EZ and Inexpensive Fermentation Chiller

[Geezer-Glide]

Not long ago I found a "Grainfather" SS coil that fits into my fermenters at a good price. So, the hunt was on for an inexpensive chiller. I found several cheap chillers but none of them were inexpensive. I should mention that I am a rather devoted tightas-- er, ah, say fiscal conservative. I considered A/C and dehumidifier refrigeration systems but in addition to being cheap I'm also kind of lazy. Last month I stumbled across a used drinking water chiller. The type that you set a bottle on top of and it drains into a cooling chamber. I slapped a submersible aquarium pump into that thing and I have <50 DF water pumping to my coil. Total cost $18.00 as I had an aquarium pump laying around. The insulated hose came with the GF coil. I did have to make a foam/wood cap for the top. ~ 1/2 hour tops. I'll build a controller today but right now I am connecting/disconnecting it to stay in W34/70 preferred range of 52-58 DF. When operating this thing is only drawing 1.39 Amps. Did I mention that I don't like to spend much money?

 

[bf514921]

very cool, I love seeing the inovative ways people approach this hobby.