peltier cooler in broken fridge

[kwazulu]

I have access to a fridge/freezer which apparently "just stopped working". i've considered collecting it, but wondering.... does anyone know if a peltier style cooler is powerful enough to cool half of a full size fridge? Im thinking to turn one half into a fermenting chamber of average temp 18C and if poss, turn the other half into a beer fridge cooling down to about 12C.

anyone done this sort of thing before or used peltier coolers?

thanks everyone in advance!

 

[Kevin Wood]

Having a couple of picnic coolers cooled by peltier devices I'd say they won't make a noticeable impact on a volume as large as half a fridge. They are also quite inefficient with regard to energy use.

First thing I would do is to discover why the 'fridge stopped working. If it's just a failed thermostat or a blown fuse, it's quite possible that you could resurrect it with a PT1000 controlling the motor. If it's lost its' refrigerant, on the other hand, there's little hope of resurrecting it.

 

[kwazulu]

If it's just a failed thermostat or a blown fuse, it's quite possible that you could resurrect it with a PT1000 controlling the motor. If it's lost its' refrigerant, on the other hand, there's little hope of resurrecting it.

aha... now that's interesting. I wonder what the chances are of it having lost its refrigerant? I would say the fridge is less than 5 years old (that is if age has anything to do with it). Maybe Ill just take my chances and pick it up.

thanks

 

[kwazulu]

well the fridge seems to work, which is nice. But, having done a little more research, i may not be able to use it as I wanted as its one of those "no freeze" single compressor fridge/freezer combos -- that is unless anyone has any ideas on how it can be used? I'm stumped...

 

[Kevin Wood]

These devices are a bit of a compromise because the cooling to the 2 compartments can't be individually controlled. They are arranged that enough cooling goes to the 'fridge to do its' job while significantly more is directed at the freezer compartment, so, in a normal domestic setting, the freezer stays well below zero on the running time that the fridge needs to do its' job.

That said, you want the fermenting compartment to be warmer than your beer 'fridge, so there might be some mileage in fitting a tube heater to the 'fridge compartment to control your fermenting temperature, and using an additional temperature controller to keep the freezer compartment at beer storage temperature.

You might waste a little energy through cooling the fermenting area while you're also trying to heat it but I'm guessing it will need very little cooling in the freezer compartment anyway, so you might well find that works quite well. Worth a shot, at any rate

 

[kwazulu]

Thanks Kevin! appreciate your suggestions. Ill look into it :thumb:

 

[Kevin Wood]

The other potential issue is that often you have cooling pipes running through some or all of the shelves in the freezer compartment, so these can't be removed. You need to decide if they'll get in the way of your intended use of that compartment.

 

[Papa G]

Just an idea, turn the fridge in to the fermenting cabinet and leave the freezer for storing hops and yeast.