i did this to an upright freezer. the chest freezer should work much better. i think i got my Johnson controls A19AAT thermostat on ebay. it comes with a probe to put inside the freezer and then you just plug the freezer into it and it into the wall. it has a dial to set the temperature. it costs about what you say.
we did have some learning curve which had a lot to do with the freezer door not sealing but this should not be a problem in a chest freezer.
not sure what the energy cost is since we only run it when our regular frig is full. so maybe a couple of days a week.

Good for you for learning this trick,Randi. I am sure it isn't costing you much in energy. It was interesting to learn about the external control and how many different appliances and applications it can be used for. I am keen to starting making yoghurt at home, for instance, and the thing can control a fermenting temperature.

This is the site where I learned about adjusting the thermostat instead of using an external controller: The proceedure works on models with manual thermostats not electronic thermostats. Someone chimed in that it can be done on freezer/fridge combo's too.

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/guide-set-internal-chest-freezer-thermostat-32f-eliminate-external-control-249612/index5.html

Sorry, for the typo on your name, Randy.

a dairy farmer i know uses the same thermostat to keep his milk cooler at the right temp. he only milks 2 or 3 cows.
what i really want is a walk in cooler but they are a bit pricey. it would also be a bit too big for what i would need. i'm thinking that using a cool bot is probably not very energy efficient but it is a way to get a walk in cooler for much less money.

I see that second hand or site built walk-ins with salvaged refrigeration parts aren't too bad. A new one is out of the question. Still, the chest freezers are cheap and you can plug in only what you need. Say if I had, 3 or 4 and for part of the year needed only one or two, that might be cheaper than running a 2 or 3 hp walk-in condenser. The risk of expensive mechanical problems is low. Doesn't approximate the volume and convenience of even a small walk-in,of course.

I decided to leave the freezer as a freezer for now. There are about 10 1 gallon jugs on the floor of the chest freezer and when I pull everything to go to the market I plug the thing in to refreeze them. Then when I reload the next time I unplug it.It keeps produce very well for a few days ice barely melts even though it's been hot. Also this way I have a constant supply of ice too. It's easy to bust the plastic milk jug and ice all at once and dump the ice into another container.

where can i get info on using salvaged refrigerator parts to build a cooler?
ha! as if i have the time to do that.

I know what you mean about time!Last year it was the chicken coop and run and germination tables and fences...more fences... and new beds and....How do you find time to grow anything?

I live in San Diego, so there are some ways to put the word out to our 3 million population. I would even drive to Los Angeles or other nearby counties for some stuff.We do have salvage yards to prowl. You might try calling around to commercial type refrigeration shops, placing wanted adds on craigslist and watching various craigslist zones. There are also some forums like this one, but dedicated to the refrigeration trade. Might not hurt to look around... maybe ask them for any ideas?

DIY site built could be amazing but could cost a few grand just for a really good box, and take some more of that time. If you could use some existing wall of a basement or other building that would help. Maybe a second hand condenser and blower could be used. I was thinking steel studs with sprayed in, high r-value per inch foam. I imagine the foam would be done by a hired guy since the tools for it are expensive. Lots of ways to do it though, outdoors in a barn or a basement.

Where are you thinking of putting a cooler?

probably in the basement. i'm kind of at my cooling limit now. another alternative is to buy someone's used frig from cl.
i've seen panels for walk in coolers on ebay. but the compressor and evaporator are at least 2k.
i think sprayed foam would be expensive to hire out since it is a relatively small job.

I really don't know how much the spraying costs since I haven't done but since I am a recently retired contractor I could find rock bottom prices or maybe rent the equipment. If the stuff falls in place I'll take it. I have a history of making bargains happen.

Your basement sounds good. Anyway, I went and started adjusting the thermostat on the chest freezer today. If that works great if not I'll get the temperature controller. We could go a long way with a couple more large chest freezers. I could put them on the back porch.

You can buy DIY foam kits online. DH helped a friend spray a kit. Was easy they said.
We are working on a cool- bot type set up this fall. Here there are lots of rent to own storage sheds. When people stop paying their rent the repo sheds can be purchased cheaper than building it new & that includes having it delivered. So the plan is DH will be outfitting a shed into my produce food storage area. I will do my best to document the progress.

my wife was looking at those storage sheds to be used to house a cooler as well as using it as a farm stand here at home. will be looking into repo units now that you mentioned it jcatblum.
there's a factory around here that makes eps cores that are used to make steel insulated entry doors. they have reject cores that don't meet the size specs and they sell them pretty cheaply. i insulated the roof of my house with them years ago. they seem to be perfect for insulating a cooler. i need to check it out.

Be sure to have 2 rooms that you can adjust the temps and humidity differently. Also if you don't know. DON'T put apples with other fruit or veggies unless you want things to ripen faster.

Marla

It would be interesting to see how your project goes, jcat.

Hooray! It took some trial and error to adjust the coarse adjustment screw on my chest freezer but it is above freezing now. It can be adjusted between 32, or so, and 42 or so with the regular temp control nob on the outside of the freezer. It could go warmer with more adjustments of the internal thermostat screw.

In the meantime, I ordered the controller just in case of failure...so I have some choices.

I Surfed around and found used regular commercial compressors for 10x10 coolers for $600 and $800 asking. They looked to be pretty good.

Lots of complete sets(box,compressor,blowers) for around 2k & up. Some looked not so good. I would not hesitate to low-ball them....confident that a free or nearly free one is to be had somehow.

that's great that you got that to work.

We have a cooler box, uninstalled. Was given it when the scrapper found out that he couldn't scrap it for any money. Don't know what we actually have, except some metal covered foam insulated panels.

One of these days, MAYBE, we'll get time enough to try to put it together.

Marla

Thanks, Randy. Credit goes to the beer brewers who posted very accurate info on how to do it. I just followed directions.....eventually.