Outdoor fridge or ice chest(s)?

[dotbombjoe]

I'm trying to decide on whether to get an outdoor fridge. I'm wondering how useful they really are in comparison to just having an ice chest/cooler strategically placed.

My plan is to have a kegerator inside the house and set up taps on both sides of the wall so I can get a pour whether I'm in or out. If it's "just the family", I can dump some ice from the freezer into a cooler for water bottles and juice boxes...the three taps will give us access to the seasonal selections of wine/sangria, beer, and cocktail...feels like that covers things pretty well.

In party situations, feels like a couple coolers with ice from the store would work better than a fridge anyway...heck, I can put an ice machine in the garage if I get tired of running to the store for a lot less than the fridge will cost.

The indoor fridge is no further than where the patio fridge would go, so I don't see us using an outdoor fridge for food storage when we're cooking either...we'll just leave the slider open for easy access to the main kitchen.

Am I off base? What do folks use their outdoor fridge for and if you had to do it over again, would you still do it?

 

[PoolGate]

It all boils down to convenience. We have a walkout that opens directly from the pool to a wet-bar that has a fridge and beer on tap. We don't have anything additional in the actual pool area. We also have a rolling ice chest that we don't really use at all. Post some pics of your setup I am sure you'll get some great suggestions!

 

[pooldv]

We always need a second fridge anyway to be able to store all the stuff we need/have/want. So in texas we put it outside on the screened porch and put beer in it. In Florida we put it next to the wet bar inside and put beer in it. In Florida both fridges have dual ice makers which makes it easy to ice down coolers and fresh seafood. Ice chests definitely are a good add to get the cold ones right to the pool area.

 

[dotbombjoe]

Here is a dated but fairly accurate snip of the backyard plan. The grill, sink, trash is along the lower left area of the diagram. You can see the slider in that area --it leads directly to the indoor kitchen (the whole 'house' area is just one big, open room). It's like 10-12' from indoor stove/sink to the grill and the fridge is just straight past that another 7-8' from there so for cooking, I don't think it would be a big deal to rely upon our indoor fridge...we'll probably be doing most of our prep inside anyway.

...but we wouldn't want to have to go inside to get a drink, that's for sure.

The plan calls for the beverage area at the bottom center of the pic...below the semi-circular table. The narrow section of counter is where the three taps will be...the kegerator will be inside the house on the other side of that wall. The fridge would be that "x" area beside where the taps will be. So the fridge/beverage area would be very central, close to both main seating areas under the covered patio (and the grill too).

Our back yard is California small...it's like 40' wide and 30' from the main house to the back property line...and most of it is pool/spa. I'm wondering how lazy I am to think I need a rolling ice chest to park in the spa/fire pit area so I don't have to walk those extra 20'...the wife's skepticism at my "but we'll get more exercise if we have a pool" argument is coming into focus. lol

Anyway, yeah, just trying to get a feel for how other people are or are not using their outdoor fridges. A co-worker said his fridge is the one appliance he couldn't live without...but if he had 3 taps available out there, I'm not so sure he'd feel the same way.

 

[Geebot]

After a couple of seasons purchasing $20 of ice a day to feed coolers (not to mention the time running around to get it) we ended up getting a commercial ice maker which stays in our insulated garage. It ended up being a better purchase than an outdoor fridge and we can get 150lbs of ice a day. It keeps our 2 100-qt coolers well chilled and is great for parties in the off-season.

 

[Bosley]

@Geebot Do you just dispense it right into your coolers? Commercial ice maker is the way to go!

 

[Geebot]

@Geebot Do you just dispense it right into your coolers? Commercial ice maker is the way to go!

Just make a couple of trips with a big plastic bucket.

 

[dw886]

Personally, my opinion on official "outdoor" fridges has shifted to that they're just overpriced. Before we had our outside setup complete, we were at a friend's house with a complete outdoor kitchen and pool. In talking to them, they said that their landscaper wanted like $1,500 for an outdoor fridge. He laughed at the landscaper and declined, went to Costco, and bought a stainless mini fridge for $150. They leave it outside (unplugged) all winter (because it was $150 and not $1500), and it's on it's 5th season.

That being said, I built my bar setup with a space wide enough and tall enough for an outdoor under-counter unit, but I threw in a $150 unit just like he had done. It's on year #3.

We have a wetbar with under-counter ice maker and an under-counter beverage center that's in the house just inside the door behind where the current outdoor fridge is, but I don't want a bunch of wet folks running into the house every 5 minutes to get a drink. Especially for the kids, they never seem to close any doors, so we're on door patrol constantly with kids going in and out just to use the bathroom.

When we put in the bar sink outside, I used an insulated beverage chest for the sink and under-mounted it in the granite. It has a plug for the bottom, and a cover for the top. It's meant to be filled with ice, and have beverages placed into it, but to be honest, that's way more work than just using the fridge, and we'd rather have the convenience of the sink than more cooled beverages out there.

 

[chayne]

this is what i did to have an "outdoor fridge". it is just a simple mini fridge and i covered it on the top and the sides with 2" foam board. i painted it, and placed a solid top on it so drinks and things could be set on it. the door faces north so i do not need a cover on it. the back side is up again the fence so it gets circulation. it is not covered just for that reason. this is sitting out on our deck.

 

[dotbombjoe]

Thanks for everyone's input!

I think I need to figure out the likelihood re: the indoor/outdoor taps. If I can't achieve that for some reason, I think I'd probably opt for the fridge as more bottled beer would be in my future.

 

[homegameroom]

Friends of mine have this Avantco HBB-36-HC 36" Black Horizontal Bottle Cooler and I'm green with envy! They found it on Craigslist for a great price! I'm still looking for something like it. They made a very cool outdoor bar with stock galvanized steel (think the same panels used at Chipotle with galvanized steel pipe for a foot rest).

I used to have kegs, but found that there wasn't much of a cost savings - and I'm getting older. Schlepping those kegs around was getting a little difficult, and it was a PITA to get CO2.

 

[Brentr]

For parties we use a couple of coolers and if it is for us we use the mini fridge which is built in the summer kitchen. Coolers are just way too handy especially for ICE and everyone brings drinks which range from bottles of wine and champagne to cases of beer