I have been thinking about purchasing a commercial-grade kegerator. Does anyone have experience with True, Beverage Air, or UBC kegerators? I already own a dedicated beer refrigerator, so this purchase is more of a want than a need.
I’ve had a Beverage Air for about 5 years now and have been very happy with it.
I have a True GDM-12 (upright fridge, not kegerator) and I love it. I use it for fermenting larger batches, but I would recommend anything that True makes. Real workhorses.
I have two Bev-Air kegerators. Very Happy with them both. I would recommend that when you get one that you take the condenser pan off, clean if necessary and put 4 or 5 coats of rustoleum paint on the inside and outside of the pan. ALthough they are galvanized, they WILL start to rust after about 4-5 years.
One thing to consider is the compressor noise. Unlike residential units commercial units are noisier.
I’ll have to agree on the noise situ. Also, you may want to consider at least a 20 amp circuit, I’m on a 15 amp and my house lights dim every time it kicks on but, it makes me proud 8)
It’s going into an unfinished basement that has several dedicated 20A circuits.
With that said, I just like the look of commercial kegerators. They are built like tanks compared to the kegerators that are targeted at residential consumers. I used to know a guy who owned a Superior Products-labeled commercial kegerator when I first started to brew back in the early nineties. I was too house poor at that point in time to even think about that kind of luxury.
Another thing to consider is power consumption. I have an old commercial kegerator which I moved out of the laundry room to the garage and have not yet gotten back in service and the power bill dropped when it left the grid. I’m sure they have made some advances in efficiency, but just something to keep in mind. Commercial businesses don’t typically care about $10+ more per month, you may.
Most of the Superior Products kegerators were Bev-Air.
The modern BM23 is Energy Star certified.
Let’s see. The manual says 1.85 kWh (per day).
1.85 X 365 = 675.25 X POWER RATE
Rates are dependent, but the average in the us is about 12 cents.
675.25 x 0.12 = $81.03 / 12 = $6.75 per month
So at 12 cents it is less than my stated $10 per month, but not a lot less and if you live in some states it could be more than $10 per month. 
That is the one I have (BM23-2).
Bought the cheap Danby from Home Depot 8 years ago for about $200. Immediately switched out the single tower to a dual tower with Perlick taps as it fits two Corny kegs easily inside. Continues to work great without a problem all these years. Wish I had bought two, or maybe even three.
I do not think that $6.75 per month is going to break the bank. That’s about what it costs to operate a 14 cu. ft refrigerator per month. As I mentioned earlier, this purchase is more of a want than a need, so it may never happen.
Certainly would hope $10 or less per month wouldn’t break the bank.
As far as the same as a 14 cf fridge, maybe an old one. The smallest fridge I could find was 14.8cf and it only eats 443 kWh per year. In fact I could find no fridge on the Sears site which used as much electricity as the kegerator. I was able to locate an upright freezer which used more.
I have a bev air and like it. It has the cooled tower so it is loudish but it is in the garage so it doesn’t matter. Of note, if it is humid the tower sweats a lot.
Thanks for sharing that information. The kegerator would be going into a conditioned space; therefore, sweating would be less of a problem. Many of the homebrewed kegerator builds that I have seen use insulated copper pipe to keep the hoses cool in the tower. I do not know effective this technique is or how much it cuts down on sweating, but it has to be better than doing nothing at all.
I have always kept my kegs in a standard refrigerator. I use picnic taps, so that I can clean the keg and the tap at the same time. My CO2 tank connects to the refrigerator via a bulkhead fitting and a ball-lock gas plug. I have a gas manifold with shutoff valves inside of the refrigerator. It’s a simple setup that is easy to maintain.
With that said, can one store four ball-lock kegs in a BM23? I am looking for additional cold conditioning space as much as I am looking for a kegerator.
The cooled tower is a nice feature (there’s an internal hose with a hook on the end that blows cold air, you can position it wherever you want). To cut back on the sweating, you can insulate the tower. I used rubatex insulation which I purchased from this place: http://www.acumetalfab.com/.
Yes, it will fit four ball-lock kegs if you don’t store the CO2 tank inside. I’m not sure if there is a punch out for running in the gas line if you plan to store the tank outside. You might want to call a supplier and check that out (I bet Micromatic would know).