Dual Stage Cooler - fermenting/serving

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horseinmay

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I am brainstorming on what will be my next project. I have built a box for fermentation (about 24"x36"x48") and have been using frozen jugs for chilling. I want to upgrade by adding a mini fridge, and am considering a two stage setup where I install a baffle that would separate two temperature zones, and allow me to ferment and serve from the same box. The fridge would be mounted to the cold side (~38-40F, serving/conditioning) and pull cold air from the mini fridge with a muffin fan. The baffle would be insulated and keep the zones separate. This side would be 55-70F depending on what I'm fermenting. Has anyone built something like this or know if a minifridge would have enough power to pull it off? I don't want to get into something complicated with an A/C unit, and don't have room to get a dedicated beer fridge since I've already built this behemoth of a box. I just want to get the most use out of it without taking up any more space. Any help would be appreciated
 
That's beyond me but I found your post in the "unanswered threads" listing. My advice is to add a couple pictures because everyone loves pictures and you'd probably get more involvement from the peanut gallery. :)
 
Here are some pictures of my fermentation chamber. It holds temperatures really well, I just want it to be more functional, and allow me to serve beer out of. I'm not sure if a mini fridge has enough oomph to keep it that cold. I'm starting to feel like it would if I focus on sealing it up well.

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I would agree that a small frig might be overworked. however, I have seen a few builds that appear to be working pretty good. The last one I am thinking of is pretty new so should be easy to find. I don't see why it wouldn't work if you are using a frig that can handle the cooler temps of half or so of your chamber. turning fans on and off to maintain the other side seems it would have minimal impact on the serving side.
 
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