Glycol Chiller vs Fridge Efficiency

[Hibbs13]

Hi All! I looking into getting a decent home brew setup for some all grain brewing. The thing I’m debating is using a fridge as a fermentation chamber or potentially a glycol chiller.

I know there is obviously a massive price differential and pros and cons around scale ability and space.

But what I really want to know is how economical a glycol chiller is to run compared to using fridges? i.e. is it only economical if you have numerous fermenters hooked up to a glycol chiller rather than just the one I’d be using to start off with?

Or does a fridge actually use significantly less energy? (I get different fridges have different energy rating but assuming I’d get an older one second hand it’s not going to be top of the range for efficiency).

Any thoughts or experiences would be appreciated.

 

[augiedoggy]

For a single conical? Id say a fridge is more efficient hands down. but its not as blingy to show off...(kidding but thats really important to a lot of people so worth mentioning)

For multiple conicals, the glycol has advantages over the multiple fridges you would need to do the same thing.
You would need more circuits and more power available to run 3 or 4 fridges and keep each conical at its own temp.

there are other things that make a large difference like ambient room temp and how well your conical(s) are insulated...
I have 4 conicals running off 1 chiller and it does very well but I wouldnt make a bunch of lagers in the dead of summer with it since my brew room has no AC.. that said my chiller doesnt run that often and if I had even 2 conicals Id still go with it.

I use a regular beer line chiller and its built in pump to run through a cpvc manifold on the wall with soleniod valves to open coolant flow to whatever conical need it , this is how most breweries are setup. I dont know what your budget is like but I go my first chiller for free and just picked up a second micromatic 1/3hp chiller at an auction for $225 so they are out there for much less if you look.)

 

[IslandLizard]

Those things are pricey! If you have a lot of money, go for them! You'll be drinking $30 pints for a while.
There are also (homebuilt) chillers and alternatives.

How much are you brewing? How big are your intended batches? A 15 gallon "conical" or anything large doesn't fit in most regular fridges, so a much larger fridge/freezer or fermenting chamber would be needed. At some point a chiller becomes an reasonable alternative.

For 5-10 gallon batches, I'd stick to a fridge or freezer. Use your old one or pick one up from CL or so.

Energy wise, fridges and freezers are much leaner to run day to day. Those chillers are typically used with fermentors that are single walled and wearing a neoprene jacket, so insulation from the environment is quite minimal unless they're in a 66F cellar for ales.

 

[augiedoggy]

while im not disagreeing,
Honestly, the power usage is not bad, I used the blue discharge hose wrapped around the outside of my conicals with 2 layers of foil bubble wrap as insulation around that and I dont really notice any jump in my electric bill when im running it vs when im not and its been off for a few months up until recently due to me being busy with opening the nanobrewpub..

im holding a ginger sasion at 76 right now in an 80+ degree room and while thats not really a big feat, my chiller only runs like every 3-4 hours for a few mins.(according to my brucontrol bar graph) when I lager or cold crash it runs more often obviously

I would totally have gone with a homemade ac unit chiller had I not stumbled on some.

 

[akroessler]

My 1/2 hp penguin chiller runs maybe every 5-6 hours for about 2-3 minutes at a time. The reservoir is insulated so it keeps temperature extremely well. It uses less energy than my chest freezer does (which was my old way of temp control). Glycol chillers are worth every penny in my opinion regardless of brand. I’m just mad I didn’t get one sooner.

I will say the SSbrewtech chillers are the most expensive on the market for no reason other than the SS logo. I bought my penguin chiller for 700$ and it has a higher BTU cooling rating. SSbrewtech rebrands their chillers from rapid chillers. And they remove equipment from it.

Here is the SS chiller from the original manu. With the recirculating pump still attached. For almost 100$ less

https://rapidswholesale.com/3-gal-g...MIofz3lvGI3QIVCLjACh26pgTDEAQYAiABEgLowPD_BwE

 

[augiedoggy]

My 1/2 hp penguin chiller runs maybe every 5-6 hours for about 2-3 minutes at a time. The reservoir is insulated so it keeps temperature extremely well. It uses less energy than my chest freezer does (which was my old way of temp control). Glycol chillers are worth every penny in my opinion regardless of brand. I’m just mad I didn’t get one sooner.

I will say the SSbrewtech chillers are the most expensive on the market for no reason other than the SS logo. I bought my penguin chiller for 700$ and it has a higher BTU cooling rating. SSbrewtech rebrands their chillers from rapid chillers. And they remove equipment from it.

Here is the SS chiller from the original manu. With the recirculating pump still attached. For almost 100$ less

https://rapidswholesale.com/3-gal-g...MIofz3lvGI3QIVCLjACh26pgTDEAQYAiABEgLowPD_BwE

others as well as myself have shared this also.. They remove the pump which is fairly pricey component yet still charge more and yet people would rather buy that and use $15 pond pumps for each conical than one pump and a manifold like all the small breweries do it. I agree my chiller rarely runs as well but it does depend on what its tasked with.
Again I have 3 chillers... 2 I got for free and one I just bought at an auction for $250... Point is they are out there for less or can be made from an ac unit. Ive read actually on the probrewer forum that penguin makes theirs from repurposed AC units although im not sure how true that is when you look at the cabinet it looks like it.

 

[mongoose33]

I just bought a Penguin glycol chiller.

If I could have fit my Spike conical in a refrigerator, there is no way I would have bought the Penguin. For me, a refrigerator is a superior solution, provided the fermenter fits.

Mine doesn't.

 

[augiedoggy]

Its only superior if you have one fermenter.. beyond that the chiller starts to have advantages has like being more efficient for multiple fermenters, having individual temps for each one, and having more control over actual temps inside the fermenter as well as the speed in which it can get it there.

 

[akroessler]

I just bought a Penguin glycol chiller.

If I could have fit my Spike conical in a refrigerator, there is no way I would have bought the Penguin. For me, a refrigerator is a superior solution, provided the fermenter fits.

Mine doesn't.

im not a fan of moving entire conicals in/out of a fridge. my 14 gal unitank is on casters and is probably the best investment for the additional pieces from SS. Roll it next to my BK after my CFC makes short work of it, roll it back and reconnect the QD glycol lines. CIP for cleaning. No way in hell i would want to be moving that tank after its full.

plus, ambient air temps dont get as close to target temps as direct coil chilling.

 

[augiedoggy]

plus, ambient air temps dont get as close to target temps as direct coil chilling.

I discovered this myself with carbons in a small fridge I used to use once I put a temp probe in the carboy.. I imagine it's worse with twice the mass.