The ultimate heat exchanger????

[Jeff_H]

Hey all...

I've gotten both sideways looks and open eyed gapes of wonderment from my "controversial" technique but hey....it works, so I figured if it could do anyone else some good, it might be worth throwing out there....

I use my swimming pool to cool my wort.

I live in FL and have an inground pool (about 12,000 gallons) in my back yard. After the boil, I turn on the pool pump and put my brew kettle directly in the path of one of the returns while I hold it and stir...I go from boil to pool water temp...about 84 degrees right now in the heat of summer...in about 8 minutes.

Obviously, it requires care so as not to dump the contents of the kettle in the pool but the water volume and flow makes for serious heat transfer....

 

[Acidjazz54]

I will say it's a little crazy but being from the pool industry I'm a little biased. I think froma thermodynamics standpoint it makes perfect sense (huge body of water and lower temperature). I would suggest that you take a return fitting and modify it so it runs through a counterflow chiller or immersion chiller and (shameless plug) purchase a Pentair Heat/Cool heat pump to get the temp in the pool down even more ;-)

Seriously though, let it rock.

 

[LabRatBrewer]

Passedpawn has a great video of this. My computer is acting up, but I believe this in the link:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/video/how-not-to-brew-chapter-3-the-chill-563.html

 

[LabRatBrewer]

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/how-not-brew-chapter-3-chill-341182/index2.html

heres a thread on it.

 

[Cyclman]

In the winter, I use snow, similar idea.