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Endless Liquid Refreshment

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the dew-springs-eternal dept.

rabtech writes "I'm very lazy. As part of that continuing effort, I've come up with a guide for installing a soda fountain in the house. I've detailed how to get the equipment, hoses, and supplies, as well as how to install and calibrate the system. Now you won't ever need to move for lack of liquid refreshment! My next project: Food Replicator."

8 of 419 comments (clear)

  1. One important thing to note... by iwillrefuse · · Score: 5, Informative

    I had my own soda machine setup in our old house for a couple of years. While the appeal is definatly there, cost savings should not be among them. The stories you hear about "the cup costing more than the actual soda" is competely false While it is slight cheaper than purchasing 2-liters, after doing the math, it really only has a cost savings of about 20%, assuming your paying around $40 per pre-mix box, and $15 or so for the CO2. It is damn cool though, and the chicks dig it.

    1. Re:One important thing to note... by Safety+Cap · · Score: 4, Informative
      assuming your paying around $40 per pre-mix box, and $15 or so for the CO2
      You're getting ripped off, then. It may be because you aren't buying in bulk, or piggy-backing off a volume order.

      Pre-mix runs us about US$15/box and CO2 is provided free o' charge. The cost per 20 oz cup is about US$0.015... hardly close to the US$0.99/litre bottle.

      --
      Yeah, right.
    2. Re:One important thing to note... by Paradise+Pete · · Score: 4, Informative

      I gotta go along with Safety Cap. When I owned a bar my incremental cost of making a 12 ounce soft drink was slightly over four cents. And they supplied the gun and the rest. And if I had a problem they would send someone out to fix it for free. I was buying more than you, of course, but not a huge amount.

  2. Better drink lots of soda by ErikRed1488 · · Score: 5, Informative

    I work for one of the vendors listed on that site. We sell every part you could possibly need to do something like this, but we don't sell to home consumers or even individual restaurants. We're a sister company of the largest manufacturer of fountain soda machines in the world. So, working were I do, I've found out a fair amount about these machines. We have about 90 employees in our office and haven't installed a fountain machine because with so few employees the lines would get coated with syrup in no time. You really need a larger volume of people, or you will have to flush the lines all the time. Personally, I say just get yourself a Culligan water dispenser and save your money and teeth. If you really need soda, buy 2 liter bottles.

    --
    I was not touched there by an angel.
  3. even lazier by trmj · · Score: 4, Informative

    Well, I'm too lazy to find all of that stuff and then go install it.

    So, I found this instead.

    It seems like it should work just as well and have only a minimally higher cost, but the up front cost is much much less (~$500 vs. ~50).

    w00t for extended laziness!

    --
    Work sucked, until it became unemployment, when it became slightly more tolerable. -Tet
  4. Re:Even more impressive by Sax+Maniac · · Score: 4, Informative
    Not really. A basic setup for dispensing beer at home runs about $200. Beer is even simpler to serve than soda: there's no on-the-fly mixing. Add a few extra bucks if you want the special sparkler head that makes Guinness look so nice.

    If you don't intend to brew your beer, it's even less, because you don't have to buy the kegs to put the beer in the first place.

    So yes, that means all you guys out there, it is okay for you to go get that CO2 system to server beer on tap. Really, it's cheap, and it impresses the party guests.

    --
    I can explanate how to administrate your network. You must configurate and segmentate it, so it can computate.
  5. pre vs post - makes all the difference by The+Monster · · Score: 4, Informative
    assuming your [sic] paying around $40 per pre-mix box
    Well, no wonder. You were buying pre-mix, not post-mix. The economics of it are really quite simple: With pre-mix, you're paying to ship water as well as syrup, and therefore occupying roughly 5.5 times the volume of the syrup alone. With post-mix, you use your own water, which is virtually free by comparison. Having done time in the fast food business, I can tell you that the only people who use pre-mix are the ones who don't have a water supply, like the circus concessions mentioned in the article. OTOH, if your municipal water is as bad as mine, you'll want to invest in a home water purification system.
    --

    [100% ISO 646 Compliant]
    SVM, ERGO MONSTRO.

  6. Re:hmmm.... by Jucius+Maximus · · Score: 4, Informative
    "I'll install a water fountain: I perfer to keep my teeth and not get fat."

    One thing that is underrated is getting a dedicated water jug and putting it in the FRIDGE to keep it really cold. Over the last month or so I have gotten addicted to this. We have a RO Water Purification System at home (RO = reverse osmosis) because there's cauliform and iron in the well from which our home's water is drawn. (I live in a farming area, each house has its own water pump feeding it instead of a city grid.)

    Really good quality, really COLD water is REALLY good. And I never guilty about pouring myself another glass. This is really worth a try!

    The only downside is that you get spoiled. During weekdays, I live in Toronto at a place I am renting and the water tastes horrid to me. I have to bring bottles of it from home every week. And then there's the water in Quebec City... (shudder)