new to me home built cabinet

[Hamiltons]

Awesome thanks for the info. The fridge I have is a Red Bull fridge from a convenience store and I believe it's all metal inside. At least what I can see. I think I will go with light bulbs for the heat source for now but would like to eventually get a heating element if the flashing lights drive me crazy. I woul very much appreciate the pics if you have them available. I am thinking of doing a duct from the bottom to the top much like Sally Sunshine's cabinet coolerbator since it's pretty tall. I am sure it will take some tinkering to get it right but the fridge is free as there are 2 and once I get it working will build a second for the owner. Thanks again and keep us posted with your hatch.

 

[PapaChaz]

Awesome thanks for the info. The fridge I have is a Red Bull fridge from a convenience store and I believe it's all metal inside. At least what I can see. I think I will go with light bulbs for the heat source for now but would like to eventually get a heating element if the flashing lights drive me crazy. I woul very much appreciate the pics if you have them available. I am thinking of doing a duct from the bottom to the top much like Sally Sunshine's cabinet coolerbator since it's pretty tall. I am sure it will take some tinkering to get it right but the fridge is free as there are 2 and once I get it working will build a second for the owner. Thanks again and keep us posted with your hatch.

I thought about bulbs, but really by the time you by even two cheap fixtures, and bulbs as expensive as they've become, added to the risk of them burning out faster due to all the 'on/off' you can get the heating element. It cost me $28 including shipping, I ordered it on Friday and it came wednesday....

these are quarter inch bolts, flat washers, the insulator, the fender washer, a flat washer on the outside and then the nut. All of it 6 times cost a little over $6.....the foil faced board was $9, but if that fridge is metal inside you don't have to worry about that.

you can see the two computer fans in the back, I do believe I'm going to add at least another one, I just don't seem to think the air is circulating well enough as I have a temp difference at the very bottom around 3*......all the shelves are within 1 of the top, but there shouldn't be that much difference at the bottom in my opinion

 

[Hamiltons]

I am in Canada so availability and cost are both an issue. I have no doubt the heating element will be more reliable and cheaper in the long run but I want to get it up and running on the cheap to make sure it will work. I recently converted our barn and chicken coop over to LED bulbs so we have a decent supply of traditional bulbs to give it a try.

To keep the temps consistent I plan on building a duct at the back that the fans will suck the air through like in this thread:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...bator-how-we-did-it-and-test-run-ready-set-go

Seems to work very well for Sally and the others who have built one in the cooler. I will use wood and build the duct inside the fridge to avoid cutting and heat loss. Plus if it doesn't work out I won't have large holes in the fridge. Thanks for the pic it looks great. If you some close ups of the holes can you post them as well? Thanks