bergman1118
Well-Known Member
So, I recently became the owner of a ~5 cu. ft. mini upright freezer, and am looking to build a fermentation chamber as the cooling coils are actually the shelves themselves. I have a good idea of the work that would be required to do this (basically build an insulated box that attaches to the freezer opening, rig up the temperature controller, seal well), but I'm contemplating how I'm going to go about building the box / collar.
I've seen several fermentation chambers where people have built a box out of plywood and 2x4's and then lining with foam/insulation to maintain temps. Usually there is an air gap between the exterior of the box and the foam to provide extra insulation.
Long story short, my question is this - would it be totally inefficient to just build the foam box around the upright freezer? I know that the SOF chiller is constructed of just foam, so I know that it would work, but am I likely to lose a lot of cold air without building a wooden frame around the foam (and thus losing the air gap in between the walls)? Has anyone simply made a foam housing around a mini-fridge / freezer with good success? It would certainly cut out a lot of labor and some costs if it works.. but I don't want to run the crap out of the freezer if it's totally inefficient.
Thoughts?
I've seen several fermentation chambers where people have built a box out of plywood and 2x4's and then lining with foam/insulation to maintain temps. Usually there is an air gap between the exterior of the box and the foam to provide extra insulation.
Long story short, my question is this - would it be totally inefficient to just build the foam box around the upright freezer? I know that the SOF chiller is constructed of just foam, so I know that it would work, but am I likely to lose a lot of cold air without building a wooden frame around the foam (and thus losing the air gap in between the walls)? Has anyone simply made a foam housing around a mini-fridge / freezer with good success? It would certainly cut out a lot of labor and some costs if it works.. but I don't want to run the crap out of the freezer if it's totally inefficient.
Thoughts?