Bart's Fermentation Chamber / Brew Shed - Work in Progress

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Bartp

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Jun 25, 2008
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Morgan Hill
Just want to share the project I'm working on.

I decided to move my fermentation outside. I live in a small condo so room is at a premium. Plus my wife’s desired ambient temperature is slightly too warm for proper fermentation ;) . However i do have a shed outside which I want to utilize as a Brew Shed. The shed was not very well insulated, and it does get a little cold out there every once in a while. I live in northern California, so it does not get that bad luckily, about 40 at worst inside the shed.

So here’s my shed before. (or after major cleanup)

IMG_0423.jpg


And here is after.

IMG_0428.jpg


I insulated the wall facing outside with wall insulation (Free), and then covered the walls with ThermaWrap, which I also scored for free.

As for the chamber I’m using a Uline 75wc Wine Chiller. Which is not only very stylish, but perfect size to fit a bucket with an airlock. I scored this one on craigslist for whopping $25. Chiller is designed to run at 45-55 degrees. So with a proper temp controller it should good enough for Ales, and some lagers.

For temperature controller I’m using Lux win100 thermostat. It’s a thermostat controlled outlet - http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000E7NYY8/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20 it has a short probe, but I’m going to extend it with some soldering job and bring it inside the fridge. It is Much cheaper than one stage Ranco, and basically does the same thing.

For heating I originally purchased a heating pad from CVS. It’s one without a two hour auto shut off, so it would be perfect. But after some additional thought I don’t think I can 100% trust a device that was not intended to be used unsupervised, so I’m thinking I’ll be returning it for a peace of mind. Right now I’m thinking of getting a FermWrap and sticking it on the fridge wall. The FermWrap is only 40 watts. But with this small of a chamber, bringing up the temperature by 30 degrees (in worst case scenario) should only require 28 watts according to my calculations, so I should be more then fine.

So far this has cost me little less than $100 with all parts included. And I’m happy with the outcome. I’ll report back when I fire it up and properly test the temperatures. Hopefully I’ll be using it to brew some Amarillo PA in next few days.

What do you guys think so far? Do you see any concerns you might want to voice with this set up, I much appreciate any constructive criticism or tips!

:mug:
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I like the price on that temp controller but, you're right, that probe is really short.
 
yup. I've read about few people on here that extended the probe with no ill effects. So I'm planning to do the same :) we'll see how it goes. Good thing with this is that if the probe does go off calibration, I can calibrate it back, as there is an +/-5 degree calibration adjustment.
 
Yeah, I'm going to keep on eye on this thread. It looks very promising for building anything larger that needs temp control, wine cellar, fermentation "shed", storage, etc.
 
I got around to do some more work over the weekend.

I extended the temperature probe by a foot using a high gauge speaker wire. Which was a fairly easy task. Then I compared the temperature with three other thermometers that I had around the house (digital and analog) and it seems that the extensions did not affect the accuracy of the probe at all. So if anyone is worried about this, then no dont be.

IMG_0445.jpg


I also went to Radio Shack and got a thermometer with a probe that reads inside temperature, outside temperature, and humidity. It also records the minimum and maximum temperature, so it’s great for testing the temperature swings within the chamber (or in my case the fridge). The thermometer sits inside of the fridge, I drilled a hole on the top of the fridge for the thermometer probe to extend outside. So I can also monitor the outside temperature as well. Through the same hole I dropped the thermostat probe.

Then I added the heating pad at the bottom of the fridge and let it run to see how fast it would heat up the fridge. The thermometer registered 52 degrees when I started. However with the heating pad turned to medium it took quite a while to reach 69 degrees (the temperature I set the thermostat to hold). And it seems that the pad ran most of the time to sustain the temperature. Although it is 50 watt heater, I think that most of the energy was wasted heating up the floor of the fridge then the ambient air temperature inside – Plus it takes almost 20 minutes for the pad to fully heat up. I was not happy with the setup after few hours, so I stack a clamp lamp with a 40 watt bulb inside instead and connected that to the thermostat.

The lamp seems to work way better. It heated up the fridge within minutes and then it would turn itself off just as needed. I let it to run overnight, and checked the temperature records in the morning. It showed that minimum temperature was 66.8 degrees and max temperature was 69.1 degrees. Right on the money especially since I set the thermostat on a +/- 2 degree temperature swing. The lowest temperature in the shed was registered at 47 degrees.

One problem that I noticed is that the temperature would vary by about 3-4 degrees between the top and the bottom of the fridge. So today I’m planning to put in a 120mm 12v computer fan inside to circulate the air. That should balance out the air inside. So far I’m really happy with the setup.

I’ll try to take more pictures of it today or tomorrow.
 
I got around to do some more work over the weekend.

I extended the temperature probe by a foot using a high gauge speaker wire. Which was a fairly easy task. Then I compared the temperature with three other thermometers that I had around the house (digital and analog) and it seems that the extensions did not affect the accuracy of the probe at all. So if anyone is worried about this, then no dont be.

IMG_0445.jpg


I also went to Radio Shack and got a thermometer with a probe that reads inside temperature, outside temperature, and humidity. It also records the minimum and maximum temperature, so it’s great for testing the temperature swings within the chamber (or in my case the fridge). The thermometer sits inside of the fridge, I drilled a hole on the top of the fridge for the thermometer probe to extend outside. So I can also monitor the outside temperature as well. Through the same hole I dropped the thermostat probe.

Then I added the heating pad at the bottom of the fridge and let it run to see how fast it would heat up the fridge. The thermometer registered 52 degrees when I started. However with the heating pad turned to medium it took quite a while to reach 69 degrees (the temperature I set the thermostat to hold). And it seems that the pad ran most of the time to sustain the temperature. Although it is 50 watt heater, I think that most of the energy was wasted heating up the floor of the fridge then the ambient air temperature inside – Plus it takes almost 20 minutes for the pad to fully heat up. I was not happy with the setup after few hours, so I stack a clamp lamp with a 40 watt bulb inside instead and connected that to the thermostat.

The lamp seems to work way better. It heated up the fridge within minutes and then it would turn itself off just as needed. I let it to run overnight, and checked the temperature records in the morning. It showed that minimum temperature was 66.8 degrees and max temperature was 69.1 degrees. Right on the money especially since I set the thermostat on a +/- 2 degree temperature swing. The lowest temperature in the shed was registered at 47 degrees.

One problem that I noticed is that the temperature would vary by about 3-4 degrees between the top and the bottom of the fridge. So today I’m planning to put in a 120mm 12v computer fan inside to circulate the air. That should balance out the air inside. So far I’m really happy with the setup.

I’ll try to take more pictures of it today or tomorrow.

I'm not handy with modifying electronics. I have some speaker wire handy. Could I just cut the rubber on the probe, then twist the speaker wire to it and wrap it tightly with electrical tape?
 
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