DIY wort chiller...expensive!?

[GaryJohn]

Just built my own wort chiller, presumably to save money. 36' of copper tubing, a few hose fittings, and the bill is....$92!!???

Why did I get ripped off? I'm reading threads here where people built theirs for $50. One guys said his materials were only $20. How is this possible? There is one for sale online (25' of copper) for $60.

Copper was $1.79 a foot. I live in the Chicago suburbs.


Word to the wise...get a quote from the hardware store before you build your own.

Signed,
-A sucker

 

[Nateo]

I built mine about 4 years ago. Copper was cheaper then, think I spent about $40 on the whole project. The thing that saved me a ton of money was that most of the copper by the foot was adjusted to "market" pricing, but the Home Depot had pre-packaged refrigerator copper coils that were about half the price of the bulk copper tubing.

 

[specialkaye]

Why did I get ripped off? I'm reading threads here where people built theirs for $50. One guys said his materials were only $20. How is this possible? There is one for sale online (25' of copper) for $60.

Copper was $1.79 a foot. I live in the Chicago suburbs.

Not sure if you got ripped off or not. Can't say without knowing your local prices. For me, everything is more expensive cause we're just around the corner from the end of the USA. Everything has to be shipped some 300 miles south of civilization to get to us.

Anyway, went to local Ace Hardware to enjoy the sticker shock. Their current "market" price for beat up 3/8in copper tubing by the foot was in the $1.99 a foot. And, they didn't even have 20 feet of it. Not that I would pay their prices anyways.

Next stop, Home Despot. They had these neat little pre-boxed coils. Got 20 feet of good looking (not dented and dinged) tubing for about $25. Add in the other supplies, I'm also making an ice water recirculation system out of an old tabletop fountain pump, and I have about $30-$40 into my chiller. I still need to attach the hoses and work out the recirculation attachments but I'll post a thread with pictures in the next day or two. And, I'll include all prices to show the total.

I don't think you got ripped off. You actually got a pretty good deal compared to my local hardware store. But, I found a better copper deal at the crappy service big box store with unhelpful employees and shopping carts in most of the parking spaces.

 

[Flomaster]

price of copper is on the up and up so depending on when you buy or when your supplier bought determines the price you pay now.

I just build a CFC using 3/8" OD 1/4" ID 20' roll for $25 at Lowes. the fittings for it were another $4 and the Rubber Garden hose was $25 could I shopped around for a cheaper hose YES, but I felt $50 was a good price. so I say to you $92 yes you over paid BIG TIME...

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/counterflow-chiller-tutorial-51793/

looks like i paid 1.25 per foot I can buy from my sister company for .75 a foot but I'd have to buy a 50' roll.

if you have a local HD SUPPLY PLUMBING store see how much they are charging for copper.

-=Jason=-

 

[NoisufnoC]

i bought a 50' one on amazon recently. hasn't arrive yet, fedex smart post is slower than pony express.

~$60 + shipping

 

[Ace_Club]

From what I've seen, you need to go online to get the cheapest copper prices. I'm in the Chicago area too, and have been looking at tackling the DIY chiller in the near future. Currently, coppertubingsales.com has 1/2" tubing in a 50' coil for $60 (plus shipping). So you're looking at $1.20/ft (plus shipping) for the copper.

 

[snackson]

Man that's expensive for copper. It was $20 for a 25' spool of 3/8" at Home Depot last month and that was here in Hawaii.

 

[Duckfoot]

Go to a local HVAC supply house and see if they will sell it to you... I happened to stop into one and since I was in my work uniform, they happily sold it to me...

This was two years ago and I got 50' of 3/8" for $32