A conical is on my Christmas list. I am looking for feedback on which would be your preferred setup; conical in a ferm chamber OR a jacketed conical.
I was leaning toward the jacketed. I have already built a chiller out of an old Elkay drinking fountain that was being discarded at my office. I added an STC-1000 temp controller & use a submersible pump to circulate the water bath for my buckets and carboys. It effectively can maintain temp down to 40F. If I was to use in on a conical I would replace the submersible with a diaphragm pump in a closed loop ie no reservoir. As far as I can see, the only downside with that setup there is only cooling capacity. No way to heat. My brew room is in the basement. Temperature can drop to 64F in winter months. I guess I could through a space heating in there. Cost $1450 plus diaphragm pump
Then I got to thinking that I may get more utility from a freezer. Not only could I cool, but could heat if necessary. Additionally, I could remove the conical when not in use & use the freezer for lagering or use it to cure salumi. Conical is more economical at $950 + fridge (hopefully off craiglist).
Questions, suggestions, comments?
I was leaning toward the jacketed. I have already built a chiller out of an old Elkay drinking fountain that was being discarded at my office. I added an STC-1000 temp controller & use a submersible pump to circulate the water bath for my buckets and carboys. It effectively can maintain temp down to 40F. If I was to use in on a conical I would replace the submersible with a diaphragm pump in a closed loop ie no reservoir. As far as I can see, the only downside with that setup there is only cooling capacity. No way to heat. My brew room is in the basement. Temperature can drop to 64F in winter months. I guess I could through a space heating in there. Cost $1450 plus diaphragm pump
Then I got to thinking that I may get more utility from a freezer. Not only could I cool, but could heat if necessary. Additionally, I could remove the conical when not in use & use the freezer for lagering or use it to cure salumi. Conical is more economical at $950 + fridge (hopefully off craiglist).
Questions, suggestions, comments?