Separate Power Cords for Freezer/Fridge Combo

[MitchellF10]

Hello!

I've been scouring the Internet on any information on this, but my searches have turned up nothing. Maybe because it's a bad idea for reasons that I don't yet know ...

I'm asking the electrically-inclined individuals here if it is possible/easy to rewire a fridge with a freezer on top so the freezer can be powered via its own power cord.

This would allow me to freeze hops in the top freezer while plugging the fridge on the bottom into a temperature controller and maintaining 50 degrees for lager fermentation/beer storage.

Is it necessary? No. I could get separate units, but I figured since I have the freezer already I might as well try to use it, as it would be very convenient and less wasteful.

Thanks for any help you can give!

 

[d_rock]

From my layman's understanding... Would it be easy, no, but you "should" be able to replace the fridge thermostat with a digital controller, while leaving the freezer thermostat alone. The fridge is cooled by fan inputs from the freezer side, so instead of switching the cooling, you would switch the fan input from the freezer. Controlling the cool air input combined with utilizing a heat source would be necessary.

 

[MrFoodScientist]

d_rock is on target, but what you need to understand is that in fridge/freezer combo, there is only one cooling unit, and thus only one electrical cord.

What I would recommend is seeing what the limits are on your current limitations are on the fridge you have to see how likely this is. You might need a data-logger for this and be sure that you don't have anything in your fridge you don't mind losing. Look at the four extreme combinations: fridge and freezer both set to the warmest (but still on), fridge and freezer both set to coldest, fridge at warmest / freezer at coldest, fridge at coldest / freezer at warmest. Given that information, you'll be able to see what limitations you have on a possible freezer/fermentor combo and explore wiring options from there.

 

[MitchellF10]

Thank you very much for the information! This gives me some things to think about and try!

 

[PurdueLuke]

Did you end up doing this? I am considering the same thing as I would like to ferment in the fridge while using the freezer for other things. I am wondering if I would be better off just finding a dorm fridge for a fermenter and use this for other things.

 

[RedpantsKimby]

I personally would find it very difficult to do this. the vast majority of refrigerators only have one compressor and that is what does most of the work in the cooling process. You might actually be able to tweet the thermostats enough in each compartment to obtain the temps you want via cycling the fans on and off. But you're looking at really diving into the guts of the fridge and that can be dangerous. Just be very careful and be cautious not to puncher any coolant lines.