cool fermenter box

I was just reading THIS thread and I got to thinking... What if you doubled that amount of styrafoam and gutted the peltier cooler from a cooler and hook it up to a ranco controller. (that line of thinking started after thinking back to THIS OTHER thread) With about 5-6 inches of styrafoam on each surface of the box could a little peltier device stolen from a cooler cool a box big enough to fit 3 6.5 gallon carboys in a garage during the summer? (mid 80's - mid 90's... sometimes lower 100's... sometimes...) Thoughts? Comments? Been playing with this idea for awhile now but if it dosn't seem like it would work any imput would save me time and trouble of trying it to just see if it works. Thanks in advance for any imput!

Want to save some time and trouble, borrow one my refrigerators as i will be to busy with other things to need 2 refrigerators, and will be going to glycol cooled jackets for carboys in the future.

Can you expand on that glycol cooled jacket comment a bit? I'm really trying to avoid buying a chest freezer for my temp controlled fermenting environment so any insight is appreciated.

Have aquired a pair of remote water cooler units and plan to use a 20% P. glycol mix at 32 deg F., a march mag coupled pump to circulate, dwyer TS series temperature switch and solenoid valve to control temperature. Plan on using a 12"X12" 20 Oz. copper sheet with 1/4" copper tubing soldered to copper sheet for cooling and 1" closed cell foam rubber for insulation around carboy with a velcro closure. The overall plan is to be able to individually control each carboy with temperature switch and valve so it would be possible to do ales and lagers with the carboys on shelves instead of inside freezers or refrigerators. With the chances that not all the cooling jackets calling for cooling at same time it might be possible to have 12 or more carboys going at same time with no problems.

Hehe Grim... That's my setup and I must say.. great minds think alike....Or fools seldom differ.... whichever one! But that's what Im actually in the process of doing. Im currently building a humidor cabinet with the peltier devices and as soon as i have them installed/ figured out, Im going to adapt them to this CoolBox. Myself and a friend of mine have been working on the circuits (ok ok he's doing most of the tech work) but as soon as i have it up and running I'll be sure to post some pics.. Iv'e heard the idea floating around here fo sho! lol

Cheers

kladue said:

Have aquired a pair of remote water cooler units and plan to use a 20% P. glycol mix at 32 deg F., a march mag coupled pump to circulate, dwyer TS series temperature switch and solenoid valve to control temperature. Plan on using a 12"X12" 20 Oz. copper sheet with 1/4" copper tubing soldered to copper sheet for cooling and 1" closed cell foam rubber for insulation around carboy with a velcro closure. The overall plan is to be able to individually control each carboy with temperature switch and valve so it would be possible to do ales and lagers with the carboys on shelves instead of inside freezers or refrigerators. With the chances that not all the cooling jackets calling for cooling at same time it might be possible to have 12 or more carboys going at same time with no problems.

Click to expand...

That is something I will do in a few years. For now a box is what i can do, and do cheap. When i get a working fridge and more disposable cash that will be an option. For now i just need the beer out of the house and into the garage all together. that's the goal. I have some friends in the decorating businessthat use stryafoam alot. Some of the stuff they do with it is mindblowing. Styrafoam is super cheap. That's what i'm looking for. Super cheap that will work to make SWMBO happy. I remember you talking about that idea, Kladue, and i've been going over in my head how relitavely easy, and moreover, how much fun that would be. my folks use to be into metal sculpture in the good 'ol hippy days. They had booths at the saturday market in portland, they did shows in the lancaster mall and visited friends in cannon beach whenever they were up there. From what i gather it was alot.(they actually got pretty good twards the end of their run, *shrug*) They still have all their stuff left including some huge sheets of copper and brass. When I make my Glycol chiller I'm going to show up and nab a few sheets of that thin stuff to solder(or braise) some copper tubing onto to make a chill plate. Their regulator on their old torch is out though. First step there is get them a new one, then refill their tanks and after that they'll let me do as i please. I can't wait to do that. It's going to be fun. Who dosn't like to play with fire, ESPECIALY with the excuse, "Hey, it's for my BEER!!!" Kladue, i always appreciate your imput. Dont' let me discourage it by any means. I have seen first hand your work, and impressed dosn't begin to touch on how my thoughts are twards it. wow... Anyhow back to the cool box. Phrasty, you seem to have a handle on how many and what type/size etc... of Peltier devices it would take to cool a space as I have mentioned. What would you suggest? As for heating it I saw somewhere someone had a low wattage lightbulb shoved into a tin can and hooked up to a fan and ranco controller. That's most likely how i'll heat that box in the winter. Thank you all for the imput so far, I do appreciate it very much!

Peilters are holey in-efficient. that said yes it would work, just may take a while to cool but once its there it would be fine..It would also be more efficient with more direct contact with the liquid. yuri's cooling corney could also be modified for a re-circulation cooling system with a pump, glycol, and some type of jacket..