Fermentation chamber question. Fridge or mini?

Ok, so I have a mini fridge. It's pretty clean, looks good. I was gonna make it a fermentation chamber. I figure it's gonna cost me about $60 in material to make the chamber. $20 for plywood, $20 for insulation, and extras (screws, caulk, foil, etc......
But there's some deals on Craigslist for a reg fridge for $75. I figured I wouldn't have to mess with any building or making a mess. And I could sell my mini fridge for $40. This would make my ferm fridge only $35 instead of $60 and the hassle of building the ferm chamber.

My question is, does the freezer stay a freezer? Or does my temp control make both areas the same temp?

Good idea or bad?

It is certainly possible to convert a fridge/freezer into a ferm chamber, but there is WAY more to it, and no, you would either need to control them separately or cut out the area separating the fridge from the freezer. If you could find a stand alone freezer for about the same price then your argument is valid. Add a temp controller, drill small hole for temp probe, plug it in, done.

I use a refrigerator plugged into a temperature controller for my fermentation chamber. I don't use the freezer in it because most of the time the fridge is turned off. But we have plenty of freezer space elsewhere and don't need it. It was simple to set up, works well and can easily hold two carboys.

If I recall, most fridges are cooled from the cold air in the freezer. So your freezer would no longer be frozen.

ThreeSheetsBrewing said:

If I recall, most fridges are cooled from the cold air in the freezer. So your freezer would no longer be frozen.

Click to expand...

Correct. Also the process would be super inefficient at best. You CAN wire a controller in place of the onboard thermostat, that would allow you to maintain a freezer section, it's just more involved than a "plug and play" controller.

I already have a plug and play. I'm looking into a chest freezer. Can't wait to have to pull carboys in and out of that though....