Another Fermentation Chamber Build

To start off I live in Phoenix Az, that means temperature control will be paramount. so i decided that if i want to be successful i need to build a fermentation chamber before my first brew.

i have a few more hours to go but this should pave the way for success. I have a temp controller already to wire in.


thanks to all the great support on here.

I Highly suggest throwing some wheels/casters on there!

Oh I am! Just stopped for the day before I got to them. I wanted it square am assembled before it was on wheels. That way it was solid and built well. No chasing it around.

Will you be framing in the whole fridge into the chamber or just the front portion of the fridge?

Just a thought, if you enclose the whole fridge the heat from the back might make the fridge run more than it needs to. Im making plans for mine and I was going to enclose the whole thing until a friend said I shouldn't.

h22lude said:

Will you be framing in the whole fridge into the chamber or just the front portion of the fridge?

Just a thought, if you enclose the whole fridge the heat from the back might make the fridge run more than it needs to. Im making plans for mine and I was going to enclose the whole thing until a friend said I shouldn't.

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This is a good question. It would be prudent to find out where the condenser coils are located. Most of the mini-fridges that I have seen have the coils located in the exterior side walls. You would want to avoid covering or insulating the side walls if that's the case. You can easily detect the heat radiating from the coils when it's operating.

You could still enclose the whole thing as long as you build in some fans. I think my future Bar will be built this way.

Tinga said:

You could still enclose the whole thing as long as you build in some fans. I think my future Bar will be built this way.

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Yes, the fans would be an excellent solution. A couple of small computer fans would probably work just fine for this.

i will be putting in venting on the three sides of the fridge, insulating everything in front of it and sheeting the whole thing in plywood. the top will get a nice thick mahogany plywood and when it is working properly stain trim etc.

most important is to get it working first pretty second.

Where do you live in Phoenix? I'm down in Chandler. Got a minifridge I'm going to convert later this year. Mine gets very hot around the the sides. I guess people enclose the whole thing for looks? I don't know if the venting+fan will be as effective as open sides, could be more who knows.

aomagman78 said:

Where do you live in Phoenix? I'm down in Chandler. Got a minifridge I'm going to convert later this year. Mine gets very hot around the the sides. I guess people enclose the whole thing for looks? I don't know if the venting+fan will be as effective as open sides, could be more who knows.

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I would think one fan moving air in and one fan moving air out would almost be more effective than just the natural air current.

I am going to use large A/C vent covers 10x14 so it should perform as if nothing is covering it.

I used good old compression to hold the fridge into the frame. Just filled the gaps with scrap wood and shimmed them till tight. It is rock solid!

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This is all a bit "suck & see" in approach IMHO.
I guess the concept is to use a fridge to refrigerate a much larger insulated space.
I just can't see how this makes any sense, the thermal load will surely be too great for the refrigeration/coil/compressor - after all this was matched by the manufacturer for the original (smaller) fridge.
Maybe I have missed something?

peterlonz said:

This is all a bit "suck & see" in approach IMHO ...
Maybe I have missed something?

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What do you mean by "suck & see"? The fridge is designed to run at much lower temps than a ferm chamber; should be able to cool the remaining space to ferm temps. Plus a billion other people have done the same with good success. I, personally, use a temp-controlled freezer for a fermentation chamber, but see no problem with this approach.

This looks awesome. What are your materials costs? Or are you using materials that you happened to have on hand?

peterlonz - DutchOven is right. With significant insulation used in the chamber, and a higher temperature (smaller delta T), the load on the fridge is not significantly increased, if at all. And many others have used this approach with success.

peterlonz said:

This is all a bit "suck & see" in approach IMHO.

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Maybe you should browse the forum a bit before throwing an opinion out there like that. i spent a lot of time looking at other designs on here and read there testimony as to the success of there ideas

I have it enclosed and insulated. I foamed all the gaps and am taping over them with HVAC tape. This thing should be very insulated by the time it is all said and done.

Once i have it running and maintaining temp i will trim it and paint it.

I also got my brew stand built today so i have a nice workplace to brew.

Nice build you've got there.

On your build do you have a problem with the foil tape slowly unsticking itself from the insulation? I had mine taped up and all of the tape eventually peeled loose.

not so far but it has only been taped for a few hours!. its pretty sticky stuff so i don't think it will but if it does i will go over it with something else. main thing is to prevent air movement. hell i will clear packaging tape over it if i have too.

I wound up caulking mine, but I would like to seal some other areas up for expansion later down the road. My insulation was not silver like yours it was this very slick pink stuff. The foil stuck to the wood but not it. Oh well

This is probably a stupid question but are you going to keep your fermentation chamber in your garage? If so, any worries about the fridge working too hard to keep a proper temperature? I only ask because I am in AZ as well (Chandler) and have been considering building a fermentation chamber but the only place I would be able to keep it is in the garage. Garage temps in the summer are ridiculous.

My garage faces north so the temps aren't as bad. But yes that is where it will be.

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I'm with you hophead, my garage got 130+ some days. When/If I build mine it'll be on the backporch which stays much cooler. Which will be convenient when it doubles as a prep station when brewing. Nice looking build kickr.