Wanted Glycol chiller

[tydaddy]

Located in upstate NY, but willing to travel a few hours. Hoping for 1/2 - 1 hp. Really don't want to buy new aa my budgets already blown. Lol. I could do a diy, just trying to see what's out there before going that route.

Thanks!

 

[Dland]

DYI chillers out of window ACs aren't that hard to build, there are several write ups here at HBT in DYI, chillers. I made one a couple years back for very low cost & it is still going strong.

 

[tydaddy]

Yep. They're just so big. And ugly. Lol.

 

[GoeHaarden]

Yep. They're just so big. And ugly. Lol.

Depends on one's own abilities...

 

[tydaddy]

Correct. Is the 5 or 6 hours it'll take making something look pretty, worth the $600 more I'll pay for a pre-built unit? Doubtful.

 

[JAReeves]

YMMV, but I put one together for:

10k BTU unit, new, $150 delivered
Old Cooler, free (but you could get one with better insulation for ~$50)
5-7G Cooling System, $125 (I use Anvil, even for my SS brewbuckets because of cost), I have 3 of these for my fermenters, so $375
Glycol, $200/5G (this doubled in price since I bought it!), I use 2.5G glycol to 5G H2O, so I still have half what I bought
InkBird for the A/C unit, $35

I have caps for when I disconnect the hoses and clean the fermenters, bought a drill bit for the SS brew bucket lids to adapt it to the Anvil, yada yada, maybe $30.

So for less than the price of a pretty one with a brand name, you not only get a full glycol system, but also the 3 cooling coil systems, when an SS Brewbucket cooling version alone costs $250 each.

I can cold crash/dry hop at 40F, in 3 fermenters at the same time.

 

[tydaddy]

What 10k btu unit was 150?

 

[tydaddy]

Also my system is 1bbl...not that it matters because I nixed the brite tank idea in favor of a couple 31 gal kegmenters and a commercial freezer.

 

[JAReeves]

Something I found off ebay or amazon, think it was 150 free shipping included. It was new, at least, until I cut out one side to bend the coils and cut the wires to bypass the internal thermostat.

 

[GoeHaarden]

Something I found off ebay or amazon, think it was 150 free shipping included. It was new, at least, until I cut out one side to bend the coils and cut the wires to bypass the internal thermostat.View attachment 774192

Wouldn't you have better efficiency if you isolated the output lines from the return lines in your insulation wraps? Your cooling/output lines are sucking back the heat from those return lines...

 

[GoeHaarden]

Also my system is 1bbl...not that it matters because I nixed the brite tank idea in favor of a couple 31 gal kegmenters and a commercial freezer.

Funny you are splitting hairs over a few hundred bucks for a new glycol chiller...

 

[JAReeves]

Wouldn't you have better efficiency if you isolated the output lines from the return lines in your insulation wraps? Your cooling/output lines are sucking back the heat from those return lines...

Never even occurred to me, but so obvious now that you mention it. Where’s Homer?

 

[tydaddy]

Funny you are splitting hairs over a few hundred bucks for a new glycol chiller...

You're not wrong. Lol

 

[Spin711]

I have a DIY chiller that I am no longer using in Upstate. Send me a PM if interested