Combination Keezer and Fermentation Chamber

[jasonclick]

I've been thinking about this project for a while and thought I would throw it out here to see if it's feasible or if anyone else has attempted it.

Basically what I'm trying to accomplish is to save some space in my garage and save on my electrical bill with one appliance.

Currently I have a commercial kegerator. I bought this cheap off of craigslist and thought I would get more use out of it than I do. What I've found is the lines are a pain to keep clean and the tap get's sticky if I don't use it often enough. What I've been doing is keeping my kegs in it and using one of the picnic taps. I've also got a converted chest freezer with a temp control to serve as my fermentation chamber.

Here's my idea... Sell the kegerator #1. Then convert the freezer into a keezer with the addition of a collar to extend the lid up... not to add taps but to put a fan on one side to blow cold air into a fermentation chamber I'll build onto the side of the freezer.... similar to some of the chambers here on this forum. I will put a temp control on the fan and block it off when it's not used. That way I can keep the freezer at a colder steady temp to keep my kegs cold and then use some of the cold air to cool down a fermentation chamber box on the side of the freezer when I'm fermenting. Is this idea feasible? I'd rather not go through the effort if I'm totally missing something somewhere.

Thanks.

 

[Grossy]

This is an idea that I am pursuing as well.

Here are some links that I have researched:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/fermkeezer-357170/index3.html

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/new-life-dead-freezer-308336/

 

[JFK]

This is possible but you are going to have a few issues to overcome. 1st is external temperature around the ferm chamber you are going to build. solution make sure it is insulated extremely well. problem two will be a proper transfer of enough cold air to keep the temp as low as you want it. The induction from a computer fan may not move enough air. The sub issue with this is heat rises and cold drops. If you put the fan on the collar of the keezer you will be transferring the warmest air in the keezer to the ferm chamber. This will still be colder but not the coldest. Possible solution if you know where the lines are through the side of the keezer you could port the fan in the side at the bottom and port that fan up to the top of the ferm chanber to get the most efficient transfer of cold air. (risky I know because if you pop one line the whole thing is ruined). The other issue I can perceive is without enough air transfer the controller will keep your side fan on all the time costing more electricity and also forcing the keezer controller to kick in more often. Maybe if you ran several fans side by side to up the airflow.. also I just thought about the possibility of running a tube inside the keezer from the bottom up to the top of the collar so you are pulling air from the bottom on the keezer to the fans without having to drill into your side wall. This could actually work really well but you would lose some space inside the keezer to this method but this last idea is what I would use. I am building a keezer that doubles as a ferm chamber and tap system it uses multiple controllers and has separate chambers inside it that I am making and insulating.

 

[bmurrs]

Buy perlick faucets for your kegerator and use the freezer for fermentation. I had the same issue with my danby kegerator till I put perlicks on it. Now I can go months without the taps sticking