How Much is a Kegerator: Things You Need To Know When Buying
Are you a beer lover? Do you want to have craft beer that you can serve during your parties and gatherings? If so, you may be considering buying a Kegerator for your own use at home.
Having fresh draught beer at home is a wonderful thing for craft beer enthusiasts. This beats buying packed cans or bottles of commercially sold beers at the supermarket or convenience store. You can easily open the tap and pour yourself a mug of beer after a hard day at work.
If you are on the hunt to buy a kegerator for your home and wondering how much owning one can cost, this article will tell you everything you need to know about the cost of buying a kegerator.
What is a kegerator?
The word “kegerator” is a combination of the words “keg” and “refrigerator”. Kegerators are a form of an appliance that lets you dispense beer like you would at your local pub. While they are most commonly used for dispensing draft beers, there are now kegs that you can purchase to let you dispense wine and even cold brew coffee.
Kegerators are a good addition to the homes of individuals who love beer and would like to have a constant supply of freshly draught beer at home. Having a kegerator is also advantageous if you and your family always have guests over or regularly hold parties or events at home.
Unlike buying packs or boxes of beer when holding parties, you will only need to buy a keg of beer every time you have an event at home. The cost of owning a kegerator will be compensated by the time you have purchased your ninth or tenth keg due to the amount you have saved. In the long run, you get to save money when you have a kegerator instead of constantly buying your beer supply at home.
What’s more, you will no longer have to worry about running out of fresh and delicious beer to serve your guests. This can be a major turn off during parties when you run out of beer to serve your guests. You don’t have to run around in the middle of the night looking for an open convenience store just so you can continue your party. Even a half-barrel sized beer keg will already let you dispense an equivalent of more than 160 cans of beer!
What are the advantages and disadvantages of having a kegerator?
Just like owning any piece of device or appliance, you should know that there are upside and downsides to everything.
Pros:
- You can have freshly draught beer anytime
- You won’t have to run to the store to buy beer in the middle of parties and events
- You don’t have to worry about the time the store closes if you want a can or bottle
- You no longer have to worry about cleaning up cans or bottles
- You will not run out of beer at home
- You can store a huge amount of beer in a single purchase
- Great for parties and events with many guests
- Keeps your beer chilled at the right temperature
- Keeps the flavor and freshness of your beer
- There are kegerators that lets you serve two to three types of beer at a time
- Kegerators can also be converted to mini refrigerators
Cons:
- Your electricity bill will increase because you need to keep the kegerator running
- You need to purchase CO2 tank refills and beer line cleaners
- You have to ensure that you can maintain the cleanliness of your kegerator
How Much Do Kegerators Cost?
If you have weighed the advantages and disadvantages mentioned above and think that you can benefit from having a kegerator of your own, then you might be looking for your own kegerator. One of the important questions that you should answer when buying a kegerator is with regards to the cost of owning one.
As we have said earlier, having a kegerator will let you save cash in the long run as compared to constantly buying beer cans and bottles. But this does not mean that buying a kegerator comes cheap. A kegerator can cost from $200 up to $2,000 depending on the features included in a specific model.
In addition to the kegerator itself, you will also have to consider other costs that come with it. For example, your kegerator will need a carbon dioxide canister that can cost about $20. Your carbon dioxide canister can be refilled with the price of $7 to $15 once it runs out. Carbon dioxide is needed to pressurize and dispense beer from your keg so it is a must that you regularly check the contents of your canister.
Another additional cost that you have to consider is the kegerator cleaning supplies. Kegerator cleaning supplies cost about $25 and can already last you for a year or so, depending on how often you use your kegerator and how frequent you refill your kegs. Making sure that your kegerator and keg are clean will ensure that it will last longer.
Since you will no longer be buying cans of beers, you will have to purchase beer kegs from certain suppliers. A full-sized beer keg has a starting price of about $60 to $70. Once you own a keg, you can just have this refilled whenever needed. It is up to you to choose the type and brand of beer that you would like.
Based on these facts, you can see that owning a kegerator may be costly upon the initial purchase. However, the amount of money that you will be able to save in the long run will be able to compensate for the initial cost once you start using your kegerator.
In the long run, not only will you be able to cut down costs from constantly buying beer cans and bottles, you will also no longer have to worry about running out of your beer supply at home!