How cold of a temperature are you needing for the flowers? I've seen flower kiosks in other countries where a small window AC was used to keep the enclosure cool enough.

Adding service ports to a refer shouldn't be any trouble for a good refrigeration tech. They make piercing ports that just clamp right on the lines. I've seen them used on everything from a mini-frige to a kegerator.

As a quick stopgap, what would stop them from using refrigerators - just plain old maytags/frigidaires on freecycle or craigslist?

Gas up the uhaul and scour ebay for ones like this:

[cgi.ebay.com]

Here's one in TN, couple days drive you'll be back in business!

[cgi.ebay.com]

I am into home brewing and this guy took a small room, bought some cheap insulation, temp controller, and a room AC, and holds this walk in cooler at 38 degrees.

Apparently very cheaply as well.

[www.homebrewtalk.com]

Hmm... I have no idea what kind of technology goes into cooling flowers, but from what I've seen at various floral shops and stores, isn't it simply that a certain temperature has to be maintained? If this is the case, can you look for industrial fridges and simply turn the temperature to suit the cooling you need?

I understand that sometimes it's the light that is necessary, but maybe there are ways to either keep the inside fridge light on or simply put a battery-operated light in the fridge? Again, I'm not an expert, so I have no idea if this is even feasible, and I might just sound crazy.

Depending on the amount of flowers you have, what about a wine cooler? Are there any wine coolers/fridges you can find on the cheap that can hold you over and keep you from having to close down your business?

Have you had any luck looking in other areas of Texas? I know Dallas and Austin aren't too close, but if someone else is selling a flower cooler somewhere else, it might be worth renting that box truck to get it.

I see this right off the bat: [dallas.craigslist.org]

I don't know if it's suitable for your needs, but if you haven't looked in surrounding areas you could drive to, it could help.

How cold and for how long?
Dry ice for a day or three,
Barter a deal with the local supermarket for some walk in space.
Call the closest beverage distributer to see if they have any older coolers they can rent to you.
Portable ac units are a couple hundred from the hardware store.

one of the stores I used to shop at had frequent cooler problems. They worked out a deal with a neighboring store to keep product in their cooler temporarily. it might help to negotiate with other small businesses in the area until you can get it worked out

Sounds like you can't afford to not have a cooler as opposed to not being able to afford the cooler. There's a significance between the two...

This is similar to an episode of Northern Exposure. Maurice couldn't heat his greenhouse, which meant his orchids would die. He asked everyone in the town to come and take an orchid home to keep it alive. The townspeople showed up and each walked away with an orchid to care for.

Seriously though, I'm self-employed with my own small business that has been just hanging on through these times, so I'll be pulling for these shop owners to find the solution they need to keep their business going.

I would consider using dry ice. In CA, they now offer it at most grocery stores. Not sure if that's a national phenom, but in any event there should be some vendor with dry ice available. It is fairly cheap and, since it's much colder than water-ice, it is very effective. I had my refrigerator break down and it was three days before I could get it repaired. Dry ice held me over easily.

Good luck!

have you looked into talking with a school (elementary, high) whose students are out for the summer? thy have awesome refrigerators that are probably empty since no kids to feed...

@labeled: They may get too cold. They're not trying to freeze the flowers, just keep them cooler than a hot, wilting Texas summer.

@edwardso: That's a great idea...if the OP happens to be in a very friendly area in which he has made a lot of connections with other small businesses, this might be good. Even if they offered to rent space in another floral shop, it gives that floral shop some money, and they establish a partnership.

@crashfrog: How low can you turn down fridges though? I'm pretty sure at their lowest setting, they can be good substitutes until the OP can get a real flower cooler.

@crashfrog: I was guessing it had to do with humidity, as even older fridges at least have a dial to turn all the way down. (Cripes, they're in TX, go to any Allsups and put your flowers in their coolers - damn things are NEVER cold.)

Just a little note with the dry ice suggestions: Dry ice is solid CO2. That means if you have a sealed room with it, it will push out the oxygen and people in the room will die from asphyxiation. I expect the plants will love it, assuming they don't also need any oxygen...

If you are careful, though, it will be safe. Just consider that while you use it you don't want to go in there alone. Do a buddy system, with the buddy outside make sure nothing is going wrong.

And don't sue me. These aren't suggestions, just hypothetical ideas.

I would call other florists and ask if they could help out. (An example of why networking is a good idea, even if you think you might never use it. You never know).

Also, personally, I would sawzall a hole in the side of the unit and get one of those apartment standalone a/c's and stick it inside.

I know Greenworks florists in Houston just shut down their 1100 Louisiana st location and it had a cooler. Maybe they will sell for cheap. 713-224-0777

@menty666: excellent ideas!

I don't think you can just use an air conditioner because it wouldn't be cold enough to keep the flowers cold.
I know that the difference between flower coolers and food service coolers is that the floral coolers stay at a constant 35 degrees. The thermostat is set that way because it is the perfect temp for flowers.
I think that they are asking for help because finding a used one of those types of coolers is pretty hard. I worked for a restaurant supply place and we sold them for $3800 new. We never had used ones because people would sell them to other flower shops before selling to us.
We did have our service people go out and put service ports on units and it normally ran around $300. If their compressor is out, then it is another $1200 for parts and labor. When replacing the compressor you have to sometimes replace the lines and thermostat, depending on the age of the unit. I think that is why this person is asking for help. It seems that they can't really afford much right now and are just trying to find someone with an extra cooler that they are willing to sell. My neighbor used to be a florist and said that the summer time is death for them. No one buys flowers unless it is a wedding or funeral.
I would love to help them, but I don't have any contacts in the business anymore. I think fixing it might help them, but only if someone was willing to work for cheap...or maybe ask them to barter for flowers.
I just looked on Craigslist (using craizedlist) and everyone wants too much money or is selling something that needs work. That walk in cooler in Dallas does seem like a good deal, but if it uses R12 then it would cost them a few hundred to recharge...plus moving it down to Austin and paying someone to assemble.
I feel bad for them because I too have had a business go under because my equipment failed and could afford more equipment. Had a carpet cleaning business and my pump failed and we had only been doing it for 3 months..had not made enough money yet. Lost my shirt in that business.

This sounds like your current Insurance Agent dropped the ball and did not offer you the correct insurance. If you brought a copy of your old polciy in and asked the agent to replace it with like coverages then you may have be able to file an E&O claim against the agent.

The Insurance Agent is a lincensed professional advising and selling coverages to you. If you expected to purchase similar coverage and described your risk to the agent it was there job to secure adequte coverage. If the agent made recomendations and you declined to purchase the recomenede limits then you might be out of luck but if you bought what they recomended you may have a valid E&O claim.

Insurance agents typically care at least $1,000,000 in E&O coverage in case the agency staff make a mistake that results in an uncovered loss when coverage was available.

CoolBot - I've always wanted one. With some modification to your existing cooler, you can use a window AC unit.

[www.storeitcold.com]

Okay I just got off the phone with a flower shop. Flowers need to be kept at about 38 to 39 degrees. Humidity isn't so much of a problem as long as the flowers are kept in proper temperature and there's enough space for all of them. What the coolers really do is keep the flowers fresh, and halt the bloom process for some of the flowers so you can delay the days it takes to bloom and time the blooming for when you need it. This can be anywhere from two days (that you need delayed) or ten days for slightly more exotic flowers. So the OP, I'd say, needs fridges (if the wedding is their only client right now) for anywhere from one day to twenty days, because they need to get the flowers in and then arrange them.

If they're looking to help the flowers they already have in their stock, they might just have to see about whatever method they can cool their flowers at, and wait until they have the money for a flower cooler.

I had a refrigeration guy look at it, but the cooler doesn't have service ports and they can't hook gauges to it

Call someone else, dude is incompetent or just doesn't wanna do the work.

There are these nifty things you can buy for like $5 each that allow you to 'tap' into the lines so you can service it.

A LOT of small window air conditioners and some large commercial appliances don't have service ports because it costs too much (really?) or they figure by the time it craps out you will have bought a new one.

There is very few things that you cannot make your own service taps on.

/mydadisanHVACguyandhasbeenteachingmeallheknowsforthelast20years

@pecan 3.14159265: Service-y! (In the best possible way.)

Austin is less than two hours from San Antonio, and about three hours from both Dallas and Houston. All three of those are in the top 10 US cities by population, and Dallas-Fort Worth and metro Houston are in the top 10 metropolitan areas.

There are all kinds of dealers of used floral, refrigeration, and general industrial equipment in and around those cities, so if I were Billy and his wife, I'd do some online lookups, or go to the library and check the yellow pages, and then start calling around.

If that doesn't net anything, call a bunch of florist shops in those cities and see who they suggest.

Then get a U-Haul and a couple of muscular friends for a one-day round-trip road trip. Given that you're in central Texas, be sure to bribe your friends with barbecue and Shiner Bock.

@shepd: I believe plants do need oxygen. They take oxygen in the air and process it, and release carbon dioxide.

@zentex: "/mydadisanHVACguyandhasbeenteachingmeallh...20years"

that was me trying to say that my dad, being an HVAC guy, has been hammering into my head for 20 years how to do what he does. I inadvertently payed too much attention and learned a thing or three and could get certified if I didn't already own my own biz...He enjoys the free help when he needs it. :P

Houston Craigslist has:

http://houston.craigslist.org/bfs/1200274762.html

It's from Jun 1, but it might still be available.

@pecan 3.14159265: Nope, plants take in CO2 and release oxygen. No clue if plants are OK in a CO2-only environment though.

You can use the fridge in my apartment if you want. It's always pretty much empty. Don't know how much that helps though.

@pecan 3.14159265: You're thinking of people. Plants take carbon dioxide and turn it into oxygen.

@pecan 3.14159265: actually, in photosynthesis plants take in CO2 to make glucose and release O2. Some plant owners actually pipe CO@ into the greenhouses to stimulate plant growth.

@pecan 3.14159265: Actually they do the opposite.
[en.wikipedia.org]

@pete: I sit corrected! I think I just misread it, cause I typed in a few search terms and my mind crossed wires.

4th grade science has failed me!

@Bladefist: Was just about to pipe in with HBT.com. For a 200-300 bucks, you can rig it up with a temp controller and get any desired temp. Not the most efficient, but that's not what you're looking for at right now.

@pandroid: P.S. I'm not kidding, but my lease is up July 31st so any flowers would need to be out by then.

Have you seriously considered talking to local real estate people to "rent" the fridges of all the empty apartments since the UT students are gone for the summer?

@pecan 3.14159265: No.. plants are the other way around.. thats why plants like it when you talk to them... they like your CO2.

@pecan 3.14159265: Thought I'd chime in here. To quote Willy Wonka, "Strike that; reverse it." Plants take carbon dioxide out of the air and generate oxygen with it, along with other organic compounds, using the energy from sunlight (photosynthesis). Just thought I'd throw that out there. Biology teacher for a mother, FTW.

@pete: But not to be a douche- at night, when there is no sun to drive photosynthesis, plants do consume a little oxygen and produce a little CO2 during their cellular respiration.
That must be what you meant ;)
(See mom! That bio degree finally came in handy!

It would really help if Billy and his wife were on this site to answer questions and provide more detail.

We know fridges can handle the temperature, but is there anything that would make them unsuitable? Cause if so, half the speculation and suggestion in this thread is moot, which is a shame.

Try renting walk-in space from a local church. Most all big churches with new-ish buildings will have walk-in refrigerator coolers (I've been in three church kitchens in Austin in the past six months with multiple walk-in fridges).

I'd look for the bigger churches with newer or added-onto facilities, for your best shot at finding a possibly-rentable walk-in cooler. I don't know what area of "outside Austin" OP is in, but I can think of at least one downtown & three in N.Austin or Wilco which I'd try.

I'm sure they won't do constant/perpetual storage, but I bet, for a price, you could negotiate a few days' use for the wedding, especially if it's not over a Sunday and the church isn't doing any special events/weddings/Vacation Bible School right then.

@pete: I learned that when researching for my fish tank, you need to keep it aerated at night because the bacteria in the tank use oxygen that the fish need.

I would suggest heading to a big box store and getting 2 or 3 free standing A/C units that allow you to connect a hose to the drain part of the A/C unit. Put all of these in the cooler on high and see what happens.

In an economy like this is seems likely that there are other local florists that are having serious financial problems. Find one. Work out a deal to use their cooler.

Here is a used one that ships to Texas. Scroll to the bottom of this webpage: http://www.barrinc.com/usedSystems/walk_in_display_coolers.aspx

@pecan 3.14159265: He's here. I'll see if he has a commenting account.

@ClutchDude: Forgot to add that, with the right insulation, you should be able to do ANY size cooler That guy in the link did a great insulation job. Feel free to run over there and post if you need any help. We're a nice bunch.