Fermentation Chamber Insulation

[stever1000]

What is everyone using for their insulation for their fermentation chambers? I checked the price of the rigid foam insulation at home depot and was shocked at the price (the pink sheets of it)

Are there any cheap alternatives? I don't know how I feel about the insulation costing the most out of all my parts!

Thanks!

 

[OleBrewing]

Insulation is pricy but depending what u r building will depend on type. Cheapest would be the blown, not user friendly for a chamber. Next would be fiberglass rolls or batts.
Again it all depends on your chamber design.

If I had the room I would use both fiberglass and foam for a walk in cooler type chamber.

The 2" blue foam is good stuff and would work great by itself as long as it is all sealed.

 

[stever1000]

My unit would only be the size of 3 mini fridges put together.

It sounds like the rigid foam is the best option?

 

[khugs21]

Im in the process of building mine now. Its essentially a corner closet in my new brew shed. Im using fiberglass rolls in the wall studs and foam board insulation all the way around. Should be enought.

 

[beardown2489]

So I've built this much so far. View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1431971692.031661.jpg

My plan is to cover the outside with a thin boarding and use this duct insulation on the inside. View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1431971858.457740.jpg

I'm not familIar with insulation and thought I'd post about this to see what you All think.

Will this insulation do the trick or do I need to go out and A) get a stronger version of this adhesive foil insulation B) go find some actually styrofoam insulator? (I forget the name but whatever these guys building the SoF chambers are using)

 

[OleBrewing]

Not enough R value. Think of the foam thickness on a wall of a fridge. Fridges us high density foam and it be the thickness of the wall minus the plastic and steel outside. Get it at least that thick and spray foam from a can to seal up cracks.

 

[burnsie8791]

I built mine last year and the biggest expense was the insulation. If you go cheap your cooling unit will be always running and you run the risk of burning out the compressor. I found that out the hard way. I bought some of the cheap white stuff, after i blew the compressor i got the pink foam board and glued it to the cheap white stuff. After the fact wish i would have doubled up on the pink and tossed the cheap stuff.

 

[beardown2489]

Good news for me is this chamber will be indoors and I will not be lagering.

With that being said I was pretty certain 3 would not suffice.

I went and picked up some foam. It's got a 7.5 r value. That should do better

This a small chamber. I plan on making pretty large chamber a few years down the road once I know exactly how I want my setup to look

Thanks guys

 

[stever1000]

What would be an equivalent R value to the stuff mini fridges are made from?