project.

I collect so many chestnuts that orders get filled and then I have chestnuts that suffer because I don't have the capacity to refrigerate them. When I was reading about Tim's ozonic generator he built it hit me - one of those eureka moments.

So I ask the question in the internet browser about building a walk in cooler.

My basic plan at this point is 4 -5 inches of insulation board in the walls, use an air conditioner to cool it, build it in my basement in a corner wall situation to reduce noise effect, etc.

The units that other people have built use a cool bot device to control the AC and set the temperature to an appropriate level without freezing the unit up.

How I grow Dwarf Chinkapin Oak will benefit from this walk in cooler. I put the DCO in rootmaker 18s for 25 to 28 days, then put them in a dedicated used fridge in my son's garage.

I will built mine about 5 feet by 6 feet and about 6 feet 3 inches high. Insulation in the floor is important since cold air sinks. Getting it air tight is critical - so the builders caulk everything. Let difficult that building a greenhouse or two grow boxes.

I imagine mine will run about 7 months out of the year - time will tell.

Why build one? I hate to watch chestnut spoil after I have collected them. Every January and February people want to grow chestnuts and think they are readily available.

I plan on having them readily available and cold - stratified. Because of the cost necessary to stratify that volume, the cold stratified chestnuts will cost significantly more. However, the price will be more attractive than the price of a dorm fridge or a used fridge. If they get them from me late enough, they can grow them outside without the cost of growing lights.

YouTube has some resources that were helpful. Farmers build quite a few for meat, eggs and produce. Garden Centers and Nurseries build some for flowers and plants. Many of those units are fancy and larger than my needs.

Comments - both positive and negative are welcomed and needed.

Thinking it thru is best done ahead of time.

 

[Turkey Creek]

I have built a couple. First one was a 4' x 6' x 6' walk in "closet" for storing grafted trees prior to planting. I converted a small trailor to spring tree storage last year. I use a window AC and the Coolbot controller. I have been happy with the function of everything.

 

[Kabic]

A guy on another forum just made a walk in cooler using the cool bot at his hunting land. He reported it took 1/2 hour to get down to 43 degrees. He didn't have time to let it get any colder before he had to leave for home.

 

[Champdog21]

I don't have much to offer in the way of advice, but I hope if you build it you will put together a thread on the build for us all to see. I think it is an awesome idea.

 

[wbpdeer]

I have built a couple. First one was a 4' x 6' x 6' walk in "closet" for storing grafted trees prior to planting. I converted a small trailor to spring tree storage last year. I use a window AC and the Coolbot controller. I have been happy with the function of everything.

Turkey Creek,

Thanks for the information. Mine will slightly larger than your first one. I will store bare root - no more healing in, scions, nuts and seeds. I will grow DCO in it while it is putting on roots.

Do you by chance know the number of BTUs for your first one?

You are a jack of all trades. Thanks again.

 

[wbpdeer]

I don't have much to offer in the way of advice, but I hope if you build it you will put together a thread on the build for us all to see. I think it is an awesome idea.

ChampDog,

I will be sure to do that. Many of these are built for small deer lockers. Those people use a garage door track to move deer around the cooler. Mine will not be that large. But many on YouTube are small deer lockers.

Mine will be soft walls on the inside with at least 4 inches of board insulation and I am thinking a plywood exterior. I will use racks inside that are adjustable for my needs. I probably will wind up selling some Dwarf Chinkapin Oak plants as a result of this. Grow them in the walk in and finish them in the greenhouse - sell them in the fall. You get over 200 acorns per pound or there abouts.

The air conditioner window unit has a thermostat that limits it to about 60 degrees approximately. With the cool bot you are changing the degrees that the air conditioner will move the air temp inside the container too. You have to get sized right for three resources: 1) cubic feet inside the room, 2) BTUs of the Air Conditioner, and 3) the R-Value of celing, walls and floor. Get those things right and you will be happy.

Farmers are great DIY people and many of them build very elaborate ones. My needs are no very large.

I bet you know some in 'bama that built their own for some purpose.

 

[Turkey Creek]

I would say it is probably a 8 or 10K BTU, I dont recall right off hand. That will be plenty of BTU for your project.

 

[timrod]

I really think you have got it whipped Wayne. It sounds like everything you are describing would be far better than what I would have dreamed up. Really, my experience is mainly in electrical/electronics with some farm scrap iron engineering mixed in.
If you run into any issues or concerns regarding electricity or electronics feel free to give me a call or hit me up any time.
I'm sorry that I don't have any more help to offer, but I can get you in touch with a great friend who runs an appliance/heating and air company. If I ever run into HVAC issues, he is always my first phone call.
Good luck with the build, I'm sure it will be well worth it when all is said and done.

 

[timrod]

I also want to add, the offer to help with electronics and electrical issues/design goes out to all if you guys ever need any help. You all have helped me a ton.

 

[wbpdeer]

Tim

Everyone says the Coolbot Controller is as simple as following instructions as long as you get an appropriate air conditioner for the cooler. It has to have a digital readout and have an automatic restart if the power is cut off and then comes back on.

I have exchanged emails with the Coolbot folks this afternoon about a suitable AC unit I found on sale.

Thanks for your feedback Tim.

Good luck in the coming month - hope you track down a great buck.

Wayne

 

[gtlegs]

Just finished building our own walk in cooler for hanging deer. So far have had a doe, 3 bucks, and 2 hogs go through our cooler. It was definitely a great investment. Ours is 3'x5' with 3 layers of 2" thick fiberglass backed foam insulation and then blandex on the inside and outside. ceiling is blandex backed with R30 batting insulation. We are using a coolbot with a 10K BTU window unit which I believe is overkill because ours will get to 32 degrees in about 25 mins. We used aluminum duct tape to seal all the seams from the inside and expanding spray foam to fill the seams from the outside before we hung the blandex. We also used a 24" insulated metal exterior door and frame that is sealed tight.

 

[gtlegs]

Here are a couple pictures of ours. You can see we didn't insulate the floor, it's just the concrete floor.

 

[wbpdeer]

gtlegs,

Did you put the Coolbot on the outside of the cooler? After I got to reading on the net and watching YouTube, I have been amazed at how many people did exactly as you and built their own deer cooler.

So you have 6 inches of insulation on the outside (3 pieces each 2 inches thick).

My basement is gravel so I will have to finish my floor.

Thanks for sharing your experience and your photos.

 

[Triple C]

I don't have much to offer in the way of advice, but I hope if you build it you will put together a thread on the build for us all to see. I think it is an awesome idea.

X2! After following your green house project I would bet money you can make this work and work well. Look forward to following along if you decide to proceed.

 

[wbpdeer]

Thanks Triple C. I am going to build one. I work on election day for a voting machine vendor as contract labor. That money earned will be used to build my walk in cooler.

I am not interested in hanging deer in mine, although most that are built it is for that purpose.

My uses are storing chestnuts, sawtooth, bar root, scions and growing DCO while they put down the roots.

Probably will be 4 by 8 or 4 by 7 to make the materials work out correctly. Turkey Creek has built two.

Will do my best to document it like I did the greenhouse build.

 

[swat1018]

Here are a couple pictures of ours. You can see we didn't insulate the floor, it's just the concrete floor.
View attachment 4053 View attachment 4054

Nice. If you hang them with the hide, they will be less jerky-like on the outside.

 

[wbpdeer]

Swat1018

What size is your cooler? Got any photos you could share?

Thanks
Wayne

 

[swat1018]

I bought mine at a floral shop auction. It was 2 large coolers, and two refrigeration systems. I made the smallest one I could configure with the panels and door I had. It's still too big. I think it's 8 x 10, and 10' tall. I sold the remaining pieces I didn't use. In the end, I have very little in what I used. I'm not very good at the picture thing. I now need a cooler at my Missouri farm. I'm thinking about building a small one powered by the cool bot.

 

[wbpdeer]

Swat1018

I like you good find on a used cooler. I hope you can document your build of the small one on here. I am going to document mine. I have not heard anyone being disappointed with their cool bot cooler operation.

The one thing I have realized thru my research, these coolers are more common than I would have bet. Farmers and deer coolers are two common uses.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[gtlegs]

gtlegs,

Did you put the Coolbot on the outside of the cooler? After I got to reading on the net and watching YouTube, I have been amazed at how many people did exactly as you and built their own deer cooler.

So you have 6 inches of insulation on the outside (3 pieces each 2 inches thick).

My basement is gravel so I will have to finish my floor.

Thanks for sharing your experience and your photos.

We initially put the controller on the inside, but quickly realized we had to open the door to monitor the temp. So we moved the controller outside and just ran the wires beside the air conditioner inside the room. Yes, we have 6 inches of insulation, plus two layers of blandex on the walls, and R30 batting insulation on the ceiling.