New fermentation fridge ideas please

[Wez82]

Just got this new fridge at the weekend. I want to turn it in to a fermentation chamber in my garage for 2 25ltr buckets. I was planning on using an stc-1000 to control the temp.

First question would a 1ft 40w tube heater be sufficient to keep the temperature up during the UK winter?

Any other tips or ideas are more than welcome

 

[RoomWithABrew]

I've got a similar fridge might be a bit higher/ bigger as I managed to fit 8 kegs in it. It does have the curved door which might make more realestate.
My ferment fridge is a converted fridge freezer and I run it off an STC 1000. I can only fit one fermentasaurus in it, I use a heating belt around the ferment vessel. I do use extra insulation ( bubble wrap ) between the door and fermenter, just so the heat / cool doesn't fall out when I open the door.
I fitted the STC 1000 ( on the keg fridge ) into the top display panel and fed the probe wires in thru the hole that the light power supply went thru. Saved drilling another hole.
I assume you are putting 2 fermenters in with the same beer in so really you need a temp probe on each one and so would need 2 stc controllers.
Or think about Brewpi or brewpiless and or some Ispindels.
The good thing about the fridge you have is normally the condensers Black metal mesh are on the back. This means you can drill the sides without fear of hitting a condenser line. Not the case with other fridges and extreme caution before drilling the side in all cases.
I painted mine black with some matt paint. FLIR pictures show side of keg fridge and the side of a freezer with the danger condenser lines in.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

I think for that size of fridge you might want 2 tube heaters controlled by one STC and because the top of the fridge will be warmer than the bottom you might want to fit a fan to keep the air circulating within the fridge.

 

[Wez82]

@RoomWithABrew your set up looks good, yes I would have 2 same/similar beers brewing at the same time. I have ispindels to track the temps.

@Hazelwood Brewery yea I wasn't sure if one would be enough. But the cold air comes out of the top of the unit so I'm not sure how different the temperature will be from top to bottom.

 

[RoomWithABrew]

That fridge has got a fan in it. It's at the top.

 

[Wez82]

That fridge has got a fan in it. It's at the top.

Yea I think it has but with the stc I don't think the fridge will be on a lot.not sure if to have the fan wired in to the stc or on a separate plug.

 

[RoomWithABrew]

Ahh right, mine is being used as keg fridge but the cooling still cycles on and off with the thermostat. I did replace my fan and it would be possible to run the fan separately with a spur to the STC input.

 

[RoomWithABrew]

@Wez82
I have the thermowell and stc probe at the top of my keg fridge and the ispindel floating at the bottom and the temps are similar.
I'm looking into brew piless and you can make that to control heater and cooling, it can have a fridge and room temp probe and the ispindel data.
Not that much more complicated a project for the future. It also takes into account the lag of heating and cooling I believe.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

Yea I think it has but with the stc I don't think the fridge will be on a lot.not sure if to have the fan wired in to the stc or on a separate plug.

You could have the fan on permanently, you’ll need it while heating and you’ll need it while cooling - most of the time you’ll be doing one or the other.

 

[Wez82]

Would it be possible to wire some pc fans to the stc (as I have a few spare about) or best to get a plug in one?

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

Would it be possible to wire some pc fans to the stc (as I have a few spare about) or best to get a plug in one?

PC fans should be fine. They’re silent, almost frictionless, generate virtually no heat, can run continuously, and will probably cost less than a fiver to run for a whole year. If you want the fan to run continuously maybe just buy a cheap plug-in 12v power supply (about £5) and plug this in wherever you plug in your STC (or wire it in to the fridge electrics if you know what you’re doing).

 

[RoomWithABrew]

@Wez82
PC fans are what I replaced the rotary fan with in my fridge, wires go out the back and to a 12V power supply on the top of fridge. They run all the time and the compressor cycles as needed.
They wanted 400 dollars to replace the fan and fridge only cost 50 so 2 dollars at the salvage yard for the fans and I had the power supply laying around. You might find the existing fans are very similar to PC fans anyway so you could just divert the wiring. I did add a pc fan controller so that they could be slowed down which reduced the noise and works well.

 

[YorkieBrew]

First question would a 1ft 40w tube heater be sufficient to keep the temperature up during the UK winter?

Any other tips or ideas are more than welcome

Hello, is it going to be in a heated space, or a cold shed? If it struggles to keep warm enough you might be better off improving the insulation rather than adding more heating power- it will help stop the temperature fluctuating too much.

Don't forget you will get heat from the fermentation too. Personally I find too much heat causes a lot more problems than too little.

<Edit: sorry just read it's going in the garage>

 

[Wez82]

Hello, is it going to be in a heated space, or a cold shed? If it struggles to keep warm enough you might be better off improving the insulation rather than adding more heating power- it will help stop the temperature fluctuating too much.

Don't forget you will get heat from the fermentation too. Personally I find too much heat causes a lot more problems than too little.

<Edit: sorry just read it's going in the garage>

Yea that was what I was planning for the future I have a small brick shed at the side of the garage that I was planning on insulating and temp controling the whole shed but I'll not have that ready until next year sometime.
I was thinking of keeping the shed at 20ish then use the fridge for largers and cold crashing but for now the fridge will have to stay in the garage. I suppose for this winter coming I could use the fridge to do largers and cold crash and do any beer in the bathroom cupboard where I brew at the min. So I wouldn't have to heat it as much over the winter.

 

[RoomWithABrew]

If it does have the grille on the back you can put high density polythene foam stuck on with Double sided tape on the sides and roof, add the curtain of bubble wrap on the inside and you should be more than fine, could also stand it on board that sits on insulation. I don't often find the heater goes on when active ferment even with kveik if pitched hot. I do see the heat belts go on when the active phase is over and i'm just at the 35 celsius rest.

Don't insulate the outside of the fridge except roof and floor if you don't have the grille on the back.