Thermoelectric Wine Fridge as a Fermentation Chamber?

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No_Nrg

No_Nrg

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Anybody have experience with using a un-modded wine fridge as a fermentation chamber for temp control?

Would I be safe to pull all the shelfs out and throw a 3 gallon carboy in there at 66 degrees (for ale) assuming it fit? Would the fridge be able to keep up?
 
Although the chamber could theoretically get down to 66 degrees, it almost certainly won't be able to keep up with the thermal mass of the carboy, especially as the yeast put off heat. If you are sure you want to try this though, I would suggest putting an ice pack or two in there if the fridge is big enough that you could tape them to the walls without touching the carboy. If you try this I would be interested in hearing your results, as I have seen several people post about this, but I don't think anyone has really tried yet since it is much less efficient than a vapor compression cycle. This low efficiency will also result in a higher electric bill, just so you know, if that matters to you.
 
out of curiosity why wouldn't it be able to keep up with a 3 gallon carboy? Mine can cool 50 bottles of wine into the 50's

I guess it would depend on the size of it maybe?
 
It's not a question of if it can eventually get down to those temps, but the added thermal mass makes it take that much longer to cool everything down. Since most off flavors are produced within the first few days, and possibly 24 hours, the wort might not reach proper temps or spike out of control at high krausen.

I would still be interested in hearing back from someone's experience if they have actually tried this, especially with a 1 or 3 gallon batch, which would be more practical than a 5 gallon.
 
I would be doing 2.5 gallon batches.

My theory is: I would already have the fridge plugged in and settled at around 64-66 degrees and cool my wort to a pitch temp of a bit lower like 62. That should give it a good starting point.

The only concern I have is, will the thermoelectric cooling method be able to keep up with the additional 7-10 degrees initial fermentation warms during the first few days?

Also like mentioned above, will this cause it to eat kilowatts and kill my electric bill?

As long as I keep the ferm below 68 degrees I'm happy. Just hard to make a $200 investment only to realize it doesn't work. Guess I could return it to Amazon after trying it out. :D
 
Seeing as how this is essentially just an insulated box, you could use it as a son of fermentation chamber, using a couple ziploc bags of ice at the minimum placed around the sides, and keep the fridge plugged in during the first day or two of fermentation.

If you are looking to buy this, and you don't already have one sitting around, I would definitely suggest going for a normal mini fridge. Probably cheaper new, and you can typically find them on craigslist in your area for much less. I got mine off the curb when college kids were moving out last month. Not a scratch on it! (okay, maybe a slight exaggeration) Are you more limited by space that you want one of these thermoelectric fridges? If so, why not try putting yout carboy in your brew kettle, and fill it with ice? That is, assuming that your kettle is big enough to fit the 3 gallon carboy. I've never seen one in person, but my 6 gallon BB's can just about fit in my 5 gallon kettle.
 
Jakor said:
Seeing as how this is essentially just an insulated box, you could use it as a son of fermentation chamber, using a couple ziploc bags of ice at the minimum placed around the sides, and keep the fridge plugged in during the first day or two of fermentation.

If you are looking to buy this, and you don't already have one sitting around, I would definitely suggest going for a normal mini fridge. Probably cheaper new, and you can typically find them on craigslist in your area for much less. I got mine off the curb when college kids were moving out last month. Not a scratch on it! (okay, maybe a slight exaggeration) Are you more limited by space that you want one of these thermoelectric fridges? If so, why not try putting yout carboy in your brew kettle, and fill it with ice? That is, assuming that your kettle is big enough to fit the 3 gallon carboy. I've never seen one in person, but my 6 gallon BB's can just about fit in my 5 gallon kettle.
Click to expand...

The main reason was the ability of finer digital temp control in the 60-70 degree range that a thermoelectric provides un-modded. Un-modded most fridges only allow temps into the 40's at a high end. Might still be cheaper to buy a used fridge and mod the temp control.....

I was just thinking of a hypothetical solution for the warm summer months.

But as they say, "Winter is coming."
 
If you are not looking to do any modifications yourself, Inkbird recently released the ITC-308 with 2 relays, meaning you can both heat and cool, which the heating may be important if your house gets cold during the winter, for only $40: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B011296704/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

This plus a mini fridge would put you at less than the $200 mark you mentioned for a thermoelectric (I.E. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GDPSOI6/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20).

This setup would save you money both short term and long term since it's more efficient, and it would give you the ability to cold crash/lager and ferment more than 1 batch at a time.

But like you said, winter usually makes temp control significantly easier.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Jakor said:
If you are not looking to do any modifications yourself, Inkbird recently released the ITC-308 with 2 relays, meaning you can both heat and cool, which the heating may be important if your house gets cold during the winter, for only $40: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B011296704/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

This plus a mini fridge would put you at less than the $200 mark you mentioned for a thermoelectric (I.E. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GDPSOI6/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20).

This setup would save you money both short term and long term since it's more efficient, and it would give you the ability to cold crash/lager and ferment more than 1 batch at a time.

But like you said, winter usually makes temp control significantly easier.
Click to expand...

Hey, thanks for this, that seems like a good solution. Easy setup it seems too.

So you just plug the fridge into the cooling relay and it cycles the power on and off according to temp readings I take it?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Yes, it is about the cheapest set it and forget it solution for dual relay. Just plug the controller into the wall, the fridge into the "Cooling" plug on the controller (It will be labeled), and if you use a heater, plug that into the "heating" plug. Finally, feed the temperature sensor in the fridge through the door and set the temp you want. These controllers are typically much more accurate and precise than the stock controllers they put in there.

If you get it, make sure you get the one I linked (It's 110V). There is a similar one on amazon that is 220V, which is for european countries.
 

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