Mini-fermentation chamber

So living in Austin makes it difficult to brew in the spring/summer, especially living in an apartment. I am looking for a mini fridge of sorts that would fit a 5 gal bucket/ or 5 gal carboy. Most of the ones I come across have some sort of space restriction one way or another. Has anyone found a mini fridge that was easy to convert into a fermentation chamber? I'm willing to spend around $200.

I have seen a DIY chamber made from a mini fridge where the door is kept opened and 2" rigid foam is used to made a large chamber from the open fridge...it looked like it wouldn't be too involved to build.

Check at your local rent a center. They have repo stuff there that you can buy cheap. I bought a year old fridge there for150 and bought the Johnson control unit. I spent about 225 total. It fits three buckets inside and I can brew everything.

I saw a small I think like 3.5 cu ft freezer at target. It was small but looked like a carboy would fit inside. i would take measurements before buying to make sure it would fit. Would be good for an apartment.

thanks for the quick responses everyone, i was hoping not to buy a full size if possible. i found a neat little DIY guide i might try if i cant find something else (https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/my-diy-fermentation-chamber-244512/)

zapbryann said:

thanks for the quick responses everyone, i was hoping not to buy a full size if possible. i found a neat little DIY guide i might try if i cant find something else (https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/my-diy-fermentation-chamber-244512/)

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Yeah. Mines like that but holds about 6 carboys. Went a little overboard. For $200, why not get a small maybe 5 cuft chest freezer and temp controller. You can hide it in a corner with a table clothe and stick a plant on it and some family photos.

i modified a sanyo mini fridge to fit 1 bucket, it was $50 on craigslist - i had to *carefully* bend the freezer section and then cut out the door tray molding to get it to fit but it works like a charm now

there are some sanyo models (4912?) that don't have a freezer section

if you do take measurements make sure you account for the airlock/blowoff tube

terrapinj said:

i modified a sanyo mini fridge to fit 1 bucket, it was $50 on craigslist - i had to *carefully* bend the freezer section and then cut out the door tray molding to get it to fit but it works like a charm now

there are some sanyo models (4912?) that don't have a freezer section

if you do take measurements make sure you account for the airlock/blowoff tube

Click to expand...

What do you make in it? My friend has one and we measured the highest temp just over 47°.