Brew Fridge - suitable for use?

[periolus]

Hi all,

I have bee given a fridge to use as a brew fridge - standard 85cm high under the counter job and I can fit a 30L fermenter in it, which is good news.

What I am wondering is, however, is if I will have trouble as the pump/compressor comes in half way into where the salad crisper draw is, so I don’t know if this will affect the efficiency of the greenhouse heater I am using for the heating side. I would make a wooden support to sit the fermenter on just clear of this. I have attached a photo - let me know if any issues come to mind and if I need a different fridge!

 

[Clint]

It'll be spot on. Get rid of the salad drawer and build a plywood shelf to rest your fv on that is level with the compressor hump. Put your heater under the shelf.

 

[The Baron]

What Clint has said is the normal way to do it, search the forum or watch some Youtube vids will help

 

[Cheshire Cat]

It'll be spot on. Get rid of the salad drawer and build a plywood shelf to rest your fv on that is level with the compressor hump. Put your heater under the shelf.

Exactly what I’ve done.

 

[periolus]

Thank you so much everyone! So…the only choice now is the 45W or 60W tube. Is the more powerful one too much for a fridge rhat size?

 

[Clint]

No because the fridge acts as an insulator against the outside elements the heater will just cycle on and off as required. Just get what you can. Usually once your fv stabilises and gets going it will generate its own heat for a while.

 

[periolus]

Great. I have some plywood to make a shelf for the FV. Once I have drilled holes in it, do I still need to insulate the bottom of the FV with something to stop the yeast getting too hot? I have a bit of leftover Cellotex I can use.

 

[Clint]

No,it'll be ok.

 

[Branny]

I have an integrated fridge with a similar divot but in the middle. I used some 12mm hard board and levelled by my eye and whatever I had available (might be plastic, pencils etc). My heater is screwed to the inside of the door with the cable fed through the door seal. The inkbird probe goes through the drain hole. No issue at all.

I also stood up a £5 PC fan connected to a mobile phone charger to distribute hot/cold.

Might be more efficient if I put the heater cable through the drain hole but it had a moulded plug and I couldn't be arsed cutting it. Electricity might be expensive but I suspect the gain would be marginal.

Edit - My kegerator had a similar hump to yours. 12mm hardboard, 2x2 legs and it takes 2 x 19L kegs, 1 x 5L keg, a gas bottle and a partridge in a pear tree.

 

[Clint]

Using the fridge and heater uses hardly any electricity as once temp is stabilised it just cycles on and off. Sometimes I think mine doesn't even do that.