Fridge VS Freezer

Ive been told by a local appliance repair shop that for temperatures of 50F and up its better to use a fridge as the temperature is outside the zone that a freezer is designed for (freezing and below). Has anyone using a freezer fir temps around 50 experienced any problems ?

Bru said:

Ive been told by a local appliance repair shop that for temperatures of 50F and up its better to use a fridge as the temperature is outside the zone that a freezer is designed for (freezing and below).

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They're referring to the range of the internal thermostat.

If you install an aftermarket temperature controller (Love, Johnson, Ranco, etc.), it makes no difference. In fact, depending on the design, the freezer will likely be more efficient at refrigerator temperatures due to the thicker wall insulation.

A freezer is a better choice and I've had zero problems with mine running at the warmer settings. The compressor does not run as often as if it were maintaining sub-zero temps, so it's not working as hard. IMO, the freezer is inherently more efficient for a number of reasons.

When it comes down to both, you'll see the most efficiency when you have it full to compacity and everything cooled down.

+1 on the keezer. As Catt22 mentioned, freezers work far less to maintain the temperatures you're going to want for serving different types of beer. Plus, hot air rises, so when you lift open the lid, most of the cold air will stay where it is. (There's an eco-friendly movement to use chest freezers as refrigerators because of their comparative efficiency.)

Here's mine with a Love TSD-10110 that I found on ebay. It was a little tricky to wire and program, but well worth it compared to my kegerator, which was running constantly.

I have two freezers, and they work great. However, a fridge will have less condensation inside at those temps, as it is designed to cool in that range. A freezer will have a lot more water collecting inside, which can lead to mold. It's not a huge deal. Some guys use a bucket of moisture absorbing crystals. I just wipe mine out with a towel every few days.

I use a shop vac now and then to suck up any condensation from the bottom of the freezer. No mold problems so far, but beer does inevitably get spilled and the condensation accumulates if the humidity is high as it has been recently. Minor issue though.

I've got chest freezer fermentation chambers at 68 deg with no problems. Mine are in the garage so I can also pull the drain and hose them out as part of my mold-reduction program. Chest freezers are also more efficient than fridges because the cold air settles in the chamber and stays there when you open the door...

Cool thanks - freezer it is then.