I am making a walk in cooler

[DRH1175]

I am working on making a walk in cooler to hang my wild game in. My question is how do I cool it? Can I get buy with a window Air conditioner? The cooler will be 6X6 and will only be used a month or two total each year? Or what else could I buy to cool it?

[IFallsRon]

You'll want to build a refrigeration unit into the design. You could probably get by gutting an old fridge or freezer. You don't want to turn it into a giant dehydrator as that will dry out your game.

[DRH1175]

How would you build a refrigeration unit in. Our plans are for hanging deer in the fall. We would like to age them for a good week before buthering and the last few years it was just to warm to do so. We are going to build it to be about 6x7 feet by 7ft tall. Would it still dry the meat out at around 45deg? Anyone have any ideas how to cool it. An old refridgerator is not big enough. We need enough room to hang 5 deer. Thus a walk in cooler.

[sparcebag]

Dont build a unit do like IRonF says get a used freezer,use that unit to cool, walkins now days are foam insulated older style was 4-6 inches cork,build a 2x4 frame use foil backed rigid insulation inside,between studs use r-13 fiberglass and out 4x8 finish use it in winter as fishin shack,storage in summer.

Also where I live a meat shop charges me one dollar a day space to hang and age my deer,check your local meat markets.

[IFallsRon]

Picture your overly insulated walkin with a hole in the wall and a refrigerator/freezer with no doors stuck in the side facing in. As long as you have the compressor on the outside, you can probably keep the walkin cool enough in the fall to achieve your need. You can probably get a new upright freezer for under $150 or less and a used for who knows.

[sparcebag]

It wont dry the meat out,dont use the frost free fan/device that will dry it out!

[The_Duckslayer]

I would think that a small used window air conditioner would work as well. They are thermostat controlled now as well. Just a thought././Jimbo

[papabear]

Depending on where you locate it you may be able to get by with a window A/C unit it would not have to run much if the cooler is insulated and in the shade or has some reflctive built into it. Just monitor it until you have an idea of how well it cools. A/C will suck the moisture out.

Sounds like a good project.

[DRH1175]

Actually I just found this product called the Cool Bot on the web. They claim it will keep a cooler down to as cold as 32deg. I called them today and they have froze water with a 10,000 btu airconditioner so I will give that a try sure beats a $3000 cooling unit. The cooler will have 4" of foam insulation R20 around the whole cooler.