Do you run your tower chiller constantly?

[J2W2]

Hi,

I recently built a tower chiller for my kegerator and I'm wondering if most people run theirs all the time or only when they'll be drinking beer?

The reason I ask is because, much as I'd like to say otherwise, my beer drinking is pretty much reserved for the weekends. Since the tap tower is pretty much a heat sink, pulling the cold out of my kegerator in this case, it seems like a waste to have it cooled all the time.

I have some basic home automation (the old X-10 modules if anyone is familiar with those) that would easily allow me to only run the chiller during certain hours on certain days of the week. Does anyone see any downside to that?

Thanks for your input!

 

[tyzippers]

What type of chiller did you use? Maybe you might think about insulating the tower. I'm not sure you would want the temperature in your beer line to fluctuate too much.

 

[cosmatics]

Yeah thats the only negative to me, is the beer line will get warm, cold, warm, cold. Its only a few ounces, so as long as your kegs are always kept cold, I don't see to big an issue. But beer will be wasted.... lol.

 

[day_trippr]

I use a 40mm peecee fan running from the same 12V wall wart that powers the 120mm stirring fan and the 80mm fan that drives air into the Eva-Dry. They do their respective jobs full time and I'm fine with it...

Cheers!

 

[tyzippers]

Any thoughts about lining the tower with some insulation to reduce the amount of heat lost through the tower?

 

[day_trippr]

Most towers come lined. Mine came with a 1/4" thick neoprene liner sleeve up the column, and the inside of the tee box is lined with inch thick foam on all 6 sides...

Cheers!

 

[Adrenaline-Junkie]

Yeah, most towers ive seen come insulated. Mine is and i do not run my fan constantly.

 

[woodstone]

I use a PC fan in a small project box sucking cold air at the bottom of my fridge and discharging it up in the tower via tubing.

I use the existing foam insulation that came with the tower but also added additional aluminum faced insulation.

If there is a keg in the fridge, the fan is running!

My $0.02.