Fridge or Freezer

So for a lagering/kegging prospective which is better? I am thinking a freezer with temp controller as common sense says that the compressor might not run as much as on a fridge.

IndyMatt said:

So for a lagering/kegging prospective which is better? I am thinking a freezer with temp controller as common sense says that the compressor might not run as much as on a fridge.

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That's the way I look at it. Barely tap the power of the freezer or run a fridge half of the day.

BendBrewer said:

That's the way I look at it. Barely tap the power of the freezer or run a fridge half of the day.

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Ideally, they won't be running all that often, since they won't be opened and closed often and are well insulated.

I read in another post that a freezer may have moisture issues at temperatures above freezing, but I'm not really aware of what those may be.

Ideally, they won't be running all that often, since they won't be opened and closed often and are well insulated.

I read in another post that a freezer may have moisture issues at temperatures above freezing, but I'm not really aware of what those may be.

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Where you would normally get a build up of ice, you get slow condensation of water that drips to the bottom of the freezer. It can get pretty nasty if not cleaned up.

Damp-rid in the bottom of the freezer definately helps..

So does that tip the scales towards the fridge?

IMO, a freezer is the better choice. I get almost no condensation at all in my converted freezer. The key is to eliminate any air leaks. Even a very tiny air leak can cause condensation problems.

For me personally it wouldn't really matter... assuming the fridge you get can get very cold. I have seen refridgerators that on max are not below 45 degrees. But most should.

I would select based on what you will do with it. If you need the most floor space you will probably make out better with a chest freezer. If you are lagering or serving all the time you might like an upright because you may not have to temp control it and you have the bonus of a freezer on top

I have several of each and I much prefer the freezers over the fridges, mostly because they have much more usable space and they seem to be substantially more efficient as well.

If you look on craigslist you'll find free fridges all the time but I hardly ever find freezers. But it comes down to what you can get and how much space you have.

i got a fridge/freezer only cause it was $50 used, and needs no $100 dual-stage temp controller to run. i can put 6 kegs or 4 and 2 carboys inside also. eventually i may get a keezer setup but new they fetch $200 and up.

One thing I've wondered is whether or not you could setup a side by side fridge/freezer with a keg in the freezer and fermenter in fridge and be able to keep both at a desirable temperature. Suppose it all depends on how it works. If there's 2 compressors I see it as being doable, otherwise you'd probably have to settle for keeping the fridge part at a certain temp and settle for whatever temp you get from the freezer.

I think most if not all residential units are single compressor. They typically use shuttering and/or a fan to control the temp delta between zones.

Cool. So I guess it would be doable, though unreliable. A bit of fiddling could get decent results assuming the freezer would get at least cold enough with the warmer fermenter. Still, might be better to get independent devices.

Side thought...wonder if one could use something similar to a son of a fermentation chiller by placing a fan between the walls of a side-by-side and a thermostat...would be quite interesting. Have the freezer portion temp control the compressor and the fridge portion temp control the fan. If you used a robotic controller (arduino) instead of a thermostat you could have one with the relay for the compressor, a relay for the fan, and 2 thermistors for cheaper than 2 thermostats.

I looked at that about a year ago to create atwo zone ferm cellar. One zone for lagering and one zone for ferm. I detailed out the plans but ended up with a t-stat based desgn that was cheaper. BTW it's important to include a heating element in the warm zone depending on the environment. My system sits ouside and temp can drop too much.

I have a freezer as my kegerator right now. I hate lifting kegs and fermenters up into it.