Now that my growing space is finally mapped out, I’m moving on to the next big project: building a CoolBot‑powered cool room inside my two‑car garage. The garage is attached to my house and about 20 feet wide, so when I divide it down the middle, each side gives me roughly 10 feet of width to work with. One side will stay a narrow workshop for tools and small projects, and the other side will become my cool room and pantry. It’s a simple layout, but it makes the best use of the space I have.
The cool room will sit on the south/east side of the garage, using one of the house walls as part of its structure. That wall stays naturally cooler, and it gives me a solid, insulated surface to build against. The south side of the house doesn’t get much sun — certainly less than the west and north sides — which makes this corner ideal for keeping temperatures stable.
There are two man doors in the garage: one on the south wall that leads outside, and another at the far east end that leads into the house. The cool room will be just south of that interior door, tucked into the corner but still easy to access. The AC unit will go through the outside garage wall, right next to the exterior man door. That gives it good airflow and keeps everything simple for installation and maintenance.
Right beside the cool room — on the garage’s south/west side — will be the pantry. This is where the jars, bulk foods, grains, beans, and shelf‑stable items will live. The pantry doesn’t need the same level of insulation as the cool room, but some and will benefit from the garages protection.
Together, the cool room and pantry will give me a full food‑handling zone: cool storage for fresh harvests, dry storage for everything else, and the workshop right across the dividing wall for repairs and projects. It’s practical, efficient, and fits the space I have to work with.
This setup is one more step toward the homestead life I’m building. And honestly, I’m excited to see it take shape. One more problem solved. Now it will just be the doing…
What a CoolBot Cool Room Is
A CoolBot cool room is a regular insulated room that’s been turned into a walk‑in cooler using a small device called a CoolBot. Instead of buying an expensive commercial cooler, the CoolBot lets you use a normal window air conditioner to keep the room cold — usually between 38–50°F — which is perfect for storing produce, and harvests.
The idea is simple:
- You build a well‑insulated room inside your garage or workshop.
- You install a standard window A/C unit in the wall.
- The CoolBot device attaches to the A/C and “trains” it to cool lower than it normally would.
- The result is a steady, cold storage room without the cost of a commercial walk‑in cooler.
A CoolBot coolroom is especially useful for homesteaders because it:
- Keeps vegetables crisp for weeks or even months
- Stores apples, squash, onions, carrots, potatoes, and other long‑keepers
It’s basically a DIY walk‑in cooler that fits into a homestead budget and uses equipment you can buy anywhere.
