Fermentation fridges

[iancraig]

I've see a few recent topics on here mentioning fermentation fridges or brew fridges. Are these just regular fridges rigged up at home with a different thermostat, or can you buy something like this?

At the moment I've got the choice between fermenting in the cellar at 10C or the kitchen at 23C. I am trying to brew ale rather than lager, so a temperature somewhere in the middle would be good. Some kind of fridge could be a good solution for me ..

Thanks!

Ian

 

[Springer]

The fridge is controlled by say an STC1000 instead of the fridge stat. One of these can control heating as well as cooling. Do a search, one of our sponsors Cedaronics put them together if you are not able.
S

 

[LeedsBrewer]

My heater arrived today. That means that tomorrow i'll be installing it in the old fridge that someone gave me and hooking it up to my STC1000. I'll finally get to test it out properly!

The fermentation fridges and chambers just allow brewers to accurately maintain temps for fermentation or lagering. If it's too cold, the stc will register the drop in temp and turn on the heater. If its too warm it'll turn off the heater and switch on the fridge cooling element.

 

[SloeBrewer]

I have a WH7016e controller, that I was given by a forum member along with a fridge. Could I use this to just control the fridge, without a heater, as a conditioning/cellar storage temp fridge? It's not critical for me to maintain an exact temp, but around 10-12 C would be ideal.

I was thinking it could be used to start the fridge compressor up when the temp gets above 12 degrees, as I won't need the heater to keep it up around the 18 degree mark for fermentation.