ferm chamber with mini fridge- on the right track?

[SpeedyR]

I've got a spare STC1000 around and have built my keezer and it's been doing great for the past year or two. I'm starting to brew more and living in the south, in the summer I need to have a better/more reliable method of keeping my ferm temps consistent. In the winter I can add heat (small portable heater) and in the summer with a small fridge.

so here's my thoughts, seems like I had seen this done in the past but just looking for some guidance:

1) get small mini fridge from some college graduate or on sale as school starts up again.

2) make small ferm chamber in my basement. I have a few rows of wooden shelves and can set up one of the sections with insulation and seal it off. Attach the fridge (sans door) to one end, and have about a 4' section of shelving that's insulated and temp controlled.

so my questions:

1) Fridge- is there much of a difference between just a fridge and one that has the small freezer shelf in it? i was thinking the freezer thing might be handy just to give some colder temps but don't remember seeing much pro/con about just fridge or fridge/freezer combo in the dorm fridges.

2) insulating the space- any suggestions for insulation, thickness or best way to seal it up or mate it to the fridge? I know I've got some leftover sheet from my keezer collar so will use that but didn't know if there was a recommended setup. Same for sealing the corners/edges.

3) suggestion for door to gain access to the ferm chamber? How important is a solid seal for this? It's not like I'm trying to maintain 20 degree cooler than ambient (I don't like lagers, so not much worry there for now) but don't want to loose all efficiencies...

thoughts, suggestions or comments? or just buy a fridge I can fit a carboy in and be done with it. lol.

 

[RussPDX]

I set up exactly this. It was a box made of foam board 1.5" thick. Simple wood frame. Stc control and a little dorm fridge.

2 things I learned that I think will help you.

1. Must be well sealed or you will get a lot of condensation. After I was getting a lot of condensation I taped all the seams. Mine does not have a door, the lid lifts up so I added flaps to seal the lid when it is down.

2. Little fridges are designed to cool little spaces. My chamber holds 3 big Rubbermaid bins which each hold 2 6.5 gal carboys so I can ferment roughly 30 gallons at once. I have had it full, but not often and the fridge just died after a year. I am going to replace the fridge but trim the setup down at least 30% to keep the fridge from having to work so hard.