jdoiv

Recipes 

Ok, so my old trusty True refrigerator that I use for my fermenters has either died or is about to. I have a closet in my garage that I am thinking about turning into a small walk-in cooler to use for fermentation and conditioning. Its plenty big enough once I clear all the junk out of it. I'm wondering if using a wine cellar cooling unit would work to maintain the temperature. They are about the same money as one of the portable air conditioners but can be set as low as 52* without having to rig up a ranco and bypass a thermostat. Anybody on here have a wine cellar or have any experience building a small walk-in out of a closet?

__________________
Drinking on the keg: BPA, Brown Ale, Dry Mead, Wee Heavy aged on Oak, CAP
Drinking in the Bottle:
Conditioning:
Fermenting:
Planning:

the_bird

Recipes 

Have you read John Beere's thread? He's the absolute king of this kind of project. LOT of good informaiton in there.

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/my-latest-project-walk-cooler-11440/

__________________
Come join Yankee Ingenuity!

"I'm kind of toasted. But I looked at my watch and it's only 6:30 so I can't stop drinking yet." - Yooper's Bob
"Brown eye finally recovered after the abuse it endured in Ptown last weekend, but it took almost a full week." - Paulie
"no, he just doesn't speak 'stupid'. i, however, am fluent...." - motobrewer

jdoiv

Recipes 

Thanks Bird. I'll give it a good read. I may call the Wine Enthusiast and ask some questions about the cooling units as well.

__________________
Drinking on the keg: BPA, Brown Ale, Dry Mead, Wee Heavy aged on Oak, CAP
Drinking in the Bottle:
Conditioning:
Fermenting:
Planning:

Reidman

Recipes 

Wow! That is awesome!

__________________
"I would kill everyone in this room for a drop of sweet beer." ~ Homer Simpson

John Beere

Recipes 

Why, thank you... :-)

__________________
Website: Deep Six Brewing Co.
Merchandise: http://zazzle.com/deepsix
Projects: HERMs Setup v2.0 | Fermentation Cabinets | Milling Station | Wort Chilling Station| Walk-in Cooler | Kegerator

"If thair is no gas bing pasted thru the air lock check for a leak."
"Handcrafted Brewing - A guide for All home brewers!" by Stan Richards, RFC - Copyright 1992.

jdoiv

Recipes 

Hey John B,
I read your post and was quite impressed. I did a little math and figure I'm right at about 100 cubic feet with this closet. I do have a couple of questions for you though.

One, my floor is concrete. From what I read about the wine cellar coolers was that the floor should be insulated as it adds to moisture in the air. Did you add insulation to the floor or just a vapor barrier then plywood? Adding a sub-floor, insulation and then plywood will limit the amount of space greatly.

Two, my walls are already drywalled in the closet and adding 6 inches of insulation on either side of the closet and the ceiling will really make it very small and almost unusable. Could I just use a foam type of insulation instead that was thinner?

I'm thinking of adding a vapor barrier, then foam insulation, then another vapor barrier on top. Maybe, put a vapor barrier and plywood on the floor. I'll run a electric outlet to the back of the closet (it is wedge shaped as it is under a stair case and mount a small AC unit in the back that vents underneath the house.

Does this sound like a feasible idea?

__________________
Drinking on the keg: BPA, Brown Ale, Dry Mead, Wee Heavy aged on Oak, CAP
Drinking in the Bottle:
Conditioning:
Fermenting:
Planning: