Hi All,
I had such a pain over the last week or two trying to get a second hand fridge to use as a fermentation chamber (not a fridge freezer) from Gumtree, Ebay, Shpock etc.
I'm currently using the fridge part of a fridge-freezer, but we need the freezer bit back in use too now...
They all either cost almost as much as new, or are suddenly not for sale once I bid for them. I gave up in the end, lost my patience and went to Currys. Bought the cheapest fridge they had at £109
Problem is, it's not that big and all of my fermenting bins over 20 litres either didn't fit or I had to really force them in and bodge the airlock somehow.
I couldn't find anywhere that shows internal dimensions for the fridges so I thought I'd leave this post here in case anyone else is looking for a fridge/bucket combo in the near future.
I would have found this post useful last week, so somebody else might now.
The new fridge is Currys own 'essentials' brand, model CUL50W20.
ESSENTIALS CUL50W20 Undercounter Fridge - White
External dimensions 83.9 x 49.4 x 49.4 cm (H x W x D)
Here it is - I have made a sandwich with 2 of the shelves and my belt heater sits between them. Works fine like this.
Cables for heater and thermoprobe routed are through the overflow pipe quite easily, so no drilling required.
View attachment 31306
There's the usual internal compressor hump at the bottom and also a little lip on that, so the usable hight to stand a bucket on is 50cm including airlock (or 48cm incl airlock if you've done like me with the shelves)
If your bucket is taller than 37cm (without airlock) , the interior light restricts the width at that point to 36.5cm.
If your bucket is less than 37cm tall (without airlock), the light doesn't interfere and usable width is 38cm.
From the back interior wall of the fridge to the front edge is 40cm.
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I found some 27 Litre airtight buckets with lids here
Pails round ER 27-375+D | AUER Packaging
They have the PP5 and Food Grade knife and fork symbols moulded on the base, so should be fine.
I ordered two and it worked out at £11.37 each incl. delivery from Germany to UK (!)
I'd removed the door pockets anyway, and the door closes fine with about 15mm space behind the bucket - so it's not touching the back interior wall.
As you can see, loads of room for the airlock above - I'm really happy I'm not stuck with 20 litre brews!
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Hope someone finds this useful.
Cheers