I’ve got an idea… tell me if I’m crazy (or just missing something).
Background:
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We get these meal kits that come each week with two large ice/gel packs (~8"x11"x2"). Needless to say, I get lazy about properly disposing of them, so I now have a couple small boxes full of ice packs.
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I also have a deep freezer converted into a kegerator (keezer). It fits 4 kegs, but due to the front-to-back depth being too shallow, I have to stagger the kegs in a sort of “W” or “N” configuration leaving some pretty significant air gaps.
I’m thinking of putting a garbage bag in each space between the kegs, then dropping in the gel packs until I fill up the space. Then when I change kegs, I’ll pull the adjacent garbage bags, pull the empty keg, put a new keg in, and put the cold packs back in place.
My thinking is this could have a couple advantages
- Lower the energy cost of running my keezer by keeping a larger thermal mass inside that doesn’t warm up quite so quickly when I open the top. It should also cycle less frequently, theoretically extending the life of the keezer.
- Utilize liquid/gel conduction rather than air convection for cooling, so my new kegs will get to kegerator temp faster.
Is there something I’m missing? Any reason this might kill the freezer or ruin some beer? I could potentially see freeze-expansion being problem if the ice packs actually freeze solid, but I don’t think it should be a problem because I keep the temp above freezing. There might be local freezing at the wall, but I don’t think enough to cause issues.
Anyway, I’m hoping for some feedback good/bad/otherwise (especially if you see a major problem) before I go through with it. Thanks!