Window AC in a Fermentation Chiller?

I am new to home brewing with my first batch still fermenting. I don't have a good place with a steady temperature so I have kept it in my room with a window a/c unit on all day to keep my room at 66. I was wondering if I could possibly make a foam fermenting box and connect my window a/c unit on the inside to control the temperature? Has anybody done this or heard of this being done? Does anybody have any suggestions or problems with this?

Thanks in advance,

Effy

See "brew closet" in my signature. It can be done quite successfully.

Thats just what I was looking to do. Thanks for the help.

Here's mine.... Admittedly designed only after reading up on the several that are posted around here:


http://homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=41581

something to keep in mind:

An A/C unit will produce a lot of heat. So in an enclosed space the room will heat up and the efficiency of the A/C unit will decline drastically.

abracadabra said:

something to keep in mind:

An A/C unit will produce a lot of heat. So in an enclosed space the room will heat up and the efficiency of the A/C unit will decline drastically.

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No, it really doesn't, at least not any more than a regrigerator does. The air coming out of the back of mine is barely warmer than the surrounding air. In fact it feels a tiny bit cooler because it's moving (wind chill if you will).

shafferpilot said:

No, it really doesn't, at least not any more than a regrigerator does. The air coming out of the back of mine is barely warmer than the surrounding air. In fact it feels a tiny bit cooler because it's moving (wind chill if you will).

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That may work fine in Ohio but:

and the OP did not state his whereabouts. But if they are havng to run a window A/C unit this time of year to keep the room temp at 66* I think it's a fair bet that they are somewhere pretty far down south, not up in Ohio or points north.

Shaffer if your window unit produces no more heat than your refridgerator then it's a pretty small unit or you have an old ineffecient fridge. An a very small window unit may work well in Ohio. But most of units people use down south are fairly sizeable an throw off some real heat.

And while a small A/C will do to cool off a small box. I also assume that the OP is going to use what he already has and not go purchase a new one just to cool off wort. Because in that case a small used refridgerator with an added temp controller would be more effecient and a better value IMHO.

Also refrigerators are much more effecient than window A/C units.

I am merely trying to point out that if the OP can vent the room or the condenser coil air to the outside the unit will be much more effecient especially down south.

all good points. The one drawback to my fermentation chamber is the relative lack of insulation through the A/C unit itself. I've wrapped parts of it with old clothes to try and limit heat transfer into the chamber, but that's only a bandaid fix. Also, the unit likes to freeze up, so I have a small fan blowing on the coils at all times to keep it from doing that. i do think you're right that a freezer is probably easier to use for this type of project. If I knew a refridgerant person, I'd probably disassemble the A/C unit and relocate the cooling coils to fully inside the box, leaving the rest outside of it, but that project will have to wait. The advantage of a custom built box is that you can size it to fit your fermenters without a lot of wasted space.