Cool-Bot Walk In Cooler?

[bbrown]

Thinking about building a 6'x8' or maybe 8'x8' walk-in cooler inside my shop using a Cool-Bot and window AC unit. I would be using steel studs, insulation with drywall and possibly FRP on the inside with plywood sheathing on the outside. Thinking about an insulated man door with an extra layer of 2" rigid insulation adhered to the inside of the door to bump up the R-value unless someone else has a better idea.

How to Build A DIY Walk-In Cooler with A CoolBot

STEP 1: Choosing what kind of project you will have - Indoor, outdoor, conversion, mobile or a simple turn-key solution. STEP 2: Choosing the right air conditioner to use with the CoolBot. This is essential to the success of your cooler project. STEP 3: Choosing your CoolBot device. Compare our...

www.storeitcold.com

The outfitter I guide for did something similar using an enclosed trailer wrapped on the inside with 2" rigid insulation and aluminum sheathing. Works great and the hottest it ever gets on the inside is 48-50* even on the hottest days sitting in the sun but usually its around 38-40*. Think mine would be much more efficient as it will be inside the shop, out of the sun and have better insulation.

Any one built one of these at their house? Have any tips/tricks or things you wish you have have done differently?

 

[BBob]

Had one years ago but the Cool Bot looks like it simplifies things. We used a commercial Copeland condensing unit, Bohn evap unit and Johnson cold room control from our refrigeration supplier. Walls were commercial insulated cold room panels so basically we built a small commercial cold room. As a contractor it wasn't horribly expensive at contractor cost. It was a co-op deal between a couple of friends. In the end the house where it was located was sold and no one wanted to keep it so we sold it. I would not use drywall inside a potentially humid room like that though, that's asking for mold. Cold rooms are notorious mold producers and paper or cardboard should be avoided. I'd be tempted to steel stud, foam panel insulation and line it with commercial kitchen plastic wall panels. I'd also seal all interior joints to keep moisture out of the walls (again mold).

Edit: I see you mentioned FRP panels, yeah that'd work.

 

[Savagenut]

Cool bot works great. A little pricey but works great. FRP on the walls and floor for easy cleaning

 

[Team4LongGun]

I have a walk in cooler with cool bot. So glad we did it. Rigid insulation, tape all seams, caulk bottom. We put a beefy header in and have had 4 deer hanging together for aging 9+ days.
Make sure you get a thermometer that is reliable and check it 2x a day. Once your dialed in with the cool bot it’s a great set up.

 

[bbrown]

Thanks guys. If anyone has pictures please post them up! I chalked out the walls
and hope to pick up materials this week and will post pictures as it progresses.

Prolly should have mentioned I’m in construction so I have access to a lot of these materials as leftovers from our projects which is why I’m going the steel stud and drywall route plus that’s what I know.

I do plan on using paperless drywall on the inside due to mold concerns.

Plan to epoxy them floor and there is a block out in the slab from when the shop was built that I plan to use either as a daylight drain or at a minimum dig out and fill with pea gravel for a drain.

We used uni-strut in the trailer with movable eye bolts that work great so I will probably go that route too and bolt them directly to the ceiling joists. We ordered a pile of meat hooks off Amazon that make hanging quarters quick and easy too.

 

[npro04]

I turned an enclosed trailer into one so I could take it with me. Used double layers of 2” blue rigid foam board. Covered it all with 1/2” and 3/4” plywood. Painted it all and added gaskets to all the doors. Added two tracks on the ceiling with little trolleys to hang meat hooks from. I was skeptical of it but it works amazingly well. I know that’s not exactly the same of building a room for it but I’m sure it’ll work about the same.

 

[Customweld]

I built one in my shop, but I used a regular window AC and wired in a Ranco control box. I was too cheap to buy a Coolbot. You'd be surprised how many friends you have once they learn you have a walk in cooler!

 

[BBob]

I built one in my shop, but I used a regular window AC and wired in a Ranco control box. I was too cheap to buy a Coolbot. You'd be surprised how many friends you have once they learn you have a walk in cooler!

You could easily do this and save $$$. Either a Ranco, Emerson or Johnson control. I've used a ton of the hard wired ones but they (Johnson) also make one with pre-wired power cords. Fairly simple to program. I prefer the Johnson over the Emerson due to less problems. I've had too many control relays in the Emerson fail so now use the Johnsons exclusively.

Johnson Controls A421ABC-02C A421 Series Electronic Temperature Control, -40 to 212 Degree F Temperature Range, Single-Pole, Double-Throw: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

Johnson Controls A421ABC-02C A421 Series Electronic Temperature Control, -40 to 212 Degree F Temperature Range, Single-Pole, Double-Throw: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

www.amazon.com

https://www.amazon.com/Johnson-Controls-Electronic-Temp-Control/dp/B01IWIZJHA?th=1

 

[NoWiser]

We spray-foamed the heck out of an old 6x8 tool trailer. It works awesome. Can keep it in the mid-30's no problem. We hung our deer and elk last year for 2+ weeks in there and the results were great.

 

[RR2012]

Have one also and works great. I picked up an old walk-in cooler without the compressor and used the coolbot and AC unit. Will hold temp 37-38 for days. Doesn’t matter on outside temperature as I have it in a shop also and insulated the floor. You will love it no doubt. And as stated you will have lots of friends!!

 

[Jonathan Hemlock]

I helped a friend build a cold storage room in his shop for apples and deer. He used the Cool-bot and it performed well for a season or two but has not been functional since. He lives on an island where everything metal rusts, so it’s likely that’s what killed it. YMMV obviously.
We were careful to seal the outside of the foam seams to prevent moisture from getting into the walls when condensation forms on the outside. Seems like that was a good choice because he’s had zero issues with that in 6 years.

 

[colersu22]

My father in law built one like 6 years ago, it is probably 5’x8’ he used 2x4’s and the rigid insulation for the walls, floor and ceiling. He spray foamed the whole thing as well. When he first built it the temp would not stay consistent but spray foaming everything fixed that. It will stay 38 degrees for the 5-9 days we hang animals. It works really good and if they ever sell the house I’ll build one of my own since it is nice to age the meat and not have to rush to butcher it.

 

[bbrown]

Making some progress on the walk-in. Ended up 7’x7’x7’ tall inside dimensions. Plenty of room for 3-4 animals easy and the lower height will make hanging the quarters easier. The metal studs and track I used are overkill but the price was right and I don’t have to worry about using the top for storage.


Plan to get the 10mil plastic vapor barrier and hang the DensArmor sheathing (which is a paperless drywall) on the inside in the next couple days. When that’s installed I can thru bolt the Uni-Strut to the ceiling joists. Then get it insulated and plywood sheathing on the outside by this weekend if all goes well. Would really like to get the FRP installed inside too but running out of time quickly already…

 

[Justinc68]

Great info, thought about doing this for a few years. Think I'll give it a shot.

 

[bbrown]

Made some pretty good progress this weekend. Insulated the walls, installed the vapor barrier, hung the drywall on the inside, OSB on the outside and got the first coat of drywall mud on.

Think I’m going to skip the FRP at least for now and paint the inside with a high quality gloss exterior paint. Much like everything right now, the price of FRP apparently went thru the roof and it would cost almost $1k to cover the inside. But I “only” paid $30/sheet for the 7/16” OSB (it was up to almost $70 in my area not that long ago) so things are coming back closer to normal.

Over this winter I will probably wrap the outside with barn wood and old tin to match this:

 

[bbrown]

Almost done. Just need to install the uni-strut and eye bolts, then insulate and sheath the ceiling. Hoping to break it in with an archery antelope next week.

 

[Boarmaster]

Im jealous…..nice setup.

 

[Ike Carlson]

Did you get your critter? Nice build. We built one a year ago and love it. One thing I suggest doing is insulating the blower housing on the ac unit if it isn't already. It cut our running cost by 65%. We used 4 inches of foam all the way around and on both doors (we load from outside and unload into the kitchen, first in first out) Doors are a huge heat gain/loss, even "insulated" steel doors. Cover them with foam. We used 4 inches.

I still need to paint the interior before deer season next week. We have had a pile of critters in it over the last year. 6 deer and a pile of pigs. We also use it for storing leftovers for the holidays.

 

[bbrown]

Haven’t broke it in yet but got the uni-strut and eye bolts up. Head out for moose on Thursday and hoping to have it full here soon. Using it to pre-cool my coolers now and it’s holding between 38-40*. I need to try your insulation trick on the blower housing to see if it helps as the AC unit runs pretty much non stop but I think that’s just how it’s going to be.

 

[Ike Carlson]

Did you insulate the floor? If not, you really really need to. Even a thin layer of foam will help. I used 2" foam with plywood on top. It helps a lot. We have not seen any difference on the electric bill. The fan runs all the time to circulate air, but the compressor should only turn on intermittently.

Ours will cool down to zero if we set it that cold, but we installed a freeze protector that turns off the compressor just below freezing. We use an inkbird temp controller and johnson freeze protector. The coolbot is crazy expensive for what it does and makes a mess of the wires. We removed the controls from the air conditioner and wired it to the inkbird. No wires hanging around and no mess.

The coolbot uses a heater to make the compressor kick on, and variations in setup can make it not work right. I know the coolbot is marketed for people who can't do wiring/electrical, but a dedicated temp controller is far better in my opinion.
I have talked with quite a few people with coolbots, and they a have the same response....it takes a while to cool the room, the compressor runs a lot, energy cost, and they have a hard time getting the room cold enough.

I don't know their exact insulation setup or anyyhing like that, but those who have used a dedicated temp controller have had better results, from what I have seen. It could be different construction, like I said. Insulation and heat bridges make a huge difference. I still have exposed 2x4's around the door that need to be unsulated. In the cool season, our compressor only runs for a few minutes every hour. It is air tight, has r25+ walls, r40+ ceiling, r20+floor, and r30+ doors, and the blower housing is insulated. The blower housing is a big deal when it's warm outside.

Where are you located?

We run ours at 33-34* because it spoils faster as it gets closer to 40*.