planning a glycol chiller for 1-3bbl fermenters

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

SirJoshuaIV

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 3, 2012
Messages
61
Reaction score
4
Location
Delhi
To start, I will give a little background information and would like to appologize for such a long post. I am in the process of opening a small(nano) brewery and restaurant. The system is 1bbl. The location has a walk in cooler that I could use for controlling fermentation temps. However, I would like more control over fermentation temps and be able to use the cooler for restaurant purposes and not build another. I will be using plastic conicals ((2) 1bbls, (4) 2bbls and (1) 3bbl) to start because they will save lots of money that can be used for other parts of the business start up costs, with plans to upgrade to an all stainless and larger system.

I have come up with a rough plan to build a glycol chiller, and there is one little thing I can't seem to wrap my head around. This is a very rough plan, and I will do much fine tuning to it. Please point out any and all errors you see in my planning/reasoning, and hopefully you can also help me solve me last problem.

I intend to mimic many other glycol builds by simply making copper coiles that will be submerged into the fermenters, and mounted to the lids on the fermenters (similar to a herms system), which would allow for easy removal and cleaning. If I do not do this, I will use the Frankenbrew method and make the coils flat and attach them to the outside with insulation.

Each coil will have an Autovalve on it that is wired to my BCS-462 for control to open the valves when cooling is needed. Each conicals coil will connect to a manifold that is plumbed to a large glycol holding tank inside the cold room which will ideally be kept around 34-40 degrees.

Here is where im stuck - I would like to use a single pump for this setup. So here are my questions. Will controlling the pump by my BCS be problematic? My concern is what would happen if multiple conicals needed cooling at one time - in example the pump is already triggered on by one temp controller in FV1, and then FV2 triggers it to turn on even though its already running. I dont think this will cause a problem because it is extremely low voltage but I want to be sure and wrap my head around this completely before I jump into the build.

Also, could I just leave the pump running continously? I know this would reduce the pump life, but would it be a drastic reduction if i kept it in the cold room to keep it cool?

Any other ideas on how to do this all with a single pump?

I would like to thank anyone who gives advice/insight in advance. Thank you!
 
This is an interesting problem.

I'm at work now but I can help tonight explain how to design this system. At the end of the day your going to need a pump that when all the fermenters cooling coils are open will be able to recirculate the glycol. Can you help with as little more information for some rough calculations?

Things I will need to know:
-Your pump size now?
-Tubing size, both length and ID (inside diameter) for the fermenters as well as the manifold.
-What will the manifold be constructed from? PVC?
-Will the glycol tank be closed or open to the air?
-What percentage of glycol will you be using?
-Will you be using 2 way or 3 way valves off the manifold?

Kyle
 
You don't need to worry about providing the pump an on signal from multiple locations, it won't hurt the pump. I don't know how to program the software so I can't speak to that. However, just having a tub of glycol in a freezer isn't very efficient the heat transfer from cold air to a bucket of glycol isn't that good where as the heat transfer from "warm" fermenting beer to the copper coil of glycol is good. Commercial glycol chillers directly cool the glycol with a heat exchanged, not just cold air. One person in another thread mentioned having the glycol pass through another coil in the freezer to cool it on the way to the fermentor, this would help.
 
This is an interesting problem.

I'm at work now but I can help tonight explain how to design this system. At the end of the day your going to need a pump that when all the fermenters cooling coils are open will be able to recirculate the glycol. Can you help with as little more information for some rough calculations?

Things I will need to know:
-Your pump size now?
-Tubing size, both length and ID (inside diameter) for the fermenters as well as the manifold.
-What will the manifold be constructed from? PVC?
-Will the glycol tank be closed or open to the air?
-What percentage of glycol will you be using?
-Will you be using 2 way or 3 way valves off the manifold?

Kyle
Nothing has been completely determined. However, these are my tentative thoughts. I was thinking 3/8 copper, 50 feet of coil per fermenter. The run from the fermenters to the glycol tank would be roughly 12 feet, and will be insulated. The manifold would likely be 3/4 for the return, and a 3/4 manifold that sends the glcol to the fermenters. My rationale on this is the oversized manifolds would provide enough flow capacity if mulitple fermenters are chilling at one time. I intend to do everything copper, however stainless is an option since I have a good amount of it avaible in 3/8s.

I have yet to purchase a pump, but I do have an extra march 809 pump laying around that I could use if it was feasible for this application. Advice on a pump would be very helpful if the march 809 is not sufficient (which at 7gpm, i would not assume thats enough).

As far as the glycol goes, I was thinking somwhere around 45% glycol. The tank will be closed and sealed with a bleeder valve to purge the air. The return line will go through a copper loop that is in front of the evaporator coil fan that cools the cold room. This should aid in dropping the glycol temps to not raise the glycol tank temps as much. As far as tank size goes, I have 55gallon food grade plastic drums available and was thinking of using one of these.

For the valves, I intend to use a 2way valve for each fermenter. Just an open or closed. When open the glycol will flow through the fermenter and back to the return manifold that will send the warm glycol through the copper coil in front of the evaporator coil. If I do not put the heat exchange coil in front of the evaporator, I may throw in threw a upright chest freezer that is in the cold room which should drop the glycol temps pretty rapidly.

Anything else you need, please let me know. I REALLY appreciate the help on this. I am confident in my abilities to construct everything, I just question my ability to put together the logistics of it and have it not only work, but work at least some what effeciently.
 
You don't need to worry about providing the pump an on signal from multiple locations, it won't hurt the pump. I don't know how to program the software so I can't speak to that. However, just having a tub of glycol in a freezer isn't very efficient the heat transfer from cold air to a bucket of glycol isn't that good where as the heat transfer from "warm" fermenting beer to the copper coil of glycol is good. Commercial glycol chillers directly cool the glycol with a heat exchanged, not just cold air. One person in another thread mentioned having the glycol pass through another coil in the freezer to cool it on the way to the fermentor, this would help.

Programming the BCS shouldnt be a problem, I can tackle that in an evening once the system is ready to go. I know this wont be as efficient as a dedicated glycol unit with a heat exchanger. However, to compensate for this I intend to oversize the resivoir to reduce the temperature increases from the returning glycol. I also intend to make a makeshift heat exchange loop, like you mentioned someone else doing. It will be attached to the evaporator coil fan, as this will cool the returning glycol at least to some degree. If I do not attach it to the fan, i will run it through a upright chest freezer, probably in some fashion similar to what you mentioned someone else doing.
 
I just got to thinking that I could throw a temp probe in the glycol tank, put separate fittings into the manifolds for 'cold in' and 'hot out'. Then I could program my BCS to cycle the glycol through the heat exchanger in front of the evap. coil or in the freezer to keep it colder.

This should help with efficiency and keeping the glycol nice and cool, correct? Also, should I consider a separate pump for this? I would imagine the pump be running fairly constant if it was controlling the fermenters and the glycol tank.
 
On most commercial glycol chillers the recirculation loop runs all the time. Also they use procon pumps

One of my buddies has one of those I think, I can probably get it for cheap, but I know he doesnt have a motor for it. What size pump motor do they typcially use, 1/3hp?
 
How are you going to connect the pump to the BCS? If you are going to use a single relay connected to multiple different digital outputs then you may run into a problem. I don't know much about the BCS but I am assuming that its digital outputs a strong drive and not an open drain or open collector output. If that is the case then you can't just hook up multiple outputs together. When one output is off and driving towards 0 volts and another turns on to 5 volts then the two outputs are going to fight each other and you will damage the controller. If they are open drain or open collector outputs then you don't have to worry about that. There are ways to work around this but I just thought I might give you a heads up in case you planned on hooking it up that way.
 
How are you going to connect the pump to the BCS? If you are going to use a single relay connected to multiple different digital outputs then you may run into a problem. I don't know much about the BCS but I am assuming that its digital outputs a strong drive and not an open drain or open collector output. If that is the case then you can't just hook up multiple outputs together. When one output is off and driving towards 0 volts and another turns on to 5 volts then the two outputs are going to fight each other and you will damage the controller. If they are open drain or open collector outputs then you don't have to worry about that. There are ways to work around this but I just thought I might give you a heads up in case you planned on hooking it up that way.

I appreciate the heads up. My plan was to wire the pump to a 115 outlet using a single output (named FV Pump) on the BCS. I would run the output to an SSR and contactor coil. I would then program each fermenter as it's own process inside the controller. Each process/fermenter would trigger the same output (FV Pump) to turn on.

I think this question is going to be better answered by someone more familiar with the programming and capabilities of the controller. I am waiting on some help over at the ECC forum. My thoughts are this: if the controller is capable using the same output for multiple processes at the same time, ill be fine. If not, I will need that work around that you spoke of.
 
Nothing has been completely determined. However, these are my tentative thoughts. I was thinking 3/8 copper, 50 feet of coil per fermenter. The run from the fermenters to the glycol tank would be roughly 12 feet, and will be insulated. The manifold would likely be 3/4 for the return, and a 3/4 manifold that sends the glcol to the fermenters. My rationale on this is the oversized manifolds would provide enough flow capacity if mulitple fermenters are chilling at one time. I intend to do everything copper, however stainless is an option since I have a good amount of it avaible in 3/8s.

I have yet to purchase a pump, but I do have an extra march 809 pump laying around that I could use if it was feasible for this application. Advice on a pump would be very helpful if the march 809 is not sufficient (which at 7gpm, i would not assume thats enough).

As far as the glycol goes, I was thinking somwhere around 45% glycol. The tank will be closed and sealed with a bleeder valve to purge the air. The return line will go through a copper loop that is in front of the evaporator coil fan that cools the cold room. This should aid in dropping the glycol temps to not raise the glycol tank temps as much. As far as tank size goes, I have 55gallon food grade plastic drums available and was thinking of using one of these.

For the valves, I intend to use a 2way valve for each fermenter. Just an open or closed. When open the glycol will flow through the fermenter and back to the return manifold that will send the warm glycol through the copper coil in front of the evaporator coil. If I do not put the heat exchange coil in front of the evaporator, I may throw in threw a upright chest freezer that is in the cold room which should drop the glycol temps pretty rapidly.

Anything else you need, please let me know. I REALLY appreciate the help on this. I am confident in my abilities to construct everything, I just question my ability to put together the logistics of it and have it not only work, but work at least some what effeciently.





Sorry it took me a bit to reply. (Time gets taken away from brewing when you have a sick little one)
I took the information you mentioned above and have calculated the following so you can locate the pump you need or change the design as needed. These calculations are based on general flow dynamics and should be taken with a grain of salt as at the end of the day it depends on how many valves, 90's and ports you have in total as each will need to be taken into account for pressure loss.
So our first problem is to determine how much pump you would need to only pump through the Fermemtors. Now, the worst case scenario would be if all 3 are calling for cooling at the same time. We have to take into account that the viscosity of the cooling liquid changes drastically when using a 45% mixture of Glycol. So the below is the general calculation for just flow through the Fermentors not the manifold.
Flow medium: Glycol 45% / liquid
Volume flow:: 10 gal/min
Weight density: 144.876 oz./gal.
Dynamic Viscosity: 15 cP

Element of pipe: circular
Dimensions of element: Diameter of pipe D: .375 in.
Length of pipe L: 150 ft.

Velocity of flow: 29.05 ft./s
Reynolds number: 6100
Velocity of flow 2: -
Reynolds number 2: -
Flow: turbulent
Absolute roughness: .0015 mm
Pipe friction number: 0.04
Resistance coefficient: 170.54
Resist.coeff.branching pipe: -
Press.drop branch.pipe: -
Pressure drop: 151480.15 lbw./sq.ft.
1051.95 psi


The Second is to calculate the Manifold or chilled water loop you will be using, pressure loss. I am going to assume that the length of the manifold will be approximately 12 feet chilled supply and 12 foot chilled return for a total of 24 feet. The pressure drop is calculated as follows:
Flow medium: Glycol 45% / liquid
Volume flow:: 10 gal/min
Weight density: 144.876 oz./gal.
Dynamic Viscosity: 15 cP

Element of pipe: circular
Dimensions of element: Diameter of pipe D: .75 in.
Length of pipe L: 25 ft.

Velocity of flow: 7.26 ft./s
Reynolds number: 3050
Velocity of flow 2: -
Reynolds number 2: -
Flow: turbulent
Absolute roughness: .0015 mm
Pipe friction number: 0.04
Resistance coefficient: 17.35
Resist.coeff.branching pipe: -
Press.drop branch.pipe: -
Pressure drop: 963.06 lbw./sq.ft.
6.69 psi

For each reduction off the manifold, so approximately (3) entering, the pressure drop is as follows:

Flow medium: Glycol 45% / liquid
Volume flow:: 10 gal/min
Weight density: 144.876 oz./gal.
Dynamic Viscosity: 15 cP

Element of pipe: Sudden contraction
Dimensions of element: Diameter of pipe D1: .75 in.
Diameter of pipe D2: .375 in.

Velocity of flow: 7.26 ft./s
Reynolds number: 3050
Velocity of flow 2: 29.05 ft./s
Reynolds number 2: 6100
Flow: turbulent
Absolute roughness:
Pipe friction number:
Resistance coefficient: 0.4
Resist.coeff.branching pipe: -
Press.drop branch.pipe: -
Pressure drop: 357.92 lbw./sq.ft.
2.49 psi

Like Wise for the reductions from the fermentor to the manifold for a total of 3 as well the pressure drop is as follows:

Flow medium: Glycol 45% / liquid
Volume flow:: 10 gal/min
Weight density: 144.876 oz./gal.
Dynamic Viscosity: 15 cP

Element of pipe: Sudden enlargement
Dimensions of element: Diameter of pipe D1: .375 in.
Diameter of pipe D2: .75 in.

Velocity of flow: 29.05 ft./s
Reynolds number: 6100
Velocity of flow 2: 7.26 ft./s
Reynolds number 2: 3050
Flow: turbulent
Absolute roughness:
Pipe friction number:
Resistance coefficient: 9
Resist.coeff.branching pipe: -
Press.drop branch.pipe: -
Pressure drop: 499.63 lbw./sq.ft.
3.47 psi

So if you take the above calculations, ( please note you still with have to add the pressure drops for each of the elbows and any other fittings you may have in the loop) For this we will add a 20% safety factor in for your pump sizing.

Pressure drop from fermenters: 1051.95 PSI
Pressure drop from the manifold: 6.69 psi
Pressure drop from 3 entering reductions: 2.49 psi *(3 Ports) = 7.47 PSI
Pressure drop from 3 return enlargements: 3.47 psi * (3 ports)= 10.41 PSI

Total Pressure drop: 1076.52 psi

p = 0.434 h SG (1)

Where
p = pressure (psi)
h = Static head (ft)
SG = specific gravity( which will be different as we are using a 45% mixture of Glycol) approx. 1.06

1076.52= 0.434 *h*1.06
1076.52\ .460= h

h= 2340 ft of Static head

10% safety factor

2340* 1.10= 2575 Static Head

OK now that you know your static head. You can accurately size your pump. Now you may be thinking “da*n” this head is huge! Well it is but you have to remember that you are using small tubing as the cooling coils. The other thing to take into consideration is the glycol viscosity at the concentration you need causes for an increase in psi. Another item to note is that if the tank is completely sealed off and you create a pressurized system then the head drops to a manageable level. Ideally this is what you want since having a pump that would have that high a head would be big. This is where a pump manufacture can suggest a pump size and type for the system as any more calculations I would be really guessing


Not sure if this helps you in your situation or not…. This will at least give you a starting point on either changing the design or locating the correct pump size. I can tell you from my life time experience with jacketed fermenters, we use a pool pump to rotate the chilled water but we also had 3” lines which make a huge difference.

Kyle
 
Sorry it took me a bit to reply. (Time gets taken away from brewing when you have a sick little one)
I took the information you mentioned above and have calculated the following so you can locate the pump you need or change the design as needed. These calculations are based on general flow dynamics and should be taken with a grain of salt as at the end of the day it depends on how many valves, 90's and ports you have in total as each will need to be taken into account for pressure loss.
So our first problem is to determine how much pump you would need to only pump through the Fermemtors. Now, the worst case scenario would be if all 3 are calling for cooling at the same time. We have to take into account that the viscosity of the cooling liquid changes drastically when using a 45% mixture of Glycol. So the below is the general calculation for just flow through the Fermentors not the manifold.
Flow medium: Glycol 45% / liquid
Volume flow:: 10 gal/min
Weight density: 144.876 oz./gal.
Dynamic Viscosity: 15 cP

Element of pipe: circular
Dimensions of element: Diameter of pipe D: .375 in.
Length of pipe L: 150 ft.

Velocity of flow: 29.05 ft./s
Reynolds number: 6100
Velocity of flow 2: -
Reynolds number 2: -
Flow: turbulent
Absolute roughness: .0015 mm
Pipe friction number: 0.04
Resistance coefficient: 170.54
Resist.coeff.branching pipe: -
Press.drop branch.pipe: -
Pressure drop: 151480.15 lbw./sq.ft.
1051.95 psi


The Second is to calculate the Manifold or chilled water loop you will be using, pressure loss. I am going to assume that the length of the manifold will be approximately 12 feet chilled supply and 12 foot chilled return for a total of 24 feet. The pressure drop is calculated as follows:
Flow medium: Glycol 45% / liquid
Volume flow:: 10 gal/min
Weight density: 144.876 oz./gal.
Dynamic Viscosity: 15 cP

Element of pipe: circular
Dimensions of element: Diameter of pipe D: .75 in.
Length of pipe L: 25 ft.

Velocity of flow: 7.26 ft./s
Reynolds number: 3050
Velocity of flow 2: -
Reynolds number 2: -
Flow: turbulent
Absolute roughness: .0015 mm
Pipe friction number: 0.04
Resistance coefficient: 17.35
Resist.coeff.branching pipe: -
Press.drop branch.pipe: -
Pressure drop: 963.06 lbw./sq.ft.
6.69 psi

For each reduction off the manifold, so approximately (3) entering, the pressure drop is as follows:

Flow medium: Glycol 45% / liquid
Volume flow:: 10 gal/min
Weight density: 144.876 oz./gal.
Dynamic Viscosity: 15 cP

Element of pipe: Sudden contraction
Dimensions of element: Diameter of pipe D1: .75 in.
Diameter of pipe D2: .375 in.

Velocity of flow: 7.26 ft./s
Reynolds number: 3050
Velocity of flow 2: 29.05 ft./s
Reynolds number 2: 6100
Flow: turbulent
Absolute roughness:
Pipe friction number:
Resistance coefficient: 0.4
Resist.coeff.branching pipe: -
Press.drop branch.pipe: -
Pressure drop: 357.92 lbw./sq.ft.
2.49 psi

Like Wise for the reductions from the fermentor to the manifold for a total of 3 as well the pressure drop is as follows:

Flow medium: Glycol 45% / liquid
Volume flow:: 10 gal/min
Weight density: 144.876 oz./gal.
Dynamic Viscosity: 15 cP

Element of pipe: Sudden enlargement
Dimensions of element: Diameter of pipe D1: .375 in.
Diameter of pipe D2: .75 in.

Velocity of flow: 29.05 ft./s
Reynolds number: 6100
Velocity of flow 2: 7.26 ft./s
Reynolds number 2: 3050
Flow: turbulent
Absolute roughness:
Pipe friction number:
Resistance coefficient: 9
Resist.coeff.branching pipe: -
Press.drop branch.pipe: -
Pressure drop: 499.63 lbw./sq.ft.
3.47 psi

So if you take the above calculations, ( please note you still with have to add the pressure drops for each of the elbows and any other fittings you may have in the loop) For this we will add a 20% safety factor in for your pump sizing.

Pressure drop from fermenters: 1051.95 PSI
Pressure drop from the manifold: 6.69 psi
Pressure drop from 3 entering reductions: 2.49 psi *(3 Ports) = 7.47 PSI
Pressure drop from 3 return enlargements: 3.47 psi * (3 ports)= 10.41 PSI

Total Pressure drop: 1076.52 psi

p = 0.434 h SG (1)

Where
p = pressure (psi)
h = Static head (ft)
SG = specific gravity( which will be different as we are using a 45% mixture of Glycol) approx. 1.06

1076.52= 0.434 *h*1.06
1076.52\ .460= h

h= 2340 ft of Static head

10% safety factor

2340* 1.10= 2575 Static Head

OK now that you know your static head. You can accurately size your pump. Now you may be thinking “da*n” this head is huge! Well it is but you have to remember that you are using small tubing as the cooling coils. The other thing to take into consideration is the glycol viscosity at the concentration you need causes for an increase in psi. Another item to note is that if the tank is completely sealed off and you create a pressurized system then the head drops to a manageable level. Ideally this is what you want since having a pump that would have that high a head would be big. This is where a pump manufacture can suggest a pump size and type for the system as any more calculations I would be really guessing


Not sure if this helps you in your situation or not…. This will at least give you a starting point on either changing the design or locating the correct pump size. I can tell you from my life time experience with jacketed fermenters, we use a pool pump to rotate the chilled water but we also had 3” lines which make a huge difference.

Kyle

Wow, thank you for all that information. I would never have been able to come up with those calculations on my own. I do intend to use a closed system by sealing the glycol resevoir, my thoughts were this would reduce pump sizing requirments.

I hadn't thought about the implications of using the smaller tubing that I have on hand. It would appear that I would be better off to increase the sizing of the tubing as well as sealing the system. Time to adjust plans, thank you so much!
 
Unrelated to your question, and I could be wrong, but I don't think that you'll want to use copper if you're keeping them submerged in the acidic wort/beer.
 
Unrelated to your question, and I could be wrong, but I don't think that you'll want to use copper if you're keeping them submerged in the acidic wort/beer.

I believe this is the case as well... copper on the hot side is fine... copper on the cold side is not good.

BYO Magazine said:
Copper is a double-edged sword in brewing. It is beneficial before fermentation, but detrimental afterwards. Copper ions react with the hydrogen sulfide produced during fermentation and reduce it to insoluble copper sulfide, which is left behind with the trub and yeast cake. Switching to all stainless steel brewing equipment can lead to noticeable quantities of hydrogen sulfide and sulfur off-flavors and aromas in the beer. The use of copper wort chillers will provide all the copper necessary, as will including a short piece (1 inch) of copper tubing in the boil.

Copper is a problem post-fermentation because it catalyzes staling reactions, including the production of hydrogen peroxide and can oxidize the alcohols to aldehydes. Finished beer should not be stored in contact with copper, although serving beer with copper tubing in a jockey box should not be a problem, because of the short contact time immediately before serving.

http://***********/stories/projects...d-it-yourself/1149-metallurgy-for-homebrewers
 
You know, I am glad you both have reminded me of the evils copper can bring on the cold side. I do recall the downfalls of using copper on the cold side, but it seem that it slipped my mind during the planning stage of this project. I was leaning toward stainless anyways, but I am very happy to have been reminded because I clearly had forgotten. Thanks for the input everytone
 
If you're going to use the chest freezer put it outside of the cold room or you'll be putting the load on the cold room's cooling system (in fact you're probably creating a higher load) and that's inefficient if not even counter productive.
 
If you're going to use the chest freezer put it outside of the cold room or you'll be putting the load on the cold room's cooling system (in fact you're probably creating a higher load) and that's inefficient if not even counter productive.

I agree. The heat from the compressor on your upright would have to now be removed by your walkin. If you want to supplement the walkin with another cooling unit dedicated to helping the chiller, I would consider a chest freezer. If you filled the chest freezer half way or so with glycol and sumberged your chiller coils, you would get conduction from the chiller coil through the secondary refrigerant and into the freezer evap coils, lots more efficient than convection in air.
If the thermostat on the freezer didnt go to above freezing, you would need a controller on the freezer, so you didnt freeze the coil, if you wanted to use water.

I dont know the specifics about your controller, I would think it wouldnt hurt itself about sharing an output. If it has enough outputs you could run a pump output for each vessel, to relays. Then the relays would just have to be paralleled and would isolate the controller.
You could also run the pump full time with a bypass valve that opens, when (all) the valves to the cooling coils close.
 
If you're going to use the chest freezer put it outside of the cold room or you'll be putting the load on the cold room's cooling system (in fact you're probably creating a higher load) and that's inefficient if not even counter productive.

I actually already compensated for this. The freezer is not actually part of the cold room, though the access to it is from the cold room. I knocked a section of the wall out that is exactly the size of the freezer. I put the freezer in to it, set back a bit, so the doors are almost flush with the trim. It's nice and tight so I shouldn't lose too much efficiency if any from this modification. There is unusable space behind the wall because the roof has a very steap pitch (this is in the upstairs of an old barn) So i figured I might as well make use of it by putting the fridge in it with access from the cold room.

I had a fridge in a small room once, and it would typically increase the room temp 5-10 degrees. Most certainly dont want that in the cold room.
 
SirJoshuaIV said:
I actually already compensated for this. The freezer is not actually part of the cold room, though the access to it is from the cold room. I knocked a section of the wall out that is exactly the size of the freezer. I put the freezer in to it, set back a bit, so the doors are almost flush with the trim. It's nice and tight so I shouldn't lose too much efficiency if any from this modification. There is unusable space behind the wall because the roof has a very steap pitch (this is in the upstairs of an old barn) So i figured I might as well make use of it by putting the fridge in it with access from the cold room.

I had a fridge in a small room once, and it would typically increase the room temp 5-10 degrees. Most certainly dont want that in the cold room.

Sounds like a plan. Just remember to vent the space the freezer is in too.
 
There is another active thread now out there regarding this exact system. BCS controlled, three conicals, etc etc. sorry I can't link it from my cell.
 
Back
Top