Cold crashing in mini fridge - too much?

[Beer is good]

I set my switch to 33f for cold crashing my beer, and I hear my little mini fridge turning on and off every few minutes. Should I be using a freezer for this? Can it burn the fridge out or will it just burn up electricity?

It repeats a cycle of 3 minutes on, 5 minutes off.

 

[JMSetzler]

Once your wort temp gets down to 33 degrees, it will likely cycle a lot less.

 

[aspiffymofo]

Mini-fridges are horribly inefficient. Using about as much energy as a full sized one. Mine ran at 50% when I used it as a kegerator. I've since upgraded to a chest freezer. The duty cycle on that thing is way lower.
I say sell I on CL and use the $$ towards a chest freezer.

 

[Beer is good]

Once your wort temp gets down to 33 degrees, it will likely cycle a lot less.

Ah yes, that is true, I just changed it from 34 to 33, 1 degree slew. So the actual temperature will be 33-34. I am only doing this for about 30 more hours anyway. It is my first time cold crashing, the beer already looks a clearer since this morning!

 

[Beer is good]

Mini-fridges are horribly inefficient. Using about as much energy as a full sized one. Mine ran at 50% when I used it as a kegerator. I've since upgraded to a chest freezer. The duty cycle on that thing is way lower.
I say sell I on CL and use the $$ towards a chest freezer.

I will look around. The thing is I live in a small apartment so I am brewing 1 gallon batches at the moment. I also am not supposed to keep things on my balcony and there is not much room for a chest freezer, unless I can find one the size of a mini fridge. I guess I will look for one. Mini chest freezer

 

[aspiffymofo]

I took mine apart and stuffed the guts into a box I made with 2 layers of 2" rigid foam insulation(4" thick) Voila! Ugly (Efficient) ferm chamber!

*I do not recommend this.

 

[Beer is good]

I took mine apart and stuffed the guts into a box I made with 2 layers of 2" rigid foam insulation(4" thick) Voila! Ugly (Efficient) ferm chamber!

*I do not recommend this.

Hmm... now I am getting some ideas! The guts of a mini fridge are pretty simple. The decompression lines just go through the little square inside... How well does this insulate? Much better than the mini fridge did? I got my mini fridge for $35 so destroying it would not upset me too much.

How well does yours hold temperature compared to the fridge? Time wise, I suppose. I don't know how else to describe how well a box is insulated.

 

[aspiffymofo]

...so I am brewing 1 gallon batches at the moment.

I would think that you could cold crash in your regular refrigerator. It should be in the low 40's. The only thing is it might take a lot longer. Your beer should even drop clear at room temp if left undisturbed for long enough.

One question though, are you bottle carbing?

 

[Beer is good]

I would think that you could cold crash in your regular refrigerator. It should be in the low 40's. The only thing is it might take a lot longer. Your beer should even drop clear at room temp if left undisturbed for long enough.

One question though, are you bottle carbing?

My fridge is set at 40, if I can force the mini to 33 I figure I might as well.

I am bottle carbing yep

 

[aspiffymofo]

The duty cycle is pretty low now, like 1/4 of before but...
1. I don't think I saved any $$.
2. It's big an bulky (like a 3cf chest freezer)
3. It's an eyesore.(but I hide it in the basement.)
4. It was a big mess deconstructing the thing.

Doesn't the carbing process kick up some sediment anyway?
Anyway, if you're not running the fridge constantly, it's probably fine. But the kicking on and off so much makes me think it might burn out soon.

 

[Beer is good]

The duty cycle is pretty low now, like 1/4 of before but...
1. I don't think I saved any $$.
2. It's big an bulky (like a 3cf chest freezer)
3. It's an eyesore.(but I hide it in the basement.)
4. It was a big mess deconstructing the thing.

Doesn't the carbing process kick up some sediment anyway?
Anyway, if you're not running the fridge constantly, it's probably fine. But the kicking on and off so much makes me think it might burn out soon.

Sounds like it is not worth it, in my case. I don't think my mini fridge is going to cost me an amazing amount of money to ferment my beer, and I have nowhere to hide a giant ugly cube made out of insulating foam. When I move into a house I will just buy a chest freezer.