Fermenting for the first time in my old kegerator, now a fermentation chamber with a Ranco controller. Here is the issue I have. My garage is currently at between 70-74 degrees. The Belgian Pale ale is supposed to ferment at 68 degrees. Because of the top freezer the only way to maintain fermentation temp is to turn the unit off, as soon as I turn the interior thermostat on to even the lowest setting, the refrigerator drops down to 60 or less.
I'm trying to maintain a warmer temperature in the refrigerator, but not lose the freezing capacity as this is where I store my hops. One possible solution that came to mind is to use a heating pad, and shift the Ranco to heating mode and maintain the temperature in the refrigerator that way, but it seems a bit inefficient. In this particular case, I could probably just move my beer to a different location, but there has to be a simpler way to resolve things.
Thanks for the assist.
I'm trying to maintain a warmer temperature in the refrigerator, but not lose the freezing capacity as this is where I store my hops. One possible solution that came to mind is to use a heating pad, and shift the Ranco to heating mode and maintain the temperature in the refrigerator that way, but it seems a bit inefficient. In this particular case, I could probably just move my beer to a different location, but there has to be a simpler way to resolve things.
Thanks for the assist.