Would this work for a fermentation chamber?

I live in Michigan and ferment in my basement (well, my beer does, anyway . Ambient temp is never too low but in summer is sometimes too high. I have used the ice-bath approach but want something more consistent. Keep in mind I would never need to cool more than 10 degrees or so below ambient, so not much load. I really don't want to do a big-time conversion on a large fridge. I have a mini-fridge - could I build an insulated box big enough to hold a fermentor (or two) that the front half of the mini-fridge would stick into with the door open and run it off one of those STC-1000 controllers?

You can do that. But that seems like a lot more work than getting a small chest freezer on Craigslist or on sale and then hooking up an STC-1000 controller.

Yes - numerous members have taken this approach.

Here is one example -
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/fermentation-chamber-build-mini-fridge-343800/

If you dig you will find countless others.

Thanks!!

you can definitely do this

A small window air conditioner would work too. You could get one at a pawn shop for less than $60

The air conditioner - I never thought of that. Do you know of any posts that used that approach? I wonder how the energy usage would compare. Thanks for that idea!!

I use one on the room i built in my garage. It is 4'x5'x5' tall and runs minimal. I don't really notice a change in my power bill, but i never really cared enough to look into it. My room is insulated with r-19 all the way around.
Ur basement is probably a lot cooler than my garage (can get up to 100f) so would run less in theory.

Here is a link to a build that is almost identical to what I use.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/my-fermentation-chamber-cold-white-north-style-455944/

Terek, thanks again! For what I want to do this seems like the way to go - I don't need to beat up a fridge or mess with a contoller or anything.

BigFloyd said:

Unless you're going to be fermenting more than 2 5-gallon batches at once, the used Craigslist fridge/freezer plugged into a controller outlet box with an STC-1000 still strikes me as the cheapest, easiest and most reliable way to accomplish this. Plus, it requires no modification at all to the fridge. Just plug it in and let the STC do its thing.

If you are just a bit patient, keep and eye on CL and are willing to negotiate, the full-size unit with controller outlet box can be done for under $100.

Click to expand...

This is a great idea for less brews. I built my room into my garage to never be removed and designed it for a growing home brewery. Made it big enough for 6-8 fermenters to go at a time, and a shelf for just as much in bottles for conditioning. I'm up to 3 fermenters going at one time, but in the years to come, that will grow. Were I live we have wild weather ( -20 at times in winter and easily over a hundred for most of the summer.) my window air conditioner is actually a heat pump, meaning it will run cooling, or it can run the refrigerant backwards and heat as well. It cost me about $400 new. (Hard to find a new one, let alone a used one)