walk in freezer

[merrickvilleguy]

With our next years expansion we're growing beyond what I can safely deliver direct from the butcher or store in our chest freezer ...

wondering what you guys know about vendors and what not ... my googlefu brings up many but, either they don't deliver to Canada or don't have many details available.

We're looking for 8x8 x7, a kit we can build in the basement would be ideal, but if it needs to be outdoors we can live with that too

 

[Egon]

Just curious on how many you feed from the freezer and how long the storage time will be?

 

[merrickvilleguy]

Next years production is 300 chickens and 25 feeder lambs, so my 12cuft freezer won't be enough. It's not for us personally, even I don't eat that much ha.

But seriously, we were doing the math on it last night and we need between 75-100cuft for the chickens and another 250-275 for the lamb. We'd be storing at most 2 months from production.

A 8x8x7 freezer will get us 448cu ft total which means we will pack it full when you take into account the shelves and extras in the freezer.

 

[Egon]

Thanks for the information. Clarifies a lot of things.

The size you are looking for probably goes into the "Commercial range". These may have construction design items that make them expensive??

Is there any commercial freezing rental space available in your area?

Possibility of using multiple smaller units and taking them off line when not needed?

Bankrupt sales for commercial items?

 

[Larry Caldwell]

It's going to take a lot of years to pay back a walk-in. By the time you get installed, it's going to run you over ten grand.

Have you thought about slaughtering in smaller batches, just enough to keep a month ahead of your market? I guess if you are selling free range meat, that would be difficult. There's not much free range in most parts of Canada in the winter.

One good way of finding a source of walk-ins is to find out who takes care of the walk-ins at your local supermarket. You are going to want local installation and service. If you are lucky, maybe you can buy a used unit from a market or butcher that has gone out of business.

When I was a kid, I worked for a cabinet maker who did walk-ins. He just sandwiched a foot of styrofoam between sheets of plywood and had a mechanical contractor install the compressor and coils.

You are going to need extra capacity and a big fan, unless you have a separate quick freeze unit. Back in the '70s I had an upright freezer, pre energy conservation era, that would take half a hog from room temperature to stiff in about four hours. I figured the center of the cuts were frozen in a day. I can't calc the compressor you would need to take a dozen lambs to frozen in a reasonable time, but you would have to spread them out on racks for air circulation, and apply some serious horsepower. You probably want the compressor outside the house, if not the whole unit.

Good luck.

 

[DaveOmak]

Foster walk in freezers in NY might be a place to start. I found them on eBay.

 

[MarkV]

May also want to look at some government auction sites if they have them up your way. Somethings sell ridiculously low if you can handle the pick-up. Many big cities have used restaurant supply businesses.

MarkV

 

[tommu56]

these guys use to be local Bally Walk-In Coolers and Walk-In Freezers - build a standard or custom walk in cooler or walk in freezer to meet your needs.

We had a n environmental chamber made with their box and some one elses climate control about 12 x 10 x 8 2 people could assemble the box except for the floor it was heavier but managable by 4 people.

They are modular so you can add sections later the only other suggestion i have is to put a rubber roof over it with some tapered insulation to to get rain to run off.

Check with a restaurant supply they probably have a distributor that has them.

tom

 

[merrickvilleguy]

I was thinking today of a walk in cooler we made back in the day using 12k btu airconditioners and 2x6 wall/styro type thing ... id imagine similar for this, but get a proper compressor for the added heat capacity.

I priced out individual freezers today at $800/25cuft, thats 2400 to do my chickens in the fall and 3200 for lambs ... at that rate it would be better to find space to rent for the short term between butchering and delivery ... I'm sure theres something nearby that could do it, because lugging 6x 200lb 6' long freezers into the basement doesn't sound that fun ... and building an outbuilding to store them is even more cost

 

[Duffster]

Have you considered a used truck body or semi trailer?

 

[merrickvilleguy]

waaay larger scale than I need. 8x8 will give me about 2x the room I need (so enough to move around and for shelving etc)

 

[Duffster]

waaay larger scale than I need. 8x8 will give me about 2x the room I need (so enough to move around and for shelving etc)

It doesn't have to be that big. The local KC chapter has a 8 x 10. Just sayin.

 

[merrickvilleguy]

Ya thats true eh... something got me thinking of those 54' trailers

oh and btw ... the wife had a good larf at putting 7 freezers in the basement ... I'm hoping we can find a rental place nearby ... this is one of those things we really didnt clearly plan out at the outset of this

 

[Cat_Driver]

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/my-latest-project-walk-cooler-11440/



American Panel 10x12 Walk In Freezer Indoor w/ Refrigeration & Floor 10X12F-I | ACityDiscount

Nor-Lake KLF771014-C 10' x 14' Top Mount Walk-In Freezer w/ Floor

American Panel 10x10 Walk In Freezer Indoor w/ Refrigeration & Floor 10X10F-I | ACityDiscount

 

[schmism]

slide in for a pickup?

 

[Baub]

I have owned my own commercial refrigeration business for the last 35 years. I would like to try and help a bit

An 8 x 8 does have a gross volume of 448. However, on a small box like that, after you deduct the wasted space for a walk path down the center, area for the evaporator (cold coil),lost space on the shelving, and open space for the fans to circulate air, you will end up with less than 200 ft2 of usable space. My advise to my customers is never go smaller than 8 x 12. If you need less space than that, consider double door reach-in freezers.

If you have all your product in one large freezer, there will come a day the box will go down, and for one reason or another, repairs can't be made for 48 or so hours. Try to have a plan ahead... where can I borrow/rent a refer truck, have a backup (multiple 2 doors, as above).

On buying a used box- they look like they can be broken down and re-assembled like a Lego set due to the 4 x 8 panels and the crank-lock attachments. In reality, they are only made to be assembled once. Proper installation requires the panels to have glue between the sections before they are pulled together, which makes dis-assembly a *****. Unless you get one great deal, you are better off buying new.

On to manufacturers- the only one I would stay away from is Bush Refrigeration. Tafco, Koldpac and many more make a decent box. Check r-value, gauge of panel skin, and quality of door.

The refrigeration equipment in new boxes has changed considerably in the past few years. Scroll compressor technology, new refrigerants (404A in your case) and micro-channel condensers, just to start. Hook up with a company that is on the leading edge.

Put the box outside! Interior space can be used for so many things, and with a W/I all you have to do is add a rubber roof, and a few extra controls to the condensing unit. Maybe butt the freezer to your building at the door for easy access, but remember, any kind of large refrigeration throws off large amounts of heat, so a basement can be a problem.

A few of our recent projects- condensing unit for a 17 x 18 process freezer, and a 20 HP natural gas stripper.

I hope this helps- Bob

 

[merrickvilleguy]

Ya when we had our walk in cooler we had 2 12k btu ac's, 1 in a window in the room (vents outside) and the other with the vents in the basement, we switched between them depending on the season, unfortunately on this size of things adding a second condenser might be out of the budget ... would be nice to capture that heat for the winter months.

My first step this week is going to call around and see if there is refridgerated storage around here, if its too far to be feasible, then our next option is to see who can get us a kit around here (and get a guy out here to put the condenser outside adjacent to the basement where we are looking to put it ... and last step if all that fails is to build the room ourselves (I guess 2x6 and use expanding foam to fill any gaps ?) and go from there.

It's surprising how much harder this is than making a walk in cooler, that extra 29c drop in temperature is much more complicated.

 

[forgeblast]

A friend of ours made one for "winter" use only. Basically deer. He has two airconditioners, and a styrofoam room built in his unheated garage to hold it. Works well, for his needs, probably not up to commercial standards but keeps it consistanly chilly.

 

[bdeboer]

Have you considered a used truck body or semi trailer?

I use to work for a guy that had a semi-trailer reefer mounted on the wall of an insulated pole barn for a seasonal freezer. It had a diesel tank mounted below it. One concern though, is that the diesel engine get ssome air flow for cooling.

 

[BruceWard]

A local resteraunt built a walk in using SIP Panels. I believe they installed stainless steel on the inside or used Steel SIP Panels. SIP Panels with 8" of foam are around $5.50 a square foot of panel. The 6 panels to build an 8'x8' should be around $2000.