Another Fermentation Chamber Build

Thanks to many other threads on this forum, I have built the following fermentation chamber.

Here you see the old dorm fridge I am encasing with a 2x4 frame.



I bought 2-inch insulation board as the walls of the chamber.

The floor of the chamber was actually a cut-out piece of the wall from my sunroom when I installed an Airconditioner/heater window unit years ago.

I had some dark-finished plywood salvaged from an old kitchen we replaced years ago. I am using that for the front of the fermentation chamber.



Here you can see the amount of space inside! To operate the dorm fridge, I am using the Ebay Temperature controller which is popular in other threads! I will be hooking up an empty paint can with a light bulb inside to use as the heating element. I also have a computer fan running inside to circulate the air.



The chamber is mounted on some old casters I had. In this picture, you see how I have rolled it under the workbench in my garage!

Looks good. Do small dorm fridges generally have enough power to cool an area that large?

I gutted a small dorm fridge but built the compressor into this and it works fine.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/not-another-fermentation-chamber-project-274494/

evandena said:

Looks good. Do small dorm fridges generally have enough power to cool an area that large?

Click to expand...

I'm going to find out. I made sure to get the 2-inch insulation board, which is pretty thick.

I have tested that it drops and hold the air temperature to 35°F degrees, but my garage has been in the high 60s.

Last night I placed a glass carboy secondary in there fermenting an Abby Dubbel. The recipe calls for lagering it at 40°F degrees for 1-2 weeks after the first 10 days in the primary.

So, I punched up 4°C (40°F) on the temp controller and taped the temp probe to the carboy. The wort temperature was at about 68°F when I put it in. To quicken the chilling process I inserted a 12-pack of frozen water bottles overnight.

This morning, the temp controller read 4°C. If it's holding temperatures, it should still be at 4°C when I get home from work this afternoon!

However, I may have to find a way to keep my garage cool in the summer!

dbarrm said:

I gutted a small dorm fridge but built the compressor into this and it works fine.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/not-another-fermentation-chamber-project-274494/

Click to expand...

Yes, I studied your thread before building mine. Thanks!

I just didn't want to attempt gutting my fridge. I will be able to utilize the fridge the way it is. The shelf comes in handy!

I got home and the controller was reading 4°C!