This is my first post here, and I'm hoping this isn't too far outside the scope of the forums, that this is an appropriate category, etc. If it is not, please let me know.

After many, many hours of searching tonight, this is the first time I feel I've found useful information on the subject of designing a refrigeration system. This is well outside my expertiese, as I'm a computer guy, but it seems I should be able to implement something.

One of my hobbies is home-brewing beer. Ideally, I'd like to be able to refrigerate kegs of beer, as well as be able to transfer beer (direct draw) from the kegs to outside of the refrigerator (co2 pressurized keg). I'm expecting to deal with kegs that are either a) 8-9" (20-23cm) in diamater and 22-25" (56-63.5cm) high, or b) 17" (43cm) in diameter and 15-23" (38-58.5cm) high. The larger kegs will weigh 80-160lbs (36-73kg) when full.

There are various custom sized refrigerators available for this purpose, which can hold one, two or three of the larger kegs, and often include the faucets pre-mounted. Unfortunately, these units are extremely expensive, and seem unreasonably so based on the low volume.

It seems to me that I should be able to build an insulated compartment in which to store one or more kegs, and install a heat pump exchanger, either specially purchased or salvaged from an existing consumer model.

My questions are:

1) Is it practical to build such a unit, assuming a moderate knowledge of carpentry and general know-how?

2) Is it likely to be cost-effective, i.e. significantly less than the $500-1500USD retail consumer units?

3) Is there a particular resource(s) that is likely to be useful as a basic guide to providing the knowledge useful for this?

I would tend to think I simply need the knowledge of what makes for good insulating materials, designing an effective enclosure (accessability), time and effort in building this, and the most critical part being properly mounting and installing heat pump exchanger circuit (and thermostat). It doesn't seem like it should be that complex to cannibalize an existing consumer unit for parts and create something that suits my needs, even if efficiency is less than a consumer model. Then again, it seems build quality is often sacrificed greatly, and I may exceed efficiency I'd get in a retail unit for this application.

Thank you for any opinions, suggestions, comments, etc. that are provided.