Results 1 to 9 of 9

Thread: DIY home fermentation fridge

  1. #1
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Posts
    48
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
    Rep Power
    175
    Reputation
    10

    Default DIY home fermentation fridge

    Hi everyone it's been a while since I visited, I have a question about a project I want to do, I am making a fermentation fridge the can control heat and cool to around 20° to 25°, I was looking at eBay on the evaporator heat/cool fan, I would upload a pic but can't figure it out, I'm thinking having lines to a 12v pump going into a fridge for cooling and have line to a boiler for heating, any help if it would work or any other idea better or changes..



Look Here ->
  • #2
    Senior Member
    fandtm666's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Posts
    5,502
    Thanks
    244
    Thanked 990 Times in 465 Posts
    Rep Power
    1189
    Reputation
    40447

    Default

    best place to ask is where the members are right into that and i suggest
    aussie home brewers they would be of much more help.




  • The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to fandtm666 For This Useful Post:

    Keith (17-10-18),tristen (17-10-18)

  • #3
    Senior Member
    RedXT's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Posts
    706
    Thanks
    453
    Thanked 219 Times in 122 Posts
    Rep Power
    296
    Reputation
    3864

    Default

    When I was home brewing I had an old single door fridge which I gutted, layed it in its back and installed some wheels for ease of movement.
    I installed a single globe batten holder and a 25Watt globe and found it kept the inside within 2 (26 to 28) degrees day and night no thermostat needed.
    This was in the shed and didnt seem to vary much in winter or summer.
    I used to put the fermentation barrel in one side (I put a 90 degree bend on the airlock Valve) so I could close the lid, and put the recently bottled brew in the other half for the first couple of weeks.
    U may need to experiment with the globe size to suit youre fridge size

  • #4
    LSemmens
    lsemmens's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Location
    Rural South OZ
    Posts
    10,585
    Thanks
    11,867
    Thanked 7,061 Times in 3,338 Posts
    Rep Power
    3153
    Reputation
    132592

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by h8fg4 View Post
    When I was home brewing
    OFF TOPIC! Like your avatar, h8fg4, is it yours? Envy is my middle name. I love XTs.
    I'm out of my mind, but feel free to leave a message...

  • #5
    Senior Member
    RedXT's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Posts
    706
    Thanks
    453
    Thanked 219 Times in 122 Posts
    Rep Power
    296
    Reputation
    3864

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by lsemmens View Post
    OFF TOPIC! Like your avatar, h8fg4, is it yours? Envy is my middle name. I love XTs.
    Yea I have a couple

  • The Following User Says Thank You to RedXT For This Useful Post:

    lsemmens (12-10-18)

  • #6
    Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Posts
    391
    Thanks
    27
    Thanked 98 Times in 72 Posts
    Rep Power
    242
    Reputation
    1584

    Default

    Personally I wouldn't use a halogen lamp as a source of heat - firstly they're not very efficient and secondly light in your fermenting beer is bad... You can buy heat pads and wraps that plug into your favourite temp controller.

    My setup is a working fridge to keep the cool if needed, and a heat pad for warming. Both the fridge and pad go into one of those cheap STC-1000's and it does all the work for me. I also recommend having a small fan to keep the air circulating inside the fridge for improved efficiency and better temperature stability. I also use a thermowell in my fermeter so the STC reads the actually liquid temp and not the surrounding air

  • The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Gitch For This Useful Post:

    loanrangiel (19-10-18),tristen (17-10-18)

  • #7
    Senior Member

    Join Date
    Jun 2008
    Location
    Melbourne, NE.
    Age
    55
    Posts
    2,696
    Thanks
    391
    Thanked 555 Times in 383 Posts
    Rep Power
    438
    Reputation
    7898

    Default

    Also look at the inkbird heat/cool controllers, then you just need a heater band for heating and the fridges compressor for cooling once you set the temp range.

  • #8
    Senior Member

    Join Date
    May 2018
    Posts
    2,251
    Thanks
    527
    Thanked 1,857 Times in 894 Posts
    Rep Power
    881
    Reputation
    36714

    Default

    I use an old fridge and an ebay thermostat for raising Seedlings, particularly Bamboo which likes about 30oC.
    I have a light as it's good for plant growth but no reason you couldn't use something like an old fan heater if you didn't want to go to a heat pad.
    An old fan heater may be better than a pad as it would swirl the air around when it kicked in and I would think would keep the temp more even throughout the brew and reduce stratification of the air temp in the fridge. You could also modify one so the fan ran all the time and just the heater element kicked in and out for very even temps.

    Fan heater on low setting would probably only kick in for maybe 30 sec then shut off again and repeat as needed.
    There are a stack of the flebay controllers. I just bought a prebuilt one that is white with a short lead and a socket on the front below the digital read out and settings. Taking measurements with a calibrated thermometer the thing is very accurate, more so than I would have expected actually.

    You can also get them just as a board and could build up yourself with an enclosure and wiring.

  • #9
    Banned

    Join Date
    Jan 2017
    Location
    still above ground level
    Posts
    1,779
    Thanks
    5,562
    Thanked 1,964 Times in 714 Posts
    Rep Power
    0
    Reputation
    35657

    Default

    my father used a electric blanket

  • Bookmarks

    Posting Permissions

    • You may not post new threads
    • You may not post replies
    • You may not post attachments
    • You may not edit your posts
    •