Cooling wine closet with a chest freezer?

[PhilipLoyd]

I brew beer and have a three tap kegerator! I am currently building a wine closet and putting the three taps into it. My plan is to put a 7 cubic foot chest freezer behind the back wall for my kegs. My hope is to duct the freezer to the closet and with a small inline fan to cool the closet. The closet is 9 x 3.5x 8, mostly filled with cabinets. I will use a Johnson temperature controller with probe in wine closet to control the freezer. Fan will run continuously. I need 55 degrees in the closet and hopefully maintain 40-50 degrees in the freezer. The closet has been line with a thin layer Styrofoam and the doors will be sealed. Keg lines will be ran through 1" pvc to keep them cool. Any thoughts on if this will work.

 

[ancientmariner52]

I'm not a refrigeration expert, but here goes. You plan to take a freezer, designed to keep 7 cu ft of food at near zero F, with heavy insulation and minimum air circulation, and use it to cool 252 cu ft of air, with minimal insulation?

I'm not trying to be a jerk here, although it probably sounds like it. Have you considered a window air conditioner? The old analog types work well with the Johnson Controls thermostat without modification. The modern digital types are trickier, because they don't restart when power is interupted and restored. There are ways around this, although I can't recall where I saw them. Probably in the DIY forums here on HBT.

That's a beautiful closet and I hope you make this work. I just don't believe a freezer is the right tool for the job. Good luck!

 

[ancientmariner52]

Google 'Cool Bot'. Turns a window a.c. into cooling plant for walk in refrigerator.

 

[day_trippr]

I agree given the extreme volume and minimal insulation the plan as stated is utterly doomed.
(If that makes me a jerk, I'm okay with it )

A room AC unit is the only practical way to go wrt keeping the wine closet at temperature.
The keezer can do its thing with the beer, but there may be an issue with the dispensing lines if they're traversing the closet to get to the faucets. Don't know what "1" PVC" means wrt to keeping the lines cool - insulation doesn't stop thermal transfer, it just slows it, and eventually the beer in the lines will reach the closet temperature...

Cheers!

 

[PhilipLoyd]

Well, you guys are probably right. The room has normal 4 inches of insulation all the way around with exception of the door. In addition we tacked a layer of Styrofoam board on all walls and ceiling. The temperature of the house is always set at 72 degrees. I am only looking to decrease this by 17 degrees. Using a very small fan to gently pump the cold air into the top vent and a return at the bottom. The 1 inch pvc will have holes near the faucet to allow the air to flow created by the fan.

It is a brilliant idea if it would work and the least expensive option. Although it maybe doomed to fail. I will not have it filled literally of several years, so I will have time to alter the system if I can't get it to work. I was hoping it would work, but my doubts are significantly increased.

I was hoping this had been done before and someone could help.

If it doesn't work, what are my options. My understanding of an air conditioning unit, they cool too quickly and the up and down temps are not good for wine. This is an internal room without outside access. The room behind the closet is a utility room that has wall space to put some kind of unit. Can an air conditioning unit be placed in an internal room? I am not looking to purchase an unit designed for a wine cellar at 3 thousand dollars. So, I am looking for cheap alternative. I have budgeted 3k for this build and this unit will be on top of that.

Any suggestion on alternative units or ways the current setup could work?

ps. I don't see any of the comments as being a jerk. I appreciate your kind opinions on helping out a fellow brew brother.

 

[pbrennan10]

http://www.uscooler.com/refrigeration-sizing-estimate/

Could use that to get a ballpark.

If it's full of wine it may take a while to cool down but that may help in maintaining temp. If you're doing the keezer anyway I don't think there would be much lost to try it out, you could probably also do a little math and figure out how many BTU's you'll be able to get through a 1" duct. Personally I do not see it working.

http://www.calculator.net/btu-calcu...e=20&temperatureunit=f&calctype=heat&x=94&y=9

Only 1300 btu required per that one so it may be feasible w/ freezer that has 0.5 hp or > compressor.

 

[PhilipLoyd]

The 1" will be for beer lines only. A 4 inch duct for cooling the room.

http://www.uscooler.com/refrigeration-sizing-estimate/

Could use that to get a ballpark.

If it's full of wine it may take a while to cool down but that may help in maintaining temp. If you're doing the keezer anyway I don't think there would be much lost to try it out, you could probably also do a little math and figure out how many BTU's you'll be able to get through a 1" duct. Personally I do not see it working.

http://www.calculator.net/btu-calcu...e=20&temperatureunit=f&calctype=heat&x=94&y=9

Only 1300 btu required per that one so it may be feasible w/ freezer that has 0.5 hp or > compressor.

 

[PhilipLoyd]

Just had another idea. We are thinking of building an air conditioning unit. The thought is to put a coil of copper pipe in the keezer that would be fed to the top of the wine closet where another copper coil would be. Circulating water with a small pump. A small fan blowing on the coil inside the wine closet with a drain pan for condensation with a valve that could be regulated how much water stays in the pan that we could use to maintain humidity.

Any thoughts?

 

[PhilipLoyd]

Google 'Cool Bot'. Turns a window a.c. into cooling plant for walk in refrigerator.

I have read about that. I believe the unit is over $300 for the controller, plus a small air conditioning unit we are at about $500. Which is much cheaper than a specialty wine unit. I also don't believe I can put an air conditioning unit in a inside room, so there is that.

 

[ancientmariner52]

Just had another idea. We are thinking of building an air conditioning unit. The thought is to put a coil of copper pipe in the keezer that would be fed to the top of the wine closet where another copper coil would be. Circulating water with a small pump. A small fan blowing on the coil inside the wine closet with a drain pan for condensation with a valve that could be regulated how much water stays in the pan that we could use to maintain humidity.

Any thoughts?

This is precisely how air conditioning works on board US Navy vessels. A big central refrigeration plant sends chilled water to dozens of 'spot coolers', basically a coil of tubing and a fan. I believe this can work for you.

 

[HotRod9mm]

Just had another idea. We are thinking of building an air conditioning unit. The thought is to put a coil of copper pipe in the keezer that would be fed to the top of the wine closet where another copper coil would be. Circulating water with a small pump. A small fan blowing on the coil inside the wine closet with a drain pan for condensation with a valve that could be regulated how much water stays in the pan that we could use to maintain humidity.

Any thoughts?

If you have room in the keezer for a big enough glycol tank, how about getting an old AC condenser from some old big American iron(before its sent to Japan and comes back as 3 Honda Accords), plumb the glycol through it and use that with the fan as the cooling radiator in the top of the closet? Use the "Johnson temperature controller" to run the circulation pump and fan? Might work and be rather cheap to make. May not condensate as much as the copper. This way you won't be introducing as much warm air into the freezer?