Will Build a Walk in Cooler for Nuts & DCO Growing

[wbpdeer]

Triple C,

My temperature will be 34 / 35 degrees F. With a 4 by 6 and 10,000 BTUs air conditioner, I believe this will be rather easy to attain. Eliminating air gaps is critical and I will have a good R value. It is will positioned in my basement to not collect any heat.

The reason I want a lower temperature is chestnuts germinate faster (sooner) with lower temperatures. The cool bot people stress that the R value in the floor pays a big part as cool air drops and hot air rises.

If you has an interest in building one, get on YouTube to see how many deer coolers are built. The time I spent increased my confidence level a great deal.

 

[Turkey Creek]

Good job. Very detailed description.

 

[wbpdeer]

Good job. Very detailed description.

Thanks Turkey Creek,

With my dimensions and an AC with 10,000 BTUs do you think 34 / 35 degrees should be easy to achieve. I will have 23.2 R value for insulation. I cut down to 4 by 6 to provide me less impact on the electricity bill. Thanks.

 

[swat1018]

Are you at all concerned about the humidity the air conditioner may exhaust into your basement?

 

[Turkey Creek]

Thanks Turkey Creek,

With my dimensions and an AC with 10,000 BTUs do you think 34 / 35 degrees should be easy to achieve. I will have 23.2 R value for insulation. I cut down to 4 by 6 to provide me less impact on the electricity bill. Thanks.

Yes you will be able to reach that temp with ease.

 

[wbpdeer]

Actually I have not thought about that. My house built in the early 1950s and all of my floor joist and sub-flooring are oak. I can't get a nail into a joist without first having to drill a small pilot hole.

Just don't think it will be a problem in this situation.

 

[wbpdeer]

Thanks Turkey Creek.

That is what I am striving for and I believe I have plenty of AC and insulation for the small square footage.

 

[gtlegs]

No doubt you will have plenty of AC for that size. That is smaller than ours and we have a 10K BTU unit as well. Even with 5 very large fresh deer (i.e. still warm) the cooler drops and holds temperatures very well.

 

[wbpdeer]

Work Update for Wednesday, November 16th

I worked hard today but it may not appear that way. I framed the door end. I got 6 insulations boards on the side on the next to the grow box. Quarters were very tight. Next to the frame facing the inside of the cooler I placed 1/2 insulation board that has a silver side. This will help the lighting inside the cooler. The R Value of this wall is 23.2 with five boards rated at 4.0 and one board rated at 3.2. I taped all joints.



The door will open toward the corner of the basement.

 

[wbpdeer]

Because the quarters are tight, I had to layer the five boards that are 3/4 inch. I taped two together and taped three together. The first boards attached were the 1/2 boards and they join at the center stud. I taped the outside of that joint.

The photo below shows the layering system. I did stagger where joints occur to prevent air leakage as much as possible. I went thru over a roll of duct tape. Tape is cheaper than electricity.



The board on the left is the 1/2 inch board. It is running wild here and was cut later at 5 inches away from the framed door wall. The next section of insulation board are three tape together each 3/4. The section taped together on the right are two 3/4 boards.

Notice my home central air duct above the insulation board. Yes we have tight quarters.

 

[wbpdeer]

The frame is on the inside of the cooler. Once the side wall was put together and seams taped, I used a block with a 6 inch screw to attach the insulation board sandwich to the inside frame. It does not take many of these to keep things nice and tight.



Notice the white duct tape used on the seam where two board join.

 

[wbpdeer]

The side wall extends to the bottom of the floor and extends above the ceiling grade. If you didn't do this your insulation would be thin in those locations and your cooler would not hold the target temperature effectively. Your decisions should be made with keeping the electricity cost down as you lower the temps in the cooler. My side boards are 83 inches tall.

This is the inside board with the silver side. Notice the height of it at the top of the photo. The left side of the board had not been trimmed but later it was cut vertically on a line 5 inches to the left of that corner stud.

The photo shows the air duct for my central unit.

 

[wbpdeer]

The last thing I accomplished before I stopped for the day was to get the ceiling well under way. The ceiling frame is 48" wide and 72" long. I put the 1/2 insulation on the bottom with the silver side turned to the inside of the cooler. I put 3 screws in each end. I did get three boards cuts and placed on top.

The three boards will have to be adjusted to get a tight joint with the installed side wall. In the photo you can see some air gaps. This will be eliminated tomorrow.

Checking the layout on any project is part of quality control. I made those three boards a sandwich and I will eliminate the sandwich approach. I will lay them in individually to get a good tight seam on the first two for sure.


I placed white tape on the edge of the 1/2 insulation board. This will help reduce loss of cold air when we have structural members in place.

This is it for today. Thanks for reading this thread.

 

[wbpdeer]

It takes time to take photos and post them to this forum. Hopefully, it will help give another forum user the confidence to build their own.

If you have questions, I would be glad to share what I know and what I think. This is not a deer cooler - I am using 2 by 2 as my framing. Keep that in mind if you were building a deer cooler. My ceiling will not be supporting any weight other than a 2 by 4 on top of the insulation to keep my seams tight.

 

[T-Max]

It takes time to take photos and post them to this forum. Hopefully, it will help give another forum user the confidence to build their own.

And for that I give you two thumbs up and a huge thank you! I really enjoy your threads especially due to the amount of detail you provide and your willingness to answer questions. You really help keep this forum going.

 

[wbpdeer]

Update for Thursday, November 17th

1. I got the ceiling squared away. It has one 1/2 board and five 3/4 boards. That is a 23.2 R value in the ceiling.

2. Got some board on the door end.

3. Got the 1/2 board on the side wall next to block wall. I squeezing myself in the narrow opening to tape the joint of the 1/2 boards at the center stud.

4. Went to Lowe's to get the Air Conditioner but it had to be ordered. It will be shipped from Louisville, KY so hopefully it will not be too long. I purchased 15 sheets of the 3/4 insulation board rated at R 4.0. Insulation is expensive but critical to having a successful cooler.



This photo is taken looking out the front doorway. I will not be able to frame the back wall until I receive the air conditioner. That means it will be the last structural member to complete.

 

[wbpdeer]

This photo is looking in the front doorway.



The photo below shows the threshold with the nails for attaching board to the framing.



The board attached is the 1/2 inch board. There will be five boards that are 3/4 inch each added over the 1/2 board. This is how you achieve the 23.2 R value.

 

[wbpdeer]

The ceiling is done. The photo shows the five 3/4 inch boards and the white tape hides the 1/2 board from view. The ceiling has a 23.2 R value.



Once completed I will lay a sheet of plastic over the ceiling and put 2 by 4s around the perimeter. This will keep air out and helps my joints around the ceiling corners.

 

[wbpdeer]

Monday, November 21st will be a work day on the cooler.

I took a break to concentrate on my greenhouse. Got the cover on it Friday morning and then spent time tweaking the air gaps. I will get the front door wall and side wall next to the block wall squared away today. Photos to follow.

 

[wbpdeer]

Got side wall next to block wall finished. Very narrow space to get things in place. On this wall I ran 3 board that were 4 feet tall from the front edge to the back edge. I made this (taped it together first) three board sandwich and then slide it in place.



The side wall is 83 inches tall when we start below the floor grade and extend above the ceiling. This required me to stack three boards on top of the 4 feet boards to cover the 83 inches. The photo above shows where these 6 boards came together. I taped them very well.

The 1/2 inch white board to the left of the three lite blue boards was attached to the frame first. It was taped where it joined under the center stud.