Brewing in warm weather

[Dutto]

How does one adapt the freezer section for brewing temps as it is otherwise preset? What's an inkbird and how does it work? Is there a thread where this is covered in depth? Ta!

The Inkbird STC1000 is a Temperature Controller that can power a fridge to cool a brew (or power a heater to heat up a brew).

All you need to do to control the temperature of a freezer is to:

o Hook up the freezer to the "cool" side of the Inkbird.

o Set the required temperature.

o Lob the temperature probe inside the freezer somewhere near what you are trying to cool.

o Switch everything on.

The Inkbird will shutdown the freezer when the required temperature is reached and won't switch it on again until the temperature rises.

There are two controls that help protect the freezer against rapidly switching between "on" and "off". One is a delay between when the temperature is exceeded and when the freezer is switched on and a second is a "spread" on the control point which means that the Inkbird will ignore a minor change to the temperature and only operate when the "spread" has been exceeded.

I can recommend ALL of the Inkbird products but if you are not into DIY I recommend that your get one of the more sophisticated "Heat and Cool" temperature controllers like the ITC 208.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B018K82UQU/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Enjoy! :thumb:

 

[Gunge]

Thank you Dutto, really helpful. Looks like I'm going shopping!

 

[ncmcdonald]

I wrote a review and guide on using an inkbird a little while back. It give a little bit more detail on setting up a temperature controlled fridge so may be helpful to you.

 

[Gunge]

I wrote a review and guide on using an inkbird a little while back. It give a little bit more detail on setting up a temperature controlled fridge so may be helpful to you.

Brilliant - thanks! One question though... where does the lead for the temp probe enter the freezer compartment?

 

[shepp]

Brilliant - thanks! One question though... where does the lead for the temp probe enter the freezer compartment?

It's only a thin lead so it can go out through the edge of the door.
Another option is through the condensation drip hole in the back of the fridge, but I used this hole for the heater cable so there was not enough room for both.

 

[Gunge]

It's only a thin lead so it can go out through the edge of the door.

That's what I'd figured - thanks for confirmation. Right, off to amazon.co.uk!

 

[ericmark]

I can only say how I have found my controllers. I ended up with an old fridge/freezer which has an insulation problem so can't be used below freezing as ice builds up. So experiment I found fridge does not start to cool until freezer at -18 so fridge is nothing more than insulated box, on starting a brew it goes into the freezer, the sensor is held tight against the fermenter and with an independent temperature sensor I found the freezer air temperature will drop down to 8 degs but the fermenter does not over shoot, however the same is not true for heating it over shoots very easy, so one has to be careful only to use a heater just big enough, I used an energy meter in heart of winter zero degrees outside, and found I needed an average of 5W so used an 8W bulb, this gives enough leeway but less chance of over shooting.

So sensor on the fermenter means the motor runs for a reasonable time, but it also means heater needs to be small, an 8W bulb is good enough.

 

[Gunge]

New fridge freezer arrived, old one cleared and relocated to it's new position. Inkbird ITC 308 on it's way!

 

[Gunge]

So experiment I found fridge does not start to cool until freezer at -18 so fridge is nothing more than insulated box,

Is that because your FF is faulty or do they all work like that? I've got my FF ready to go, just waiting for the inkbird to arrive. I'm going to use the upper compartment to store beer and free up space elsewhere. Would be nice if it actually chilled them whilst it was at it, but if not it's not the end of the world. Is there any way round it ( I mean getting the fridge to work without the freezer bit being at -18C?).

 

[ericmark]

Good quality fridge/freezers have valves so fridge and freezer is independently controlled, in the main these will not start cooling fridge until the freezer is down to set temperature. Cheaper ones simply give a proportion to fridge and freezer and control on freezer temperature and the fridge should be some where near. My old Hover fridge/freezer was in it's day near top of the range, it had things like plumbed cold water giving cold water by pushing glass up to switch.

However once first 5 days have gone, the brew does not produce much heat, so having heating only in fridge has not been a problem. The replacement has an option to switch fridge into holiday mode, the fridge which one assumes is empty when you go on holiday is allowed to get to 12 degs rather than 4 degs, cool enough to stop mould but uses less power, it also has a three phase motor and inverter control, so in theory motor speed can also be controlled.

It would seem there is no longer any normal, the new fridge/freezer would be totally unsuitable as a brewing fridge, far too much electronics, clearly with a fridge/freezer it needs to be frost free, but really the cheapest frost free you can find.

Frost free has some real advantages, one of course no evaporator coils in main area, but also it has a fan and very low mass of cold bits. So freezer on the fan circulates air so transfer is fast, freezer off and no air passes the evaporator so even if it drops to -18 it is no longer cooling the box as no fan to circulate the air. I find with the sensor pressed hard against the fermenter with a sponge insulating it from the air in the box, to drop 4 degs will take two motor runs long run first around 3/4 hour then a 1/4 hour gap then a 1/4 hour run after which it cuts in and out as required to maintain temperature normally around a 10 minute burst. Although the air temperature may drop to 8 degs, the fermenter does not over shoot.

If the evaporator was not behind a plastic cover with a fan, then this could well change.